| 40th week of 2008 patent applcation highlights part 78 |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20080243554 | System and Method of Electronically Perfecting a Premium Finance Agreement - A system and method of electronically perfecting a premium finance agreement (PFA) includes receiving data associated with an agent, the agent representing a potential insured; receiving data from the agent corresponding to at least a down payment for the PFA by the insured; providing the agent with the ability to electronically sign the PFA; and generating an email message to the insured, the email message corresponding with the PFA and the down payment. The system and method also include receiving bank account data associated with the insured; displaying a confirmation of the down payment amount that will be deducted from the bank account; providing a person authorized by the insured the ability to electronically sign the PFA; and electronically debiting the bank account for at least the down payment amount. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243555 | Method and system for insurance of fines - Insurance coverage to pay for fines including vehicle parking and other offences. Means of identification of insurer and insured to enable payment by insurance company direct to the fining authority. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243556 | HISTORICAL INSURANCE TRANSACTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present invention relates to a system and method for conducting historical search transactions that relate directly or indirectly to insurance subrogation and adverse claims. The invention includes a method for the accurate resolution of insurance claims (including claims against self-insureds), and a method for determining the settlement rules applied by an insurer or self-insurer in settling automotive casualty claims. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243557 | Information transmission system - An information transmission system is composed of a policyholder terminal used by the policyholder and an insurer server used by an insurer, the policyholder terminal includes: a policyholder information transmitting step for transmitting information regarding the policyholder to the insurer server via the Internet; an information receiver information transmitting step for transmitting information regarding an information receiver to the insurer server; and a transmission information depositing step for depositing transmission information with the insurer server, and the insurer server includes: a policyholder information recording step for recording the information regarding the policyholder; an information receiver information recording step for recording the information regarding the information receiver; a transmission information storing step for storing information to be transmitted to the information receiver; and a transmission information transmitting step for transmitting the information to the information receiver in the case where a predetermined condition is satisfied. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243558 | System and method for monitoring driving behavior with feedback - In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a network system for monitoring driving behavior comprises one or more vehicle-mountable motion sensing mechanisms that generate a plurality of data relevant to vehicle moving attitude. The data being indicative of manual or mental risks for a vehicle operator is wirelessly transmittable. The network system also comprises a central data processing system that collects the data transmitted from the motion sensing mechanisms. A risk assessment engine operatively coupled to the central data processing system analyzes the collected data to determine the manual or mental risks. The central data processing system further comprises a feedback engine operable to yield indicia based on the analyzed data that is reportable to the vehicle operator or an authorized data recipient. A reward engine operatively coupled to the feedback engine provides incentives to encourage good or improved driving behavior. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243559 | WORKERS' COMPENSATION INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - A workers' compensation medical reporting system including software accessed at a provider computer, the software adapted to prompt the provider to input the data concerning a workers' compensation claim, the software adapted to send an electronic workers' compensation claim, the software adapted to send an electronic workers' compensation treatment report electronically across the Internet to a payer computer; and electronic report filtering software accessed at the payer computer, the electronic report filtering software adapted to direct the electronic report as a result of predetermined criteria, electronic workers' compensation medical treatment reports that meet a human review criteria are automatically set to a case manager for review, other electronic workers' compensation medical treatment reports are automatically directed to be processed. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243560 | VIRTUAL CEMETERY WITH CONSECRATION - A method for making an on-line virtual cemetery wherein a customer can construct and display a web site for the departed having bibliographic information, the method having the steps of an online user operating an computer application for selecting a computer-generated environmental setting of the grave site; obtaining consecration of the site by desired clergy; and recording and displaying video messages. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243561 | Electronic mail based travel document check-in system - A system and method for a check-in procedure includes a reservation system, a customer loyalty system, and a self-service check-in system, which are connected to an e-mail capable device, for use by a customer, through an Internet or other public computer network. The self-service check-in system then sends a customer an e-mail notification, to which the customer can perform a check-in procedure by sending a reply e-mail. The self-service check-in system verifies the reply sent by the customer and sends the customer an e-mail confirmation that includes check-in information. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243562 | Web Enabled Business to Business Computer System for Rental Car Services Having a Bidirectional Communication Link with a Repair Facility - 3 - An Internet enabled, business-to-business computerized transaction system is disclosed in its preferred embodiment for use in providing rental car services for high volume users and comprises an Internet web portal through which the high volume user may access an integrated business computer network for the rental vehicle service provider. The rental vehicle services provider computer network is configured to interconnect a geographically diverse plurality of branch offices, cataloguing their available rental vehicles and schedules for same as well as handling all transactional data relating to its business. The Internet web portal provides ubiquitous connectivity and portability for a multi-level business organization who regularly places high volumes of rental purchases with its business partner. Utilizing the method and apparatus of the present invention large volumes of rental transactions may be placed, monitored, altered during performance, and closed out with financial accounting and payment being made virtually without human intervention. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243563 | Web Enabled Business to Business Computer System for Rental Car Services Including Data Display Functionality - 4 - An Internet enabled, business-to-business computerized transaction system is disclosed in its preferred embodiment for use in providing rental car services for high volume users and comprises an Internet web portal through which the high volume user may access an integrated business computer network for the rental vehicle service provider. The rental vehicle services provider computer network is configured to interconnect a geographically diverse plurality of branch offices, cataloguing their available rental vehicles and schedules for same as well as handling all transactional data relating to its business. The Internet web portal provides ubiquitous connectivity and portability for a multi-level business organization who regularly places high volumes of rental purchases with its business partner. Utilizing the method and apparatus of the present invention large volumes of rental transactions may be placed, monitored, altered during performance, and closed out with financial accounting and payment being made virtually without human intervention. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243564 | TRAVEL PLAN GENERATION - In a computing system, an identification of a traveler, a destination, a departure date, and one or more activity indicators is received from a user. One or more predefined tasks to be executed in preparation for travel by the traveler based on the received information are generated. Each of the one or more received activity indicators is used to generate a task. A travel plan that includes the one or more tasks to be executed is displayed. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243565 | Method and Computer Software for Integrating Systems Engineering and Project Management Tools | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243566 | System, Method And Apparatus For Identifying And Correcting Data Integrity Problems Associated With Remotely Located Equipment - A method, system and apparatus for identifying and correcting data integrity problems associated with remotely located equipment, e.g. vending machines, are provided. A handheld device collects a first set of data and a second set of data associated with the remotely located equipment. The handheld device compares the first set of data with the second set of data, and based at least on the comparison, identifies one or more data integrity problems associated with the remotely located equipment. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243567 | SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY FOR SEQUENTIAL NAVIGATION AND MONITORING IN A BUSINESS PROCESS OR COMPLEX TASK - A method and system to monitor steps in a business process or complex tasks are described. The method may include displaying a graphical step monitor in a graphical user interface of an application, using a plurality of graphical elements indicating statuses of a plurality of steps in a sequence of steps in a process. The method may include receiving update information related to one or more steps of the plurality of steps. The method may also include updating the statuses of the steps for which the update information was received and as indicated by the plurality of graphical elements. Furthermore, the method may include displaying a description region including a further plurality of graphical elements and texts, the texts describing the steps, the statuses of which are indicated by the graphical elements. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243568 | INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM - The present invention describes mining UCC filings from the various states. The data from the UCC filings is arranged into searchable databases from which competitive marketing and financial information may be gleaned and used to advantage. Details of dates, costs, buyers, sellers, financial terms and financial backers, banks, and others may be gleaned and used for competitive purposes. Special leases and purchasing terms may be formulated at advantageous times that specifically target an area with specificity that enhances the prospects for success. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243569 | AUTOMATED LOAN SYSTEM AND METHOD - The invention provides an automated system and method for providing a loan to a consumer. A loan request is received from a borrower. In response to receiving the loan request, non loan revenue associated with the borrower is determined. At least one loan term for a loan for the borrower is determined, based, at least in part, upon the non loan revenue. The method is carried out by analyzing information related to consumer purchases associated with the borrower. An amount of non loan revenue to be associated with the borrower is based, at least in part, on the information about consumer purchases. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243570 | Time-Based Decomposition for Optimization of Master Planning Problems - A system and method is disclosed for optimization of master planning problems. The system provides for accessing supply chain data describing the flow of one or more items through the supply chain network and accessing constraints and a planning problem associated with one or more entities associated with the supply chain network. The system further provides for modeling a planning problem for a planning horizon based on at least a portion of the accessed supply chain data and the constraints. The system still further provides for decomposing the planning horizon into multiple sub-horizons and optimizing the planning problem for each of the multiple sub-horizons. The system yet further provides for generating an optimal supply chain plan for the planning problem, based on the optimization of the multiple sub-horizons. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243571 | AUDITING ADVERTISEMENT PRESENTATIONS ON A CLIENT DEVICE - An advertisement auditing system determines whether advertisements are being presented to or displayed on client devices in an intended fashion. By comparing expected advertising results with actual advertising results on a client device, it is possible to evaluate the accuracy of advertising campaigns and advertisement content delivery. In various embodiments, the client device(s) may be virtualized to improve flexibility and scalability of auditing functions. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243572 | Market Data-Driven Simulation of Order Book Mechanics - A system and a method are disclosed for simulating data driven market order exchange mechanics. An event processing engine receives a feed of market data and forwards it to an exchange simulator. The feed of market data may be recorded market data, live relayed market data, or simulated market data. A series of order requests is also received. The order requests are market order or limit orders, and can include new orders, amend orders, or cancel orders. The feed of market data is analyzed and an inference algorithm is applied by making probabilistic inferences to determine what actions may have occurred to produce the received feed of market data. A second series of order requests are produced. The received order requests and the second series of order requests are combined with normal exchange rules to produce a stream of simulated market data and a series of updated order requests. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243573 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING THE ACCURACY AND REACH OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA EXPOSURE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS - Methods and apparatus for crediting media exposure are disclosed. An example method includes deriving a plurality of travel paths traversed by respective ones of a plurality of respondents, determining, via a first technique, exposures of the respective ones of the plurality of respondents to a plurality of media sites based on the derived plurality of travel paths, and modifying the determined exposures to the plurality of media sites to improve a statistical accuracy of the modified determined exposures by constraining the determined exposures based on exposure information for the plurality of media sites obtained via a second technique different than the first technique. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243574 | System and method for composite business interactions in electronic commerce - A method, system, computer program product, and data structure for processing requests for services in a networked data processing system is provided. In one embodiment a request is received by a service provider. The request includes defined allowable actions and request definition compositions. The request also includes a plurality of actions wherein the relationships between the plurality of actions are defined. The service provider processes the plurality of actions according to the defined relationships and generates a response. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243575 | System and Method for Dynamically Allocating Human Resources to a Project Plan - A system and method for dynamically allocating human resources to a project plan is provided. Audit data associated with legacy planning processes may be analyzed in order to estimate an amount of work effort, a cost, or other information associated with various resources (e.g., the resource may be assigned a relative value based on skills maturity, experience, overall repertoire, or other factors). As such, a more accurate assessment of a given project plan may be created, thereby providing various advantages, such as minimizing risks, improving confidence in estimates or proposals, improving return on investment calculations, maximizing profitability per project, or effectively identifying which projects should be allocated to skilled workers, entry level or lower skilled workers, or otherwise. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243576 | System and method of allocating an incoming order to standing orders - A method of allocating a quantity of an incoming order for a product develops a value that indicates a portion of the incoming order this is to be allocated using a FIFO algorithm and allocates a first portion of the incoming order to standing orders using the FIFO algorithm. The method further allocates a second portion of the incoming order to standing orders using a pro-rata algorithm, wherein the step of allocating the second portion leaves a remaining quantity of the incoming order. In addition, the method allocates the remaining portion to the standing orders using a FIFO algorithm. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243577 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSOR DRIVEN CONCEPT AUCTION - A method for executing a concept auction is provided that includes inputting information for one or more concepts; storing the concepts in a memory device; assigning a number of shares to each concept; assigning a bidding unit to each participant bidding on a selected concept; and determining the results of the auction based on bid information provided by each participant. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243578 | ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS FOR A PRICE PLANNING WORKBENCH - A method for defining a price planning schedule according to one or more organization settings. The method includes receiving a first organization setting for at least one article. The first organization setting is configured to be a default organization setting. The method also includes receiving a pricing level for the first organization setting for the at least one article and receiving at least a second organization setting for the at least one article. Further, the method includes receiving a second pricing level for the second organization setting and generating a first price planning schedule based on the first organization setting and the second organization setting for the at least one article. The method also includes receiving a pricing signal from a slow seller management system and adjusting at least one of the pricing level and the second pricing level based on the pricing signal. The method includes generating a second price planning schedule based on adjusting at least one of the pricing level and the second pricing level. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243579 | Methods and Apparatus for Coordinating and Selecting Protocols for Resources Acquisition from Multiple Resource Managers - Techniques are disclosed for allocation of resources under the control of resource managers and the choice and coordination of resource acquisition protocols to communicate with these resource managers. The resource managers may be distributed and heterogeneous. For example, a technique for use by a service provider for allocating one or more resources from multiple resources associated with multiple resource managers based on at least one service agreement offer from a service client comprises the following steps/operations. At least one service agreement offer is obtained. A resource allocation is automatically determined based on the obtained service agreement offer. The automated step/operation of determining the resource allocation comprises: (i) coordinating selection of a resource acquisition protocol from among multiple resource acquisition protocols for use in communicating with the multiple resource managers to acquire one or more resources associated therewith; and (ii) evaluating a performance associated with one or more of the multiple resource acquisition protocols. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243580 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SERVICES PARTNER LABOR RATE OPTIMIZATION - Effective and efficient multi-vendor labor rate negotiations are supported by using a minimization algorithm to provide an optimized total cost of staffing allocation. Critical impact factors are also provided to identify specific labor categories or other vendor attributes that have the greatest impact on the total staffing allocation cost. By varying the elements identified by the critical impact factors and using the computer-implemented optimization algorithm, real-time changes are available to the vendors to assist in the negotiations of services contract agreements. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243581 | PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM - A personnel management method and system. The method includes receiving by a computing system, first data from a first resource in response to a first survey. The computing system receives second data in response to a second survey. The computing system analyzes the first data with respect to said second data. Based on the analyzing, the computing system generates a first resource specification report associated with a first resource and a project model. Based on the analyzing and the project model, the computing system generates a first project specification report. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243582 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING CONFLICTING CALENDAR ENTRIES - The present invention enables a user to schedule meetings and detect scheduling conflicts. A system user such as an employee schedules a meeting. The time and date of the meeting is stored in an account for that user. When the same user schedules another meeting, that meeting is detected and compared with any previously and scheduled and stored meetings for that user. If there is a conflict between the presently scheduled meeting and any previously scheduled meeting, then the present invention alerts the user and gives the user the opportunity to select the new meeting for that time or to retain the currently scheduled meeting. The present invention can also store and track the unscheduled meetings. In the event the scheduled meeting is postponed or canceled, the user can be notified and given the opportunity to schedule and attend a previously declined meeting that was scheduled for that same time. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243583 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC SCHEDULING OF CONTENT DELIVERY - A method for use in providing content to a user includes providing a first item of content to the user, calculating a first remaining amount of time between an end of the first item of content and an end of a fixed period of time, selecting a second item of content based on information relating to the user and with a length of the second item of content being equal to or less than the first remaining amount of time, and providing the second item of content to the user. A storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor based system to execute these steps, and a system for use in providing content includes a processing system configured to execute these steps. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243584 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ALLOCATING REPRESENTATIVES TO SITES IN CLINICAL TRIALS - Methods and systems for allocating representatives, such as clinical research associates (CRAs), to sites. One embodiment comprises a method for allocating CRAs to sites by determining for each CRA the first segment travel time from a starting location to a first node associated with a CRA, and the second segment travel time from the first node to a plurality of second nodes, wherein each second node is geographically associated with a site, determining the third segment travel time from each second hub to its corresponding site(s), for each CRA determining the aggregate travel time to each site by adding at least the first, second and third travel segments, for at least some of the CRAs and at least some of the sites, evaluating the aggregate travel times between CRAs to each of the sites, and allocating a CRA to allocate to each site based in part on the travel times. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243585 | IMPLEMENTING MEETING MODERATOR FAILOVER AND FAILBACK - A method, apparatus, and computer-usable medium for scheduling a meeting, determining a set of policies for selecting a replacement meeting moderator if an original meeting moderator is not present in the meeting, specifying the a set of policies for reestablishing control of the meeting to the original meeting moderator when the original meeting moderator rejoins the meeting, deciding whether to implement a default policy or a custom policy as the set of policies. The default policy includes examining a user directory, establishing a hierarchy ranking of a collection of meeting members, where the original meeting moderator holds the highest rank, and designating a member of the collection of meeting members as a replacement meeting moderator, where the member holds a next highest rank in the hierarchy ranking. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243586 | RECRUITING ONLINE SURVEY PANEL MEMBERS UTILIZING A SURVEY TOOL - A survey tool, that may be a web-based or downloadable application, is provided to ordinary online users to enable them to create their own survey, quiz, test, poll, or similar item for posting on their website, blog, or social networking or community site page. The Internet user designs a survey utilizing the survey tool. The market research company allows the Internet user to post the results of at least one question from the survey designed by the Internet user on their own website, blog, social networking or community site page, etc. The market research company may invite the survey takers and survey viewers, as well as the Internet user, to join the market research company online survey panel through clicking on a link to the market research company's website. Thus, the market research company is able to add new members to its online survey panel with very little effort. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243587 | Increasing Incremental Spend By A Consumer - A rewards program has been developed that increases incremental spend by a consumer while maximizing the profits to a transactional account company. In an embodiment, a predicted spend of a given consumer over a given time period is calculated. A spend threshold for the consumer is set based on the predicted spend over the given time period. An incremental spend reward offer is then customized for the consumer, where the offer maximizes profits resulting from the offer based on a calculation of consumer profits derived from campaign group responses. The customization may involve, for example, simulating a response of the given consumer to an offer having various combinations of incentive variables, with the customized offer including the combination of incentive variables that maximizes profits resulting from the offer in the simulation. The consumer is rewarded for spend above the spend threshold during the given time period. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243588 | System and method for calculating new product first year net margin contribution - A comprehensive computer implemented method provides the effect on contribution margin that results from substituting a test product for an incumbent product in the test product's peer group. The method normalizes test and control store data by applying subcategory indices to calculate margin lift and to forecast sales for selected store distribution. The method further determines the effect of new product build-rate on forecasted sales for test products in their first year of distribution. The method calculates a plurality of cost and income effects on contribution margin including net vendor funding, advertising and promotion effects, net markdowns, incumbent item disposition costs, and net plan-o-gram expense among others. The system provides a category manager with a single dollar metric that specifically identifies the economic effect of authorizing distribution for a test product in all or a subset of the retailer's stores. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243589 | Questionnaire-driven system configuration - A system may determine a plurality of questions, each of the plurality of questions associated with one or more answer fields, associate each of a plurality of system configuration tasks with one or more of the one or more answer fields, and generate an executable questionnaire including the plurality of questions and indicating the plurality of system configuration tasks and the one or more of the one or more answer fields associated with each of the plurality of system configuration tasks. A system may also include receive an executable questionnaire comprising questions associated with answer fields, and indicating system configuration tasks associated with one or more of the answer fields, receive answers associated with the answer fields, and automatically generate a configuration project based on the received answers and on the system configuration tasks associated with one or more of the answer fields. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243590 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING EXPOSURE TO MEDIA - A method for measuring effects of media exposure on a subject is disclosed wherein recall estimate, time-use diary, momentary sampling of the subject during exposure and audio/visual survey are performed and analyzed by determining the attention of the subject to the medium and the effect of the environment on the subject to the medium. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243591 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - Included are a customer information storage unit | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243592 | INTEGRATED ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM WITH RESPECT TO PLURALITY OF ADVERTISING DOMAINS - An integrated advertising management method and system with respect to an advertising campaign including a plurality of advertising domains is provided. The integrated advertising management method includes the steps of: generating an advertiser identification associated with an advertiser; in response to a request from the advertiser, setting up an advertisement management component associated with the advertiser identification; and allowing the advertiser to manage the plurality of advertisements included in the advertising campaign by using the advertisement management component such that the advertiser can set up and update at least one of a plurality of conditions for the plurality of advertisements included in the advertising campaign. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243593 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING VARIABLE ADVERTISING CONTENT - A method for providing advertising content received from an advertiser comprises: receiving at least one advertising content associated with at least one target user group, and at least one search keyword associated with the at least one advertising content from an advertiser; associating the at least one target user group with at least one demographic category of users; storing the at least one advertising content in association with the at least one demographic category and the at least one search keyword in an advertisement database; detecting a search request from a user; obtaining user profile information associated with the user; retrieving advertising content from the advertisement database corresponding to demographic information contained in the obtained user profile information and the at least one search keyword received from the user; and displaying at least a portion of the retrieved advertising content to the user. The advertising contents include at least one search keyword and brief description, such as a title and/or description of the advertised subject matter. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243594 | ORDER PROMOTION SYSTEM - In an order promotion system, the storage management server reads out, from the storage means, the order inquiry information corresponding to the member identification number transmitted from the retailer system, and transmits the order inquiry information to the retailer system, and the retailer system judges, based on the order inquiry information received from the storage management server and the order inquiry condition stored in the condition storage means, whether it is possible to make an order inquiry to the user with regard to one of the information data and each of the commercial products, determines a content of the order inquiry, and makes an order inquiry based on a judgment result corresponding to a result of the judgment and the determination. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243595 | Information processing device, information processing method and information processing program - An information processing device | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243596 | Methods for advertising with personalized content and naming and systems thereof - A method, computer readable medium and system for personalized advertising includes retrieving at least one type and kind of advertisement based on preference information obtained from a consumer. The retrieved advertisement comprises at least one personification clip identifying the consumer by name integrated with general advertising content. The retrieved advertisement is output to the consumer for display. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243597 | FUTURE VALUE ANALYTICS - A method for assessing the performance of a company includes: receiving financial data about the company; determining a future value of the company; decomposing the future value into a plurality of future value components, where the plurality of future value components includes an economy component that defines an implied amount of growth of the company attributable to the growth of the economy in general; and displaying at least one of the future value components. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243598 | Campaign in a geo-spatial environment - A method, apparatus, and system of a campaign in a geo-spatial environment is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes populating each profile of a geo-spatial social network with an address data, forming a group in support of a campaign in the geo-spatial network when a particular user creates the group in support of the campaign and automatically communicating media to a physical location of a member of the group based on the address data associated with each profile of the geo-spatial network. The method may also include automatically creating the group based on a public data associated with each profile of the geo-spatial social network even prior to certain users associated with each profile registering geo-spatial social network by applying the public data to the each profile. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243599 | Rapid notarization method and system - A method and system for voting are disclosed. The method and system can include a voting terminal that may display an electronic ballot. The electronic ballot may contain some voting data and a voter may input voting or selection data into the electronic ballot using a computer peripheral device. A copy of the electronic ballot may be printed and a voter may substantially simultaneously sign the printed copy of the ballot and the electronic copy of the ballot. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243600 | Distributed open customer relationship management and care (CRMC) programs implemented with online vouchers - The present invention is a method for transferring electronic vouchers over a network system for defining and rewarding a customer relationship management and care (CRMC) activity. In a preferred embodiment, the method further includes a step of transferring an incentive electronic voucher for payment of an assessment of customer satisfaction. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243601 | ADVERTISEMENT INVENTORY PROCESSING - Systems and methods for requesting advertisement slots are provided. Inputs from multiple requesters for advance purchase of an advertisement slot can be received. A determination is made as to which of the requesters shall be allotted the advertisement slot in advance of presenting content of the advertisement slot. In the case where inputs include consideration terms, a determination may be made as to a high bidder for the advertisement slot based on the consideration terms. In one version, the system and related method includes three ways to request an advertisement slot, the ways including a bid, an advance purchase, and a reservation. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243602 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING IPTV ADVERTISEMENTS - Systems and methods according to the exemplary embodiments provide advertisements to end users in IPTV systems. IMS core networks can be used to provide the advertisements, via an IP network, to an IPTV client. An ad server can subscribe to a service which notifies it when a targeted user or users are online and inform it regarding an IPTV end user equipment that is currently being used. Then, a personalized advertisement can be forwarded to that IPTV end user equipment for rendering. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243603 | PROVIDING PRODUCT PLACEMENT INFORMATION PRESENTED IN A MEDIA PROGRAM - A method, an apparatus, and a computer usable program product for providing product placement information presented in a media program is provided. A controller receives a request for the product placement information presented in the media program. In response to receiving the request, the controller captures a timeframe for the request for the media program, wherein a product placement information list is associated with the timeframe. The controller then extracts the product placement information list for the timeframe from a buffer associated with the media program. The controller then presents the product placement information list to a user. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243604 | METHOD TO DISPOSE OF COMPENSATION OFFERS ON A DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER - A method, computer program product, and system are provided for administering earned compensation offers. A coupon administering module receives an indication that a compensation offer has been stored for a user in a data storage on a television device. The coupon administering module identifies a user device to which the compensation offer will be sent. Responsive to identifying the user device, the coupon administering module sends the compensation offer to the user device. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243605 | MARKETING AND REWARDS SYSTEM AND METHOD - Exemplary embodiments may include a system and method for marketing and rewards for users, who may be lenders, realtors, and from other regional or Internet businesses and their employees, to induce a user to use the services of a particular lender, realtor, or other business. Other embodiments may include a method and system for viral-type marketing. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243606 | CUSTOMER SATISFACTION METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR NETWORK PRINTERS - A method teaches monitoring at least one printing device via a communication network. A usage profile may be received from the printing device. The usage profile may include data that reflects usage of a consumable or a number of clicks by the printing device over a period of time. The usage profile may be compared to a service history profile to create a service-dependent usage profile. If the received service-dependent usage profile satisfies a reward criterion a user of the printing device may be provided with a reward. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243607 | RELATED ENTITY CONTENT IDENTIFICATION - An entity relationship defining an entity, e.g., a friendship relation in a social network, user groups, etc., can be identified and entity content based on the entity relationship, e.g., user profile data of user accounts, group memberships, etc., can be processed to identify entity topics. One or more content items, e.g., advertisements, can be identified based on the entity topics. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243608 | CREATION OF CUSTOMIZED INSTANCES OF PUBLICATIONS - Customized instances of a publication created. The instances are customized according to interests of different recipients. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243609 | PROVIDING TARGETED ADVERTISING CONTENT TO USERS OF COMPUTING DEVICES - A system for providing a user with advertising content is provided. The system includes a presence server, an advertising distribution server, and a profiling and targeting component that interact to provide one or more advertisement objects to a user of a computing device based on presence data generated by the user. The presence server receives presence notification messages from the user's computing device and transmits the presence data to the profiling and targeting component. The profiling and targeting component in turn defines an advertising package that directs the transmittal of advertisement objects from the advertising distribution server to the user's computing device. The profiling and targeting component may also create a user profile based on the presence data for defining the advertising package and may further determine a trend of the user based on historical presence data. A method, apparatus, and computer program product are also provided. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243610 | Attention estimation through incremental impression interaction for precise advertisement monetization - An advertising package can contain multiple levels of advertisements ranging from small, unobtrusive ads at initial levels, to larger, more complex and more informative ads at subsequent levels. Viewers of a web page, or users of an ad-sponsored program, can initially be presented with a first level advertisement. User triggering actions can cause the display of a subsequent level advertisements that can provide further information without leaving the context of the web page or ad-sponsored program. The levels of advertisements displayed to a user can offer a more precise measure of user interest, and can be the basis by which future ad packages are tuned, and can be the basis of more tiered financial agreements between the advertiser and the publisher. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243611 | System for determining local intent in a search query - A system and method are disclosed for determining local intent. Local intent may reflect whether a search query should receive results and advertisements that are geographically specific. The local intent may be determined using probabilistic models that analyze historical searches to determine which search terms tend to have local intent. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243612 | System and method for using a browser extension to detect events related to digital advertisements - Systems and methods for detecting events related to a digital ad are disclosed. Generally, a browser extension such as a toolbar running in conjunction with a primary application, such as an Internet browser, detects an event related to a digital ad. The event may be an Internet browser receiving one or more digital ads; one or more CSC beacon requests being sent from an Internet browser to an ad provider; a user navigation event such as a user clicking on a hyperlink associated with a digital ad or activating a digital ad; or any other event or action occurring within the Internet browser and/or browser extension. The browser extension determines the validity of the detected event and communicates an indication of the determined validity of the detected event to an online advertisement service provider. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243613 | Optimization of pay per click advertisements - An advertising management service allows an advertiser to create an advertisement and associate keywords with the advertisement. The advertising management service submits the advertisement to multiple search engine advertising networks on behalf of the advertiser. Periodically, the advertising management service receives a performance indicator for the keywords from the search engine advertising networks. Using the performance indicator, the advertising management service identifies some of the keywords as low performing keywords. The advertising management service replaces the low performing keywords with new keywords on the multiple search engine advertising networks. The advertising management service may also periodically reallocate a budget for the advertisement among the multiple search engine advertising networks based on the performance indicator. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243614 | ADAPTIVE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A technique of adaptive advertising is provided. The technique includes obtaining at least one of demographic and behavioral profiles of a plurality of individuals in an environment and adjusting an advertising strategy in the environment of one or more products based upon the demographic and behavioral profiles of the plurality of individuals. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243615 | ADVERTISING SYSTEM AND METHOD UTILIZING FLOOR MAT WITH RECESSED ADVERTISEMENT PANEL, AND METHOD OF DOING BUSINESS USING THE SAME - A floor advertising method that utilizes a floor mat having a recessed area for receiving an advertising panel. In one aspect, the method uses a floor advertising system comprising: a floor mat having a bottom surface, a top surface, and a recessed area in the top surface, the recessed area having a depth; and a panel having an advertisement, the panel positioned in the recessed area. In some embodiments, it is preferred that the panel have a thickness that is substantially equal to or less than the depth of the recessed area. In another aspect, the invention is a method of doing business utilizing such a floor advertising system. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243616 | Pushing Coupon Values - A system, method and a computer program product for pushing a coupon value to a user account are disclosed. A telephone call is established from a communication device with the telephone call being initiated in response to a user dialing an abbreviated dialing code. User information is obtained from the established telephone call. Also, a coupon value associated with the abbreviated dialing code is determined. A user account external to the communication device is identified based on the user information obtained from the established telephone call. The determined coupon value is pushed to the identified user account external to the communication device. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243617 | KEYWORD ADVERTISEMENT USING RANKING OF ADVERTISERS - A method of providing a keyword advertisement and a system for executing the method are provided. The method of providing the keyword advertisement includes: generating and maintaining an advertiser history ranking by using an advertiser keyword purchase history; and ordering the keyword advertisement display with respect to a user keyword by using the advertiser history ranking. In this instance, the advertiser keyword purchase history includes mapping information between an advertiser and a keyword purchased by the advertiser for each advertisement group or for each advertisement campaign. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243618 | METHOD OF ORGANIZING CONSUMERS IN THE DISCOUNTED RETAIL PURCHASE OF GOODS OR SERVICES - A method of organizing consumers in the discounted retail purchase of goods or services comprises the steps of forming an Organizational Structure which a plurality of consumers can join and establishing with at least one point of sale of goods or services, by means of the Structure, a discount percentage to be given to the member consumers for the purchase of at least one of the goods or services so as to facilitate the purchase thereof by some of the consumers at the point of sale. According to this method, membership of the Organizational Structure is free for the plurality of consumers and the points of sale provide the Structure with a monetary fee on the basis of the sale of the goods or services to the plurality of member consumers. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243619 | Method and system for delivery of advertising content in short message service (SMS) messages - Methods and apparatus are disclosed for combining advertising messages with short message service (SMS) messages in a wireless communications system. A signaling message processing and routing node transmits and receives short message service (SMS) data packets via a communications network. The routing node includes an SMS message processing module that determines whether an SMS message should be modified to include advertisements. SMS messages, whether modified or left unmodified, are forwarded to a destination mobile communications device. The SMS message processing module applies rules to match selected advertisements with the SMS message. The determination of whether to modify the SMS message to include a selected advertisement is based on a variety of considerations including: the content and format of the SMS message; the content and format of the advertisements; the communications and display characteristics of the destination mobile communications device; and the limitations of the channel used to communicate the message to the destination mobile communications device. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243620 | SELF-CHECKOUT COUPON SHARING - The present invention is directed to a system for processing coupons by a self checkout system, where the self checkout system includes at least one self checkout station coupled to a server. In a first aspect, a self checkout system includes a server for managing the self checkout system and at least one self checkout station coupled to the server, where the self checkout station includes a scanner for scanning at least one item for purchase by a customer, a coupon reader for receiving a coupon from the customer, and a coupon manager. The coupon manager attempts to validate the coupon against the at least one item scanned by the customer, and if the coupon fails to validate, the coupon manager stores the coupon in a coupon pool at the server such that the stored coupon can be utilized at a subsequent sales transaction. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243621 | INTEGRATION OF WIC ITEMS AND TRANSACTIONS INTO PERSONAL SHOPPING DEVICES - A method, system and computer program product for providing access to government benefits is disclosed. The method comprises positioning a short-range transmitter in a predetermined product area in a store, and storing one or more marketing messages in the short-range transmitter, wherein the one or more marketing messages are associated with one or more specific products located in the predetermined product area. The one or more marketing messages are transmitted to a wireless computer, and a user is identified as a participant in a government benefits scheme. Available under a subsidy program are communicated to a user and upon purchase of an item, an analysis of benefits available under a subsidy program is provided. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243622 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC TRADING THAT PROVIDE INCENTIVES AND LINKED AUCTIONS - Systems and methods for electronic trading that provide incentives for gathering orders, making markets, and submitting block orders, and that enable linking of multiple auctions are provided. These systems and methods may first determine if the trader qualifies for an incentive. This determination may be made based upon one or more characteristics, such as price, size, duration, etc., of orders submitted to the trading system by the trader. Once the trader has been determined as being eligible for one or more incentives, the incentives that are provided may include reduced transaction costs, cash payments, priority or exclusivity in trading, self execution of transactions, etc. Similarly, before an order is eligible to be traded in an auction that is linked to another auction in the trading system, the order is preferably confirmed as qualifying to be auctioned in such a manner. Once an order is confirmed as qualifying for a linked auction, the auction is created and preferably linked to another auction based upon a characteristic of the order, such as price. In addition to being linked, information from each auction may be made available to traders in the other auctions. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243623 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING LIMITED USE COUPON AND COUPON PRIORITIZATION - A system for managing coupon redemption and prioritization is provided. According to one aspect of the system, the system allows an electronic coupon or reward to be redeemed a specific number of times. The specific number of times may range from one to infinity. According to another aspect of the system, the system automatically resolves any redemption conflict associated with the concurrent redemption of electronic coupon(s) and paper-based coupon(s) by using certain predefined rules and logic. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243624 | ELECTRONIC MENU SYSTEM WITH AUDIO OUTPUT FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED - An electronic talking menu system for the visually impaired includes a battery powered portable electronic, audio output device having large back-lighted buttons corresponding to menu items. Each button corresponds to contents of the restaurant's menu, such as appetizers, drinks, seafood, desserts, etc. Pressing a particular button activates a pre-recorded description of the menu item, or menu items within the selected category. An electronic menus system thus provides a system for enabling a visually impaired person to review and select desired menu items using audio feedback. Delivery of pre-recorded content is accomplished via either a logically-managed service wherein formatted sound files are uploaded to a memory card from a personal computer via the Internet, and/or a courier-based service wherein formatted memory cards are delivered to restaurants via a third party parcel delivery service with a round-robin mailer to exchange memory cards. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243625 | Sharing Revenue With a User-Selected Entity - The activities of computer users are monetized. More specifically, revenue is generated in response to a revenue-generating event produced in response to a computer user's activity. The generated revenue is shared between a coordinating entity and an entity selected by the user. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243626 | POS FOCUSED MEDIA ENHANCED SHOPPING SYSTEMS - PRICING AND SHRINKAGE CONTROL - A media enhanced shopping cart system comprises a shopping cart comprising a frame, a basket, a handle, a base tray, a plurality of wheels, a read component for performing a proximity scan of the shopping cart, a locationing component for determining a location of the shopping cart within a store based on the scan, and a display component for displaying at least one advertisement for a product based on the location of the shopping cart within the store, wherein the locationing component is further operable to determine a location of the product within the store relative to the shopping cart based on the scan, and wherein the display component is further operable to display an indication of the location of the advertised product relative to the location of the shopping cart. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243627 | Presentation Instrument Display And Activation Systems And Methods - A method of validating and activating a purchase card includes providing a purchase card that is removably attached to a card carrier. The purchase card has an account identifier associated therewith and has a card indicium affixed thereto. The purchase card includes a machine-readable information encoding region into which the account identifier is encoded. The card carrier has a carrier indicium affixed thereto. The method includes populating a database with a stored card indicium that relates to the card indicium, a stored carrier indicium that relates to the carrier indicium, and a stored account identifier that relates to the account identifier, thereby uniquely coupling the account identifier to the card indicium. Activating the card by associating value to it includes comparing the information from the card indicium and the information from the carrier indicium with the stored card indicium and the stored carrier indicium | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243628 | DIFFERENTIAL PRICING BASED ON SOCIAL NETWORK STANDING - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that effectuates and facilitates the generation and provision of differential pricing policies based at least in part on the relative social network standing that a user might have with a potential purchaser. The disclosed system can include a component that receives data associated with a user, a good, or a service that the user lists for sale or barter in an online market place. The component can determine, based at least in part on the particular good or service, a differential pricing policy that can be associated therewith. The differential pricing policy can then be utilized to selectively provide differentiated prices to a purchaser based on a relative social network standing that can be established between the purchaser and the user. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243629 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR LOGICALLY PACKAGING AND DELIVERING A SERVICE OFFERING - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for logically packaging and delivering a service offering. A set of service implementation artifacts, a service ordering process, and a service provisioning process are selected and configured to implement a service offering. A requirements specification for the set of service implementation artifacts is defined. Logical associations between parameters are defined such that a change of a parameter for a first component triggers a change for a parameter of a second component. Beneficially, such an apparatus, system, and method accelerates the self-service ordering and deployment of service offerings. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243630 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED GIFT DELIVERY - A system and method for automated selective gift delivery whereby a gift-giver is provided the opportunity to register as a user of the system and with respect to each desired recipient of one or more gifts for one or more events, typically recurring, to provide information to the system about the recipient and the events such that the system may select, or cause to be automatically selected, a gift suitable for the recipient and event based upon the parameters provided by the gift-giver, and cause the gift to be automatically delivered to the recipient without further action or intervention by the gift-giver. Alternative modes of the invention provide for the gift-giver to be given the option of sending an alternative gift selected by the system, or caused to be selected by the system, as suitable for the recipient and event. Another additional mode permits the gift-giver to decline to have a gift sent to a recipient for a particular event. Another additional mode permits the gift-giver to select from among the available inventory of gifts suitable for the recipient and event. Another mode of the invention permits the user to have a gift automatically and selectively delivered for a one-time, rather than recurring, event. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243631 | SERVICES FOR PROVIDING ITEM ASSOCIATION DATA - A service is disclosed for enabling web sites and other entities to provide item recommendations and other behavior-based content to end users. The service can be implemented as a web service that is remotely accessible over the Internet. Web sites use the web service's interface to report events descriptive of item-related actions performed by end users (e.g., item views, item purchases, searches for items, etc.). The web service analyzes the reported event data on an aggregated basis to detect various types of associations between particular items, and stores resulting datasets that map items to associated items. The web service's interface also provides various API calls for enabling the web sites to request item recommendations and other behavior-based content, including but not limited to personalized recommendations that are based on the event history of the target user. Advantageously, the web sites need not host the infrastructure for providing such content. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243632 | SERVICE FOR PROVIDING ITEM RECOMMENDATIONS - A service is disclosed for enabling web sites and other entities to provide item recommendations and other behavior-based content to end users. The service can be implemented as a web service that is remotely accessible over the Internet. Web sites use the web service's interface to report events descriptive of item-related actions performed by end users (e.g., item views, item purchases, searches for items, etc.). The web service analyzes the reported event data on an aggregated basis to detect various types of associations between particular items, and stores resulting datasets that map items to associated items. The web service's interface also provides various API calls for enabling the web sites to request item recommendations and other behavior-based content, including but not limited to personalized recommendations that are based on the event history of the target user. Advantageously, the web sites need not host the infrastructure for providing such content. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243633 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECEIVING AND SPONSORING MEDIA CONTENT - A method and system of sponsoring a media item is disclosed herein. A media item is received from a submitter. The media item is published for consumer access. Requests for the media item are received from media consumers. A number of consumer requests for the media item is counted. A determination is made as to whether the number of consumer requests for the media item is higher than a predetermined threshold of popularity. If the number of consumer requests for the media item is determined to be higher than the predetermined threshold of popularity, the media item is sponsored on a webcast station. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243634 | PROVIDING WEBSITE HOSTING OVERAGE PROTECTION BY TRANSFERENCE TO AN OVERFLOW SERVER - Systems and methods of the present inventions allow for providing website hosting overage protection. An exemplary method may comprise the steps of hosting a website on a first server, monitoring a website usage parameter, transferring the website to an overflow server when the website usage parameter exceeds a first predetermined value, and redirecting a plurality of traffic to the overflow server. The website transfer may be accomplished by generating a copy of the website and installing the copy on the overflow server. The website may be retained on the first server. When the website usage parameter falls below a second predetermined value, traffic may be redirected back to the first server. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243635 | Automated sales support method & device - A system and method for notifying salespersons of customer communications including a target item is provided. Individual customers are mapped to one or more salespersons. Target items of interest to a salesperson are defined and a salesperson is associated with a customer. For each salesperson, on-line communication channels are monitored for the occurrence of a communications involving a customer associated with the salesperson and including a target item defined by the salesperson. When such an occurrence happens, a notification is directed to the salesperson. Salesperson access to the system and customer access to the on-line communication channels requires authorization. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243636 | Selective Product Placement Using Image Processing Techniques - Embodiments of the invention to provide methods to provide on demand product placement to web based content. A method of in accordance with an embodiment of includes obtaining agreement between entities for placing a product in content. The products image or region of interest in the content is manipulated such that the product is emphasized; and content provider obtains payment for the content based activity of the content. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243637 | RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM WITH CLUSTER-BASED FILTERING OF RECOMMENDATIONS - Computer-implemented processes are disclosed for clustering items and improving the utility of item recommendations. One process involves applying a clustering algorithm to a user's collection of items. Information about the resulting clusters is then used to select items to use as recommendation sources. Another process involves displaying the clusters of items to the user via a collection management interface that enables the user to attach cluster-level metadata, such as by rating or tagging entire clusters of items. The resulting metadata may be used to improve the recommendations generated by a recommendation engine. Another process involves forming clusters of items in which a user has indicated a lack of interest, and using these clusters to filter the output of a recommendation engine. Yet another process involves applying a clustering algorithm to the output of a recommendation engine to arrange the recommended items into cluster-based categories for presentation to the user. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243638 | CLUSTER-BASED CATEGORIZATION AND PRESENTATION OF ITEM RECOMMENDATIONS - Computer-implemented processes are disclosed for clustering items and improving the utility of item recommendations. One process involves applying a clustering algorithm to a user's collection of items. Information about the resulting clusters is then used to select items to use as recommendation sources. Another process involves displaying the clusters of items to the user via a collection management interface that enables the user to attach cluster-level metadata, such as by rating or tagging entire clusters of items. The resulting metadata may be used to improve the recommendations generated by a recommendation engine. Another process involves forming clusters of items in which a user has indicated a lack of interest, and using these clusters to filter the output of a recommendation engine. Yet another process involves applying a clustering algorithm to the output of a recommendation engine to arrange the recommended items into cluster-based categories for presentation to the user. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243639 | PLANT MERCHANDISING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A plant merchandising display provides for the display of plants in arrays, groupings and sets based on one or more product characteristics such that a customer may readily associate product selection criteria and product characteristics to resulting in satisfactory product selections. A plant merchandising system and program includes the plant merchandising display as well as a landscape design module that includes garden design tools to assist a customer in planning an entire landscape or a single garden. The plant merchandising system and program also include a plant directory that allows a customer to view plant information and make plant selections and plant maintenance guides to assist customers in planning and scheduling garden maintenance. Purchase documents may be created at a purchase order processing module from garden plans developed in the landscape design module and plant lists developed at the plant directory or in the plant merchandising display. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243640 | INTERACTIVE PRODUCT AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME - A method of producing a web interactive product is provided including registering a product having a unique identification with an affiliate via the internet. A design portion of the product may be altered by a first recipient. Thereafter, the altered product is forwarded to one or more other recipients wherein the design portion may be re-altered by each of the recipients. A final recipient forwards the re-altered design portion to an affiliate. The first recipient and one or more other recipients may be registered with the affiliate based on the unique identification via the internet. All recipients may be notified via the internet that the re-altered design portion is received by the affiliate. The method may further include providing a means for ordering a final product including the re-altered design portion from the affiliate via the internet. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243641 | DISTRIBUTED POINTS OF SALE - A distributed point of sale can be accessed via any suitable tag-based document, such as a Web page, a blog, a piece of e-mail, or even an advertisement. Either a snippet of text or a graphical element, such as a button, can be selected by a buyer to cause a representation of the distributed point of sale to appear without causing a context of the tag-based document to change or navigate the buyer away from the tag-based document. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243642 | System And Method For An Intellectual Property Marketplace - A method for transacting intellectual property includes the steps of receiving an executed document transferring an intellectual property right to an undefined party; receiving one or more offers for the intellectual property right; determining a winning party based on the one or more received offers; and releasing the executed document to the winning party. The method may further include placing the executed document in a data room for review by a potential acquirer prior to receiving one or more offers for the intellectual property night. The data room may be an on-line data room and include information for the potential acquirer to conduct due diligence of the intellectual property right. The intellectual property transaction may be conducted in a live or electronic auction. The intellectual property right may be submitted through an online submission form and an automated qualification system may classify the intellectual property right. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243643 | METHOD OF MERCHANDISING ARTICLE PERSONALIZATION SERVICES - A method, and an article produced thereby, of merchandising article personalization services at a retail location to a customer is provided. The article and embellishments are chosen by the customer, and the personalization implemented by the customer in a hands-on environment, or with the aid of store workers. The retail store also provides for groups of individuals to participate in article personalization events or parties. The customer is enabled to complete personalization of an article according to their time and ability using the professional services provided by the retail store personnel and equipment. Embellishment selections requiring trained personnel and specialized equipment are given to a store worker for processing. A method of performing the personalizing services over a computer network is also provided. The completed article is given to the customer, retained at the retail establishment until the customer returns, or forwarded to the customer at their request. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243644 | MARKETPLACE SYSTEM IN WHICH USERS GENERATE USER-TO-USER PREORDER LISTINGS VIA A DEFINITIVE PRODUCT CATALOG - An electronic marketplace system provides various features for assisting users in listing products for sale, locating the listings for a product, and performing related actions. A user wishing to sell a product can browse to an existing description of the product in an electronic catalog and then select an option to create a corresponding listing. The pending listings for a product are preferably displayed or summarized on the product's detail page in the catalog. When no such listings exist, an option to preorder the product from an unspecified seller may be provided, and information regarding the resulting preorders may be displayed on the associated product detail pages to entice potential sellers. In one embodiment, the electronic catalog also serves as a retail sales catalog of a merchant. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243645 | System and method for conducting product configuration research over a computer-based network - A system and method is provided for enabling respondents at their computer systems to connect with a server computer over a network, such as the Internet, and receive an executable configuration program enabling each respondent to select for each of the features of a product one of multiple subfeature attributes or levels for that feature. Each of the subfeatures for each feature has a price value and the combination of selected subfeatures for the features of the product provides a total price value of the product. The total price value is displayed and updated as subfeatures for the features are selected by the respondent or the selection of subfeatures are changed by the respondent. When the total price value of the product is acceptable to the respondent, and subfeatures have been selected for each feature of the product, the program returns configuration information to the computer server having data representing the subfeatures selected for the product, the total price of the product, the time for the respondent to complete the configuration of the product, and each of the features and subfeatures selected and changed by the respondent in arriving at the final configured product. The configuration program may be part of a survey being conducted over the network by the server computer in which questions of the survey following receipt of the configuration information by the computer server may be in accordance with such configuration information. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243646 | Methods for proactively reconciling bin denials in inventory management environments - A method for reconciling bin denials in inventory management environments comprises receiving a bin denial for a part number, the bin denial including data identifying a denied bin and a quantity associated with the bin denial. The method also includes determining a number of bins associated with the part number. The method further includes determining whether a quantity associated with the bin denial exceeds a predetermined threshold. An inventory count request for one or more bins associated with the part number is generated if the quantity associated with the bin denial exceeds the predetermined threshold. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243647 | Product management system and product management method - A product management system is disclosed. The product management system comprises a product detection device disposed on a product display rack and configured to detect presence/absence of a product on the product display rack, a wireless communication device disposed on the product display rack and configured to wirelessly transmit information about the presence/absence of the product detected by the product detection device, a relay device to relay communications between the wireless communication device and a network, a product management device to store and display the information transmitted from the wireless communication device via the relay device and the network, and a terminal device capable of wireless communications with the wireless communication device and configured to travel with a shopper. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243648 | SYSTEM FOR REMOTELY MANAGING A HOME HEATING SYSTEM - A centralized fuel monitoring system for allowing a plurality of fuel dealers to monitor the fuel level at customer locations, the system having a central computer accessible by the plurality of fuel dealers to access customer account information, the customer account information including an indication of a fuel level at a customer location. The fuel level may be remotely measured or may be calculated by the system. Also included is authorization software that allows a fuel dealer to access customer accounts and administration software that allows a fuel dealer to create new customer accounts. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243649 | CLIENT APPARATUS CONFIGURED TO COMMUNICATE WITH DEVICE AND SERVER VIA NETWORK - A client apparatus is configured to communicate with a device and with a server via network. A status-information acquiring portion acquires, from the device, status information indicative of status of the device. A requesting portion makes a predetermined request to the server based on the status information. A request-status-information acquiring portion acquires, from the device, request status information indicative of a request status of the predetermined request. A determining portion determines whether the predetermined request is already made to the server, based on the request status information acquired by the request-status-information acquiring portion. A request controlling portion determines that the predetermined request should be made to the server, if the determining portion determines that the predetermined request is not yet made. An instructing portion instructs the device to set the request status information to a requested state, if the request controlling portion determines that the predetermined request should be made. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243650 | Service System and Method for Mobile Payment of Small Amount Using Virtual Caller Id - The present invention relates to a mobile micropayment service system and method using a virtual caller ID. According to a micropayment service system and method of the present invention, a user can use mobile micropayment service not only without providing the personal information of the user to a mobile PG center but also by transmitting a short message, and each mobile network operator directly manages the bill particulars information with respect to the mobile micropayment without depending on the mobile PG center. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243651 | Method for Acquiring and Maintaining High Quality Subscribers Using a Bifurcated Contract - A method to provide an enterprise with the ability to keep service contract subscribers for a longer period of time and the ability to retain subscribers during an initial period of time is presented. A bifurcated contract is used with the subscriber for the agreement. The bifurcated contract consists of a service portion and a financial installment portion to pay for the hardware, certain service costs and installation costs associated with the service. The financing portion allows the subscriber's credit rating to be affected and affords the enterprise greater collateral or security as well as potentially lower funding costs. The enterprise encourages the vendor that originated the contract to sell the contract by paying the vendor the vendor's cost and a portion of the typical vendor profit along with, in certain cases, a percentage of the monthly payments for those subscribers retaining the service beyond an initial term. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243652 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION - Methods and systems of determining compensation for an hour of work to an employee are disclosed. A base hourly wage is determined based on the number of hours worked by the employee. A premium hourly wage is determined. The premium hourly wage can be determined by substracting the base hourly wage from the earned hourly wage. The earned hourly wage can be calculated based on a number of minutes actually worked within the hour of work and a per-minute rate. | 2008-10-02 |
| 20080243653 | BILLING BASED ON EQUIVALENT QUALITY OF SERVICE UNITS - The present invention provides a method that may be used for billing for quality of service applications. The method includes determining at least one parameter indicative of resource usage of at least one first quality of service application by comparing at least one resource used by the first quality of service application(s) to at least one resource used by a second quality of service application. The method also includes providing information indicative of at least one cost associated with the first quality of service application(s) based on the comparison and at least one cost associated with the second quality of service application. | 2008-10-02 |
