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`
`U8008572198B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Jhanji
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`
`(45} Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,572,198 B2
`*Oct. 29, 2013
`
`(54)
`
`SYSTEMS FOR TARGETING ADVERTISING
`BASED ON STATUS OR LOCATION OF
`MOBILE INTERNET USERS AND METHODS
`THEREFOR
`
`(71}
`
`Applicant: Neeraj Jhanji. Tokyo (JP)
`
`(72)
`
`Inventor: Neeraj .Ihanji. Tokyo (JP)
`
`(*l
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term oflhis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`USPC
`7092201206, 219. 224. 225
`Sec application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`US. PA'l‘lEN‘I‘ DOCUMENTS
`
`4.754.428 A
`5.223.844 A
`
`611988 Schultz et al.
`611993 Manscllet a1.
`
`(Continued)
`
`FOR] EIGN PAl‘l-iN'l‘ i'.)O(.‘UMliN’l‘S
`
`This patent is subject to a tenninal dis-
`claimer.
`
`EP
`JP
`
`0903679
`08061963
`
`3-1999
`3-"19’96
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. No .: 131761269
`
`(22)
`
`l’iled:
`
`Feb. 14, 2013
`
`(65)
`
`(63)
`
`(60)
`
`(51)
`
`(52}
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 201310159075 Al
`
`Jun. 20. 2013
`
`Related US. Application Data
`
`Confirmation of application No. 13121 1,970. filed on
`Aug. 17. 201], now Pat. No. 8.423.622. which is a
`continuation ofapplication No. 127910.185, filed on
`Oct. 22. 2010. now Pat. No. 8.005.911 which is a
`continuation ofapplication No. 111871.190. filed on
`Oct. 12. 2007. now Pat. No. 7.822.823. which is a
`continuation of application No. 101149.203. filed as
`application No. P(.'.'[YIB{XV(}1995 on Dec. 13, 2000.
`now Pat. No. 7.284.033. which is a continuation of
`application No. 09589684. filed on Jun. 7. 2000. now
`abandoned. attd a continuation of application No.
`091589.685. filed on Jun. 7. 2000. now abandoned.
`
`Provisional application No. 60’ 170,844. filed on Dec.
`14. 1999.
`
`Int. (It.
`G06F 15/16
`U.S. Cl.
`USPC
`
`(2006.01)
`
`7097206: 7091203: 7091219: 7091224:
`7091225
`
`(Continued)
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Internet Magazine (JP Edition). Nov. I999.
`
`(Continual)
`
`Primary Examiner — Liangcl‘lc A Wang
`[74) Attornqu Agent. or Firm —- Mattingly & Malur. PC
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A computer—implemented method implemented via the litter—
`net for coordinating a current or future event between a user
`oi‘a mobile Internet device and other users communicating
`through the Internet. The method includes receiving the cur-
`rent or future activity information pertaining to the future
`event from the user via the mobi 1e Internet device. The current
`activity pertains to an activity occurring at a current time
`relative to a time the future activity infomtation is received.
`The future activity pertains to an activity occurring at a future
`time relative to a time the future activity infitrmation is
`received. The ntetltod further includes trzutsmitting the cur-
`rent or future activity information to a backend database
`coupled to the Internet, the backend database being remote
`from the mobile Intemet device. The method further includes
`
`rendering the current or future activity infomtation accessible
`to at least one recipient via the Intemct. The recipient repre—
`sents a subset of the users coupled to the lntcmct and having
`access privilege to information pertaining to the current or
`future event involving the user.
`
`49 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`tn'IuHhta'ilm
`
`mensltmuttywrk?
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`
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`
`1
`
`

`

`US 8,572,198 B2
`
`Page 2
`
`(56}
`
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`
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`.
`.
`UTHHR PUBUCATIONS
`Lotus Notes Magazine (JP Edition). No. 32. Jun. 1999.
`Fujitsu Magazine. vol. 50. No. 4. Jul. 1999.
`Office Action from Japanese counterpart patent application No.
`200l—546019 mailedJun.29 2010.
`t'
`1'
`t
`t
`t
`01311
`‘ \ct'
`' f
`J
`"
`cc ’
`‘0“ “3'“ “1mm CW“ “PM 9”” applca'on
`20111-546019. mailed May 26. 2011.
`Smilagic. Asim e1 3].. MoCCA: A Mobile Conununication and
`Computing Architecture. ACM SIGMOBILE Mobile Computing
`and Communications Review. vol. 3. Issue 4. Oct. 1999. pp. 3.
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`20111-546019 mailed Oct 26 2010
`.
`'.
`‘
`'
`'
`..
`.
`‘
`.
`lDO Corporation news rclcasofotmd at URL http:.-.-wwfkddl.u.om
`corporate!news_releasefkako.tldnfnews:19990929.htn1|. Sep. 29.
`1999‘
`
`N
`
`0'
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Oct. 29, 2013
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`US. Patent
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Oct. 29, 2013
`
`Sheet 3 of 10
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`US. Patent
`
`Oct. 29, 2013
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`US. Patent
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`US. Patent
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`Oct. 29, 2013
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`US. Patent
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`Oct. 29, 2013
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`US 8,572,198 B2
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Oct. 29, 2013
`
`Sheet 9 of 10
`
`US 8,572,198 132
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Oct. 29, 2013
`
`Sheet 10 of 10
`
`US 8,572,198 32
`
`FIG. 10
`
`10% Off at Gap till 7pm tonight
`
`Please come to our Shibuya store by
`7pm tonight and get 10% off on your
`
`purchase. (imaHima user)
`
`Options
`
`12
`
`12
`
`

`

`US 8,572,198 BZ
`
`l
`SYSTEMS FOR TARGETING ADVERTISING
`BASED ON STATUS OR LOCATION OF
`MOBILE INTERNET USERS AND METHODS
`THEREFOR
`
`'lhis application is a continuation application of Ser. No.
`131761269, filed Feb. 14. 2013, whichisacontinuation appli—
`cation ofSer. No. 13121 1.970. filedAug. I7. 201] which is a
`continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 12t’910,185_. filed Oct. 22.
`2010. now U.S. Pat. No. 8005,91 I, which is a continuation of 10
`application Ser. No. 11871.190. filed Oct. 12. 2007, now
`U.S. Pat. No. 7.822.823, which is a continuation ofapplica-
`lion Ser. No. Wall-19.203, filed Sep. I I. 2002. now U .3. Pat.
`No. 7.284033, which was the National Stage of International
`Application No. PCTIIBOOr'01995. filed Dec. 13. 2000. and 15
`which claims priority from application Ser. Nos. 095559.684
`and 09/589,685, both filed Jun. 7, 2000, and application No.
`60!] 70.844. filed Dec. 14. 1999. The contents of each ofthese
`applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates to systems and methods for
`facilitating communication between mobile Internet users
`and for facilitating electronic commerce that is tailored to the 25
`communicated information. More particularly. the present
`invention relates to techniques for allowing users of Internet-
`capable mobile devices to communicate in a manner that
`takes into account user identity attd profile, user status. user
`present and futuret’intended activity. user present and futurel 3o
`intended location, and time duration and for allowing mer-
`chants to promote goods and services in a more effective
`tuanner based on the user‘s communicated information and
`
`behavior profile. As the Internet becomes more accepted and
`ttsefitl. there has been a tremendous amount of interest in 35
`endowing mobile devices. such as cellular phones. laptop
`computers. personal digital assistants (PDAs). pagers. and the
`like, with wireless Internet capability. Emails and access to
`web search engines are often cited as the two Internet appli-
`cations thal users wish to have access to while being away 4::
`from their desktop Internet terminal. As manufacturers turn
`their attention to the wireless Internet market. consortiums
`and standards have evolved for bringing the power of the
`Internet to the wireless and miniaturized world of mobile
`devices. By way of example, technical proposals such as the 45
`Wireless Application Protocol (WAI’) and mobile Internet
`(mobile IP) have received much attention in the press as of
`late.
`As the wireless mobile Internet area is in its infancy and
`market penetration has been rather low, much of the current 50
`attention is directed toward issues involved in achieving an
`acceptable, data transmission rate. data security, and reliabil-
`ity via the wireless medium and in bringing desktop-type
`applications. which the users have long enjoyed on their
`desktop terminals. to the small screen of the typical mobile 55
`device. However, there has been less attention to other impor-
`tant implications of wireless Internet access. particularly
`implications that do not apply to stationary, desk—bound Inter-
`net users.
`
`[I is reasoned by the inventor herein that one implication of at:
`wireless Internet computing is that the mobile user‘s location
`may dynamically change with time as the mobile user moves
`about during his day. Since his Internet access is through a
`portable mobile device, the mobile useressentially carries the
`wltole Internet with him from location to location. Accord— 65
`ingly. wireless mobile Internet aceess is capable of a whole
`range of applications vastly different front those applicableto
`
`2
`
`stationary. desktop Intemet access. With convenient mobile
`Internet access. the user may readily update his information to
`the Internet as well as utilize the lntemet to search for infor-
`
`mation pertaining to other users. for example. For mobile
`Internet users.
`time and location become very important
`dimensions of the communication experience.
`Furthermore, it is expected that mobile users will utilize
`wireless Intemet access in a manner that is more integrated
`with their daily routines than their deskbound counterparts.
`Because of the small size. convenience. and portability of the
`portable Internet access devices, it is expected that mobile
`users will integrate Internet technology into their dai 1y activi-
`ties in ways that are simply not possible before. By way of
`example, a user employing an Internetcapable cellular phone
`may have Internet access while shopping. commuting. din»
`ing. strolling about town, and the like. It
`is expected that
`mobile Internet users will access the Internet to receive infor-
`
`mation. to communicate, to engage in electronic commerce,
`and the like while moving about handling their day-to-day
`chores. In contrast, deskbound users, because ofllte lack of
`mobility of their Internet access, are typically restricted to
`accessing the Internet only when at home. in the office. or at
`a location where Internet access through a desktop terminal
`may be found.
`Two of the most challenging but potentially useful areas in
`wireless mobile Internet access involve tnobile user coordi-
`nation and electronic commerce. Mobile user coordination
`refers to timedependent, activity—dependent andfor location—
`dependent coordination among individual mobile Internet
`users to enable them to coordinate in order to participate in a
`certain activity or accomplish a certain goal, either in the
`present time or at some future point in time. By way of
`example. a mobile Internet user may wish to coordinate an
`impromptu gathering with selected friends and may wish to
`use the Internet to both gather information about the friends“
`availability. current location, andfor currentlplanned activi—
`ties and to invite the friends to meet at a specified location at
`a specified time. As another example, a mobile Internet user
`may indicate that he intends to be at some particular place in
`the future and invite! instruct others to tneet at the saute place.
`As yet another example, a mobile Intemet user may be inter-
`ested in a certain activity [e.g.. shopping, playing tennis] at
`some specified location at some specified time (either in the
`immediate future or at some specified time in the future) and
`may employ the lntemet to publish his intention to invite
`either selected others or anyone interested to participate.
`Electronic commerce based on user location and activity
`information is another area that merchants are highly inter-
`ested in. If the user past. current. and future activity and
`location are known, such information in conjunction with the
`user‘s behavioral andtor purchasing profile may allow a mer-
`chant to more precisely tailor the offering of their products or
`services and communicate such offering to the user to maxi-
`mize tltc chance of purchase.
`In the current art. users may attempt to employ emails to
`inform others of his coordination efi'ort. However. even if
`
`emails become widely accessible by mobile Internet users,
`there are drawbacks to using emails for tnobile user coordi—
`nation purposes. For one. emails mixes it popularity partly to
`the fact that it allows the user to attend to the entails only when
`convenient. The rest of the time. the received emails sit
`
`patiently in the receiver’s mailbox. waiting to be read. How-
`ever. this manner of use is incompatible with mobile user
`coordination of events that are location—dependent and are
`perishable with the passage cftime. By the time the recipient
`gets around to reading his email. the time for the event may
`have already passed. Additionally. email is a “push“ medium,
`
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`

`

`3
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`4
`
`US 8,572,198 B2
`
`which intrudes into the recipient‘s daily routine. This is par—
`ticularly disadvantageous to mobile phone users who may
`wish to be notified with an audible wanting (such as a ring) as
`soon as an email arrives.
`
`li'urthertnore, email communication is intrusive in that it
`presumes that the recipients wish to receive and review the
`infon'nation sent by the senders. In fact. most Internet users
`nowadays are deluged with emails. most ofthein may even be
`well-intentioned, all of which require an undue amount of
`titne every day to review and respond. Users resent this and
`for many users. the response has been to filter emails. either
`manually or automatically. so that only the urgent emails
`(e.g.. those from superiors. loved ones, or work—related] are
`attended to right away artd the rest ignored until a convenient
`time (such as at the end of the day or on weekends). Again,
`this manner of use is also incompatible with the needs of
`mobile user coordination pertaining to events which may be
`location-specific and little-sensitive.
`Furthermore, unless a user sends out an email or responds
`to one. email communication does not allow others to query
`for one‘ s availability. current location. mood. intended activ-
`ity, location in the future, etc. without being intrusive. By way
`of example. a user cannot readily inquire about the current
`location or availability of another user without sending an
`email and requesting a reply or in sortie tnauner require a
`response from the other user. who may be busy or simply
`uninterested in the reason for the inquiry.
`Additionally, email content tends to be free—form and is
`thus difficult for merchants to easily utilize the information
`contained therein for the purpose of determining the user‘s
`location. present and intended activity. and the like. Since
`such in formation is of great interest to merchants. the dim-
`culty of ascertaining such information from free-form email
`communication is a drawback. Additionally, the free—form
`nature of email also renders it less convenient as a commu—
`nication tool for mobile Internet users. This is because most
`mobile Internet users loath to enter freetbnn data on the
`
`miniaturized keyboardfhandwriting recognition pad that are
`furnished with most mobile Internet devices today.
`With regard to the need to furnish time-relevant location
`information for mobile Internet users, it has been proposed
`that the user’s current location can be tracked using location—
`finding technologies such as Global Positioning System
`(GPS). In fact, it has been proposed that 61’s circuitries be
`incorporated into mobile lntemet devices in the future. How-
`ever. there are drawbacks to such a proposal. For one, GPS
`tracking seriously threatens the privacy of the user of the
`GPS~enabled mobile Internet device since it renders it pos—
`sible to track the user at every instant. For most users. this is
`the equivalent of being followed throughout the day and is
`simply an unwelcomed intrusion. The integration of UPS
`technology into mobile Internet devices also involves addi-
`tional power requirement, complex circuitries and costs. both
`for the mobile Internet devices and for the transmission net-
`works that handle them. As the majority of mobile Internet
`devices. as well as their support infrastructures, are not GPS—
`enabled today. it is also not possible to offer services based on
`(iPS technology until a sulficient number of users and service
`providers have upgraded their equipment to work with 6138.
`Still furthermore. although location-finding technologies
`such as GPS can track a given user’s current location, no
`information is available about that user’s current activity.
`future activity. intended future location at a specified time,
`andi‘or availabilitytwillingness to participate. Yet. these are
`some of the pieces of inforn-ration that may be very useful in
`a mobile user coordination application.
`
`10
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`Group calendar programs are another class of desktop
`application programs that may conceivably be used for coor-
`dinating mobile users. However. most grottp calendar prod-
`ttcts are directed toward small. closed groups. i.e.. groups
`whose members are known andt'or foriued in advance to fur-
`ther a particular goal such as employees of a business. The
`available grottp calendar products are. for the most part, ill
`adapted for use via the lntemet wherein the number and
`identity of users may not be known in advance and wherein
`the range of activities proposed may be infinite. By way of
`example. most group calendar programs are not well adapted
`for allowing previously unknown users to sign on and per-
`form searches and for allowing the users to control the privacy
`settings for individual items ofinfortnation about themselves .
`As another example. group calendars tend to work by posting
`information on calendars of others. a paradigm that is unsuit-
`able when the size of the group that a user wishes to gain
`expose to may be as large as the Internet community itself. In
`fact. most group calendars become unmanageable when the
`sire of the group become too large and the sheer volume of
`calendared events overwhelm most users (giving rise to a
`problem not unlike the spam entail problem). This paradigm
`also tends not to work well on the miniaturized screens of
`most mobile lntemet devices. which render it difficult to view
`a large amount of displayed data.
`tend to be
`Additionally, because calendar prodttcts
`employed by users to plan their day and activities. the major-
`ity of which involve private activities and typically do not
`include other users. most of the entries therein are inappli—
`cable for use in mobile usercoordination applications (which.
`by design. are directed toward sharing information among
`mobile users). Also. daily calendar information (versus
`posted information designed to invite participation by others)
`is typically considered highly private by most users. and a
`user tend to be reluctant to disclose such information to others
`
`(which partly explains the relative lack of use of such prod—
`ucts nowadays and where they are used. only for work-related
`purposes and work-related entries among small. known group
`of people). Because most people tend to associate a greater
`degree ofprivacy with their calendar entries. using calendar
`infiirmatiou for the purpose for promoting goods and services
`by merchants may provoke an unduly negative reaction
`among users.
`A case can be made for maintaining multiple calendars.
`one of which could be designated for pttblici’semi-public
`access so that other users can review the calendarcd infomia-
`
`tion for the purpose ot‘deciding whether they wish to partici-
`pate. I- Iowcver, such a solut ion tends to be impractical as users
`typically do not want to have to keep track of which calendar
`to use for which purpose since the goal of using a calendar.
`after all. is to centralize information in one location for the
`purpose ofplanning onc’s day.
`Furthermore, most group calendar products are not well
`adapted to the needs of mobile internet users. who inherent
`characteristics is constantly changing location. This is hardly
`surprising since group calendar products were developed pri~
`marily for the desktop Internet users. Furthermore. most
`group calendar products also involve unstructured data entry,
`which tends to be less attractive for mobile Internet users
`who, as mentioned earlier. have to contend with the limited
`screen space and keyboardx'handwriting recognition pad of
`their mobile Internet devices. Still further. the group calendar
`products currently available. being developed for desktop
`computers. tend to require a large amount of memory. pemia—
`nent storage. and processing power to run. Most of these
`programs exist as executable codes permanently stored on the
`desktop computers. Permanent and random access memory,
`
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`14
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`

`5
`
`6
`
`US 8,572,198 B2
`
`as well as computing power and battery life. are of course
`limited resources on mobile Internet devices. thus rendering
`the current generation of group calendar prodtlcts unsuitable
`for use on the mobile Internet devices. Instant messaging,
`which is a technology developed when Internet access was
`primarily accomplished via desktop terminals. also suffer
`many of the same deficiencies. Through instant messaging. it
`is now possible to inform other users of the user‘s current
`activity and availability. However, instant messaging as it is
`currently implemented does not account for the mobile nature
`of users (as would be the case when users access the Internet
`wirelessly via mobile lntemct devices) orthe little-dependent
`nature of the activities involved. For example. there is no
`established facility within instant messaging to allow users to
`invite others to a planned activity happening at sortie pre-
`defined time in the future at sortie predefined location (or
`allow others to search for the same). Instant messaging appli-
`cations also require downloading executable codes. a require-
`ment that is typically unwelcomed by users of the mobile
`Internet devices who are constantly challenged with doing
`more with less power consumption, and less computing and
`memory resources.
`Because of these shortcomings. these technologies. which
`were developed when desktop Internet access were the pre-
`dominant mode of access. do not adequately serve the needs
`of the mobile Internet users. As front-ends for electronic
`
`commerce applications, they also have many deficiencies. In
`view of the foregoing, there are desired improved techniques
`for allowing mobile Internet users to communicate for the
`purpose of coordinating activities and to allow merchants to
`employ user identity and behaviorr’shopping profile. user sta-
`tus. user present and futurefintended activity. user present and
`future! intended location. andfor time duration in the promo-
`tion of goods and services.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The invention relates, in one embodiment to a computer-
`implemented method implemented via the lntemct for coor-
`dinating an activity between a user of a mobile I nternet device
`and other users communicating through the Internet. The
`method includes receiving activity information pertaining to
`the event from the user via the mobile Internet device. The
`
`activity pertains to an activity occurring during a time period
`that overlaps the time the activity information is received. The
`method further includes transmitting the activity information
`to a backend database coupled to the Internet. the backend
`database being remote from the mobile lntemct device. The
`method further includes rendering the activity infonnation
`accessible to at least one recipient via the Internet. The recipi—
`ent represents a subset ofthe users coupled to the Internet and
`having access privilege to information pertaining to the event
`involving the user.
`in another embodiment. to a
`The invention also relates.
`competer-implemented system for coordinating an activity
`between a userofa first mobile internet device and otherusers
`
`communicating through the Internet. The computer—imple—
`mented system includes a server arrangement coupled to the
`Internet. The server arrangement
`includes first codes and
`second codes. The first codes is configured to implement a
`first application program using a web-based paradigm on the
`first mobile Internet device. The first application program is
`implemented with the first codes transmitted from the server
`arrangement to the first mobile Internet device. The first
`application program is configured to receive activity infor