Conditionally obfuscating one or more secret entities with respect to one or more billing statements related to one or more communiqués addressed to the one or more secret entities

• US 8,583,553 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2010
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Mangione-Smith, William H., Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Tegreene, Clarence T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vezeris, James A
• Application Number:
  US12/927,966
• Publication Number:
  US 20110166974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: associating one or more fees with one or more communiqués that were transmitted by a particular end user and addressed to one or more secret entities; and providing one or more billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities, the providing of the one or more billing statements being in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user to conditionally obfuscate the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more billing statements. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a fee associating module configured to associate one or more fees with one or more communiqué

s that were transmitted by a particular end user and addressed to one or more secret entities; and

a billing statement providing module configured to provide one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities, the providing of the one or more electronic billing statements being in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user to conditionally obfuscate the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements, the billing statement providing module including at least an electronic billing statement transmitting module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements to at least one communication device associated with the particular end user; and

wherein at least one of the fee associating module or the billing statement providing module is at least partially implemented with one or more processing devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements to the at least one communication device associated with the particular end user in response, at least in part, to receiving a request for a billing statement from the communication device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining occurrence of one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device, the one or more particular contextual aspects being one or more environmental aspects of the communication device that at least implies presence of one or more third parties within proximate vicinity of the communication device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining the occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device, the one or more particular contextual aspects being specified by the one or more conditional directives of the particular end user.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device time determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the communication device time determining module determining that the communication device having reached one or more particular points or intervals of time.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the communication device location determining module determining that the communication device being at one or more particular locations.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the communication device location determining module determining that the communication device being outside of one or more particular locations.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device time determining module and a communication device location determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the communication device time determining module and the communication device location determining module respectively determining that the communication device having reached one or more particular points or intervals of time and being at one or more particular locations.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device, the determining being based on sensor provided data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to determine occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device based on sensor data provided by the communication device.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to determine occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device based on image data provided by an image capturing device that implies that the one or more third parties being within the proximate vicinity of the communication device.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to determine occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device based on audio data provided by an audio capturing device that implies that the one or more third parties being within the proximate vicinity of the communication device.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to determine occurrence of the one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device based on locational data provided by location determining device that implies that the one or more third parties being within the proximate vicinity of the communication device.

14. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a third party proximity determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the third party proximity determining module determining that the one or more third parties are within the proximate vicinity of the communication device based on log entry data that was at least originally entered by the particular end user.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a third party proximity determining module comprises:

a third party proximity determining module configured to determine that the one or more third parties are within the proximate vicinity of the communication device based on log entry data that was at least originally entered by the particular end user and that was entered via a personal management application.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a third party proximity determining module comprises:

a third party proximity determining module configured to determine that the one or more third parties are within the proximate vicinity of the communication device based on log entry data that was at least originally entered by the particular end user and that was entered via a social networking application.

17. The system of claim 3, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining occurrence of one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device, the one or more particular contextual aspects being one or more environmental aspects of the communication device that at least implies that the one or more third parties are sufficiently close to the communication device such that the one or more third parties can see, hear, or sense a communiqué

being presented through the communication device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit the one or more electronic billing statements in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining occurrence of one or more particular contextual aspects associated with the communication device, the one or more particular contextual aspects being one or more environmental aspects of the communication device that at least implies that the one or more third parties are within 30 feet of the communication device from which the one or more third parties can see, hear, or sense a communiqué

being presented through the communication device.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities by providing one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that indicate one or more locum tenentes for one or more representations of the one or more secret entities.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that indicate one or more obfuscating substitutes for one or more names of the one or more secret entities.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that indicate one or more obfuscating substitutes for one or more addresses of the one or more secret entities.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that indicate one or more obfuscating substitutes for one or more numbers of the one or more secret entities.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that indicate one or more locum tenentes for one or more representations of the one or more secret entities, the one or more locum tenentes having been provided by the particular end user.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities by providing one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that does not directly or indirectly identify the one or more secret entities.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements by providing one or more electronic billing statements in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user that directs obfuscating of the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements when one or more specified conditions have at least occurred.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user that directs obfuscating of the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements when a communication device that the one or more electronic billing statements are to be provided to has reached one or more specified points or intervals of time.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user that directs obfuscating of the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements when a communication device that the one or more electronic billing statements are to be provided to is at one or more specified locations.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user that directs obfuscating of the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements when one or more third parties are in proximate vicinity of a communication device that the one or more electronic billing statements are to be provided to.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said billing statement providing module comprises:

a billing statement providing module configured to provide the one or more electronic billing statements in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user that directs obfuscating of the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements when one or more specified third parties are in proximate vicinity of a communication device that the one or more electronic billing statements are to be provided to.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic billing statement transmitting module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module configured to transmit to a communication device associated with the particular end user one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities, the providing being in response, at least in part, to the contextual aspect occurrence determining module determining occurrence of one or more particular contextual aspects of the communication device, the one or more particular contextual aspects being one or more environmental aspects of the communication device that at least implies absence of one or more third parties within proximate vicinity of the communication device.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device time determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the communication device time determining module determining that the communication device has reached one or more particular points or intervals of time.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device time determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device time determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the communication device time determining module determining that the communication device has reached one or more specified points or intervals of time as specified by the one or more conditional directives.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the communication device location determining module determining that the communication device is at one or more particular locations.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the communication device location determining module determining that the communication device is at one or more specified locations as specified by the one or more conditional directives.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a communication device location determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the communication device location determining module determining that the communication device is outside of one or more specified locations as specified by the one or more conditional directives.

36. The system of claim 30, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a third party proximity determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the third party proximity determining module determining that the one or more third parties are not within the proximate vicinity of the communication device based on sensor provided data.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein said electronic billing statement transmitting module including a contextual aspect occurrence determining module comprises:

an electronic billing statement transmitting module including a third party proximity determining module configured to transmit to the communication device the one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees and that identifies the one or more secret entities in response, at least in part, to the third party proximity determining module determining that the one or more third parties are not within the proximate vicinity of the communication device based on log entry data that was at least originally entered by the particular end user.

38. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a conditional directive receiving module configured to receive from the particular end user the one or more conditional directives.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said conditional directive receiving module comprises:

a conditional directive soliciting module configured to solicit the one or more conditional directives from the particular end user.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein said conditional directive soliciting module comprises:

an obfuscation condition soliciting module configured to solicit from the particular end user the one or more conditional directives including one or more conditions for obfuscating the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements.

41. A computer program product comprising:

an article of manufacture including a signal-bearing non-transitory storage medium bearing one or more executable instructions that when executed by one or more processing devices cause a machine to perform a method that includes at least;

associating one or more fees with one or more communiqué

s that were transmitted by a particular end user and addressed to one or more secret entities; and

providing one or more electronic billing statements that indicate the one or more fees without at least directly identifying the one or more secret entities, the providing of the one or more electronic billing statements being in accordance with one or more conditional directives of the particular end user to conditionally obfuscate the one or more secret entities with respect to the one or more electronic billing statements, the providing of the one or more electronic billing statements including at least transmitting the one or more electronic billing statements to at least one communication device associated with the particular end user.