System and method for providing media content having attributes matching a user's stated preference

• US 8,680,985 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2012
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Geomass LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Brady, James V. Jr., Sohr, Dana M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pope, Daryl
• Application Number:
  US13/645,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20130029693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 340/988, 340/990, 340/991, 701/200, 701/207, 701/211
• US Class Current: 340/539.11
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 27/00 Combined visual and audible advertising or displaying, e.g. for public address
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A location-based and preference-based system and method for matching media content about persons, places and things with the expressed preferences of mobile users to notify users about and provide users with access to media content about persons, places and things that match the user'"'"'s expressed preferences. The system thus provides information such as stories or articles that match the user'"'"'s interests and relate to their location. The system may assign ranks to all of the media content that meets that user'"'"'s preferences wherein, in one embodiment, it will automatically play them in the assigned order. Comparison of the user'"'"'s preferences with the various profiles of the media content allows the user only to be informed of the media content for those persons, places or things that the user is likely to be interested in. The system and method thus provides for a mobile real-time point of interest exchange network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a system configured to notify a user using a device about people, places or things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user, and which are within a selected geographic area, the system being configured to access a user preference profile created by the user;

to access profiles of the people, places or things;

to receive a selected geographic area;

to compare the user preference profile and the profiles of the people, places or things to determine if the people, places or things have attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein comparing the user preference profile with the profiles comprises determining whether the people, places or things are within the selected geographic area; and

to notify the user about the people, places or things that match the user'"'"'s explicit preferences and are within the selected geographic area; and

obtaining payments from one or more entities associated with services by the system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining payments comprises charging one or more entities associated with the people, places or things for one or more of listings or keywords.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining payments comprises charging a wireless service provider for providing access to the system to one or more subscribers of the wireless service provider.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining payments comprises charging one or more entities associated with the people, places or things based on access by the user to information about the respective people, places or things.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said charging one or more entities comprises charging the one or more entities on a per-access basis.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said charging one or more entities comprises charging the one or more entities on a subscription basis, based on a particular period of time and/or a particular geographic location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining payments comprises obtaining a commission based on revenues generated by the one or more entities associated with the people, places or things.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining payments comprises charging a user for access to services provided by the system.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said charging a user comprises charging one or more of a subscription fee or an access-based fee.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to provide additional information about the people, places or things, and wherein the method further comprises paying one or more media content providers for the additional information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said paying comprises paying the one or more media content providers on a subscription basis and/or based on usage.