Commercials on mobile devices

• US 8,701,145 B1
• Filed: 09/12/2013
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Penthera Partners, Inc
• Original Assignee: Penthera Partners, Inc
• Inventors: Berger, Adam L., Pressnell, Joshua, Jackson, Richard David
• Primary Examiner(s): DUFFIELD, JEREMY S
• Application Number:
  US14/025,797
• Time in Patent Office: 215 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 38, 725/86
• US Class Current: 725/86
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/432 Content retrieval operation from a local storage medium, e.g. hard-disk details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video databases G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6181 involving transmission via a mobile phone network arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

Among other things, a video item is downloaded to a mobile device from a digital video recorder. The video item includes a video program and commercials that have been previously embedded within the video item. Before, during, or after the download of the video item, information is reported from the mobile device to a server about the video item, from which the server can select a set of substitute commercials. One or more of these substitute commercials are downloaded from the server. When the video item is presented on the mobile device, the mobile device replaces at least one of the original commercials that has been previously embedded within the video item by a substitute commercial that has been downloaded to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method comprising

downloading at a mobile device from a digital video recorder a video item that includes a video program and commercials embedded within the video item,

before, during, or after the downloading, reporting information from the mobile device to a server from which the server can select substitute commercials,

downloading one or more of the substitute commercials at the mobile device from the server,

presenting the video item from the storage of the mobile device at a time when the mobile device does not have adequate connectivity,

when the video item is presented on the mobile device, the mobile device replacing at least one of the original commercials embedded within the video item, with a substitute commercial that has been downloaded to the mobile device,

storing, in storage of the mobile device, information about when the commercial was presented, and

reporting the information about the presentation to a server when the device has adequate connectivity,

wherein:

the information reported to the server comprises information about the video items or about the mobile device or both,

the substitute commercials are of higher value than the commercials for which they are substituted,

if the video item is presented on the mobile device within a predetermined period of time, the mobile device refrains from replacing at least one of the commercials that has been previously embedded within the video item with one of the substitute commercials,

the presenting of the video item is prevented if the number of downloaded commercials stored in the storage of the device is insufficient, and

the downloading of the video item occurs automatically, with no explicit action by the user of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the downloading from a digital video recorder is from a cloud-based digital video recorder comprising storage that is remote from the digital video recorder.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the downloading from a digital video recorder is from a conventional digital video recorder comprising storage that is within the digital video recorder.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising

acquiring information about the beginning time and the ending time of each of the commercials embedded within the downloaded video item.

5. The method of claim 4 in which acquiring information about the beginning time and the ending time of each of the commercials embedded within the downloaded video item comprises algorithmically analyzing the video item.

6. The method of claim 4 in which acquiring information about the beginning time and the ending time is done by the DVR.

7. The method of claim 4 in which acquiring information about the beginning time and the ending time is done at the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1 in which, if the video item is presented on the mobile device within a predetermined period of time after the video item was recorded on the DVR, the mobile device refrains from replacing at least one of the commercials that has been previously embedded within the video item with one of the substitute commercials.

9. The method of claim 8 in which the period of time is based on a value of the commercial during the period of time.

10. The method of claim 1 comprising maintaining the substitute commercials in a cache at the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the downloading of the video item is initiated by the user of the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 1 comprising

algorithmically analyzing the video item to acquire information about the beginning time and the ending time of each of at least one of the commercials within the video item.

13. The method of claim 1 comprising

when playout of the video item at the mobile device reaches a point at which a commercial is to be inserted, the mobile device obtaining the substitute commercial from storage of the mobile device and playing out the substitute commercial.

14. The method of claim 13 in which the substitute commercial is obtained by downloading from the server and played out.

15. The method of claim 1 in which,

if the substitute commercial includes an interactive element, information is recorded in the storage of the device about an action performed or caused with respect to the interactive element when the device has inadequate connectivity, and

when the device has adequate connectivity, the device causes an action to occur that corresponds to the action performed or caused with respect to the interactive element.

16. The method of claim 1 in which

the downloading of at least one of the substitute commercials comprising downloading a lower quality version of the commercial and later downloading a higher quality version of the commercial.