Rockstar Consortium US LP et al v. Google Inc

Filing 208

Unopposed MOTION for Issuance of Letters Rogatory to Kshitij Bhatia by Google Inc. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Affidavit Declaration of Michelle Ernst, # 3 Exhibit 1, # 4 Exhibit 2, # 5 Exhibit 3, # 6 Exhibit 4, # 7 Exhibit 5, # 8 Exhibit 6, # 9 Exhibit 7, # 10 Exhibit 8, # 11 Exhibit 9, # 12 Exhibit 10, # 13 Exhibit 11, # 14 Text of Proposed Order)(Perlson, David)

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EXHIBIT 9 US007933883B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: (45) Date of Patent: Skillen et al. (54) (56) ASSOCIATIVE SEARCH ENGINE US 7,933,883 B2 Apr. 26, 2011 References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (75) Inventors: Richard Prescott Skillen, Mississauga (CA); Frederick Caldwell Livermore, Stittsville (CA) 5,283,731 A 2/1994 Lalonde et 31. 5,515,098 A * 5,589,892 A 5/1996 Carles ........................... .. 725/35 12/1996 Knee et :11. 5,659,732 A * 5,724,521 A * Montreal (CA) 8/1997 3/1998 5,745,882 A (73) Assignee: Nortel Networks Corporation, Kirsch ................................ .. l/l Declrick ........................ .. 705/26 4/1998 BiXler et :11. 5,751,956 A * (*) Notice: 5,987,446 A * 6/2001 Witek et a1. Primary Examiner * Greta L Robinson Assistant Examiner * Jeffrey Chang (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Garlick Harrison & Oct. 18, 2007 Markison; Bruce E. Garlick Related US. Application Data (57) (63) Continuation of application No. 09/351,747, ?led on Jul. 8, 1999, now Pat. No. 7,236,969, which is a continuation of application No. 08/798,747, ?led on Feb. 13, 1997, noW Pat. No. 6,098,065. (51) Int. Cl. G06F 7/00 G06F 17/30 ABSTRACT This invention relates to an advertisement machine which provides advertisements to a user searching for desired infor mation Within a data network. The machine receives, from a user, a search request including a search argument corre sponding to the desired information and searches, based upon the received search argument, a ?rst database having data network related information to generate search results. It also correlating the received search argument to a particular adver tisement in a second database having advertisement related (2006.01) (2006.01) G06Q 30/00 (52) (58) 6/2001 Speicher * cited by examiner Prior Publication Data US 2007/0244886 A1 Coreyetal. ......................... .. l/l 9/2000 Peckover 6,253,188 B1 Jun. 25, 2007 (65) 11/1999 Kirsch ........................ .. 709/203 6,243,375 B1 (21) Appl. No.: 11/767,632 Filed: 8/1998 Goldhaber et a1. 6,119,101 A U.S.C. 154(b) by 559 days. (22) 5/1998 5,794,210 A Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 (2006.01) US. Cl. ..................................... .. 707/706; 705/14.4 information. The search results together With the particular Field of Classi?cation Search ............ .. 707/2, 706, advertisement are provided by the machine to the user. 707/765; 705/26, 14.4 See application ?le for complete search history. 28 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets 20 10 \~___ 2 CONTEXTLJAL DATABASE 12 / I 14 E 2 PRODUCT DATABASE / DATABASE SEARCH ENGIN E END USER \ 16 l T ASSOCIATIVE SEARCH I ENG | N E \ 18 US. Patent Wm Apr. 26, 2011 PODWE Sheet 1 012 US 7,933,883 B2 Q mm or mOZwmD US 7,933,883 B2 1 2 ASSOCIATIVE SEARCH ENGINE According to a third broad aspect, the invention provides a system for providing advertisements to a user searching for desired information Within a data netWork, comprising; means for receiving, from the user, a search request including a search argument corresponding to the desired information; means for searching, based upon the received search argu ment, a ?rst database having data netWork related information to generate search results; means for correlating the received search argument to a particular advertisement in a second CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of US. Utility Application Ser. No. 09/351,747, ?led Jul. 8, 1999, now US. Pat. No. 7,236,969 Which is a continuation of US. Utility application Ser. No. 08/798,747, ?led Feb. 13, 1997, issued as US. Pat. No. 6,098,065, all of Which are hereby incorporated database having advertisement related information; and means for providing the search results together With the par herein by reference in their entirety. ticular advertisement to the user. According to a fourth broad aspect, the invention provides BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a system for searching for desired information Within a data netWork, comprising: means for receiving from a user, a The invention generally relates to search engines and, in search request including a search argument corresponding to the desired information; means for searching, based upon the received search argument and user pro?le data, a database of particular, to an associative search methodology, based on a contextual search engine, for retrieving related information. The Internet provides an excellent vehicle for access to information about goods and services on a global basis. In theory, anyone can access information about any product. In 20 information to generate a search result; and means for pro viding the search results to the user. Conventional search engines, for example OpenText, pro practice, the problem is one of ?nding the correct informa vide a basis on Which the methodology according to this tion. Many techniques for solving this problem are knoWn, including: indexing systems such as Yahoo, graphical elec searching and retrieving information, in their present form, invention may be implemented. In a particular embodiment, the invention is manifested by an advertising system includ ing an associative search engine that may be tied into and form an integral part of the conventional search engine. When can inundate the user With large amounts of unWanted mate an end user accesses the conventional search engine, the rial. associative engine of the selling system examines the user’s choices and search instructions, that have been input by the tronic malls, hall of malls, directories, and text search engines, such as OpenText7. These techniques and tools for 25 This later problem can be alleviated someWhat by enabling the user to provide search statements as a set of criteria Which 30 user, and formulates the necessary strategy and tactics to offer are combined With logical operators, such as ‘AND’, ‘OR’ products that Would appeal to the end user based on his/her and ‘NOT’ operators. However, many problems still exist inputs an choices up until that point in the search. Since the process is dynamic the strategy and tactics can be continually With this. One of them is that the user is left to his/her oWn imagination to try to think of all the alternative descriptions (i.e. keywords) of a product or service. As search engines and 35 techniques become ever more poWerful in the number and diversity of databases they can access, the amount of infor mation Which it is possible to present to a user can quickly database. This effectively provides unobtrusive, related and become excessively large. The problem or opportunity still remains to quickly ?nd the relevant information for Which the user is looking. re?ned and the results presented to the end user in a predictive order and fashion that relates to that end user’s past prefer ences (either for the immediate search underWay or including all prior search data stored for that user) and a contextual 40 useful data and options to the end user Who is searching for information. The processor used for the advertising and sell ing mechanism can be a part of or interconnected With the search engine. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a neW and 45 improved associative search methodology for retrieving manufacturers recommended tire types and options may be related information. The invention, therefore, according to a ?rst broad aspect considered as sort criteria provided Within a contextual data base. Another example relates to When airline reservations are provides a method of providing advertisements to a user searching for desired information Within a data netWork, comprising the steps of: receiving, from the user, a search request including a search argument corresponding to the desired information; searching, based upon the received search argument, a ?rst database having data netWork related information to generate search results; correlating the Some examples Will illustrate hoW this invention can have high value to an end user. An end user’s pro?le data may contain such information as the make, model and year of automobile he/ she oWns or leases. When tires are needed, the 50 being sought. All of a person’s preferences, Which today are normally sorted one by one through a travel agent, could be utiliZed by the advertising and selling mechanism to provide the informed response. In addition to the search criterion, as users interacts With 55 the advertising system, it Will continue to compile preference received search argument to a particular advertisement in a data (e. g. a list of keyWords) for eachuser. All preferences, for second database having advertisement related information, and providing the search results together With the particular 60 example, can be left in a type of default mode or even pre sented to the user for him/her to edit and re-prioritiZe in order to look for diversity or alternatives. The system can detect exceptions and contradictions so that the end user can be advertisement to the user. According to a second broad aspect, the invention provides shoWn immediately that some of the options Would violate natural tendencies. Some of the search patterns or preferences Will be keyed off a method of searching for desired information Within a data netWork comprising the steps of: receiving, from a user, a search request including a search argument corresponding to the desired information; searching, based upon the received search argument and user pro?le data, a database of informa tion to generate a search result; and providing the search results to the user. 65 of natural interests also such as: social, family, political, tech nological, geographical, environmental, educational and so on. Once these preferences are knoWn, then an advertisement or a proposed customiZed product brochure can be prepared. US 7,933,883 B2 3 4 This invention is also enhanced by advances in technology occurring in the emerging ubiquitous data World, such as neW softWare languages. One example is “Java”. Java is an envi personal computer (PC) or Macintosh executing an appropri ate broWser application, such as, Netscape Navigator Which ronment that can be exported to an end users platform to run the Internet. Functionality provided by the advertising an application Which may include graphics, moving demon machine 10 may be implemented using an appropriately pro grammed conventional data processing server platform. functions as an interface to the World Wide Web (WWW) of strations, cartoon like explanations or even video. The Java like environment could be used to customiZe With more than name, it can be used to customiZe With detailed examples. The advertising machine 1 0, in this particular embodiment, comprises a database search engine 16 and an associative search engine 18 Which may access a database 20 having contextual data 22 and product data 24. The database search One other opportunity presented to service providers is the potential to create neW and better Ways to improve the envi ronment presented to end users of various classes by remem bering What Was effective for a sale to occur. In this Way, key elements of a presentation or search that have higher success can be put into a higher priority or category for furtheruse and therefore more rapid development through even more intense feedback due to subsequent use. While this invention can be integrated With traditional Internet search engines (such as Yahoo or Lycos), full advan tage can be obtained by integrating the invention With an Internet Access provider. An Internet Access Provider can engine 18 is conventional technology, an example of Which is the OpenText engine that provides searches based on subject, strings, boolean, text, etc. Such input search arguments may be received from an end user via the data processing device 12 and data link 14 and, accordingly, the database search engine 16 effects a search of the contextual data 22 in the database 20 and returns results of the search to the end user, as a page 20 keyWords associated With respective WWW site locations. The associative search engine 18, in accordance With the present invention, may contain rule based softWare algo rithms or non-precise techniques, such as, fuZZy logic that can maintain a more complete user database. Customers are local iZed, so individual databases Will contain feWer users. This alloWs more database space to be allocated to each user. In addition, more detailed information can be maintained, such as geographical location, type of home computer system, and 25 It is anticipated that the Java environment Will develop so that it too Will learn and adapt. As a user continues to stop 30 input at certain points, abort a negotiation and so on at certain points, then such points or logic routines could be avoided or alternatives considered. The present invention proposes such a dynamic and relational preferences methodology in order to more rapidly and more effectively couple a user’ s needs With selling machine 10. 35 follows. 1) The end user device 12 sends a search request outlining the search argument to the database search engine 16. 40 or disabilities. 45 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 50 ing to the end user. Referring to FIG. 1, shoWn is an advertising machine, (2) above. In the case of the end user clicking on (i.e., select 60 device 12 and a communications link 14 through Which the device 12 interacts With the advertising machine 10. The ing) a speci?c search result, the associative search engine 18 further re?nes its logical tree strategy and selects the probable best ?t product and generates an advertisement. 6) The end user search results advertisement WindoW is continually updated on each selection or re?nement using a communications link 14 may be provided by a global data netWork, typically the Internet, and the data processing device supporting functionality for communications over the Inter net. Examples of the data processing device 12 include a 4) The end user re?nes his or her search by either clicking on a displayed result or re?ning their search through addi tional arguments or search criteria. 5) The associative search engine 18 and the database search engine 16 again Work together in providing re?ned data as in DETAILED DESCRIPTION 12 may be any conventional hardWare/softWare combination possible product ?ts and selects a probable best product for an advertisement WindoW to be displayed With the search results. 3) The associative engine 18 passes the data of the selected product to the search engine 16 Which in turn provides the the initial product advertisement to the device 12 for display 55 generally referenced by 10, together With a data processing 2) The search engine 16, having carried out a traditional search of Internet related information in the contextual data 22, passes the argument and results of the its search to the associative search engine 18 Which then looks for a match in the product data 24 of the database 20. The associative search engine 18 may determine a logical product ?t to the initial search argument, or it may create a logical tree analysis of results of the search against the given argument together With machine in combination With an Internet Access Service pro vider. In operation, for example, the process effected When an end user at the device 12 accesses the advertising machine 10 is as tunities due to different personal proclivities, strengths, skills The invention Will be better understood from the folloWing detailed description of an advertising machine together With reference to the accompanying draWings, in Which: FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the advertising machine including an associative search engine; and FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the advertising available data 24 and then provides an advertisement insert that is added to the end user’s search page, in an attempt to present the end user With the product that is closest to the need as determined by the associative search engine 18 of the product or service offerings. It is also recognized that these techniques may be applied to an educational environment Where, for example, a student may be able to have an environment that is aurally enhanced, another one that is visually enhanced, another one that is textually enhanced and yet another that is anecdotally as opposed to logically enhanced. There are many other oppor correlate a search argument derived from the user and changes in the argument during a single session, to particular product data Within the product database 24. The associative search engine 18 selects the most logical product from its any additional information the user may choose to provide to the Internet Access Provider. presentations at certain points, scan, re-scan, look for further displayed on the device 12. The contextual database typically contains information relating to the Internet, for instance, 65 technology such as Java providing the end user With a con tinually updated product advertisement that is considered to be most relevant (best ?t) at that point in the search. In US 7,933,883 B2 6 5 2) The search engine 44 passes the argument and results of addition, failure of the end user to click on the advertisement is used as a criterion in the logical tree in providing the its search in database 46 to the associative search engine 40 Which looks for a match in the product database 42 determin appropriate advertisement. 7) Once the end user clicks on (selects) the advertisement displayed on the device 12, an appropriate message is sent to ing a logical product ?t to the initial search argument. The associative search engine 40 creates a logical tree analysis of possible product ?ts, and selects or creates a probable best product advertisement for the advertisement WindoW on the search results. In this case, the associative search engine 40 the advertising machine 10 and, in particular, to the associa tive search engine 18 Which may automatically connect the end user to the seller of the product, for instance, by forWard ing the broWser of the end user device 12 to the WWW site also can utiliZe the maintained pro?le on the end user from address of the seller. In the product data 24 for this speller the associative search engine may record that this transaction occurred, in order that a toll for bringing a buyer and seller together may be extracted. past search sessions and/or historical data gathered on their buying habits, in the product selection processing. The asso ciative search engine correlates the user’s identity to data in the user pro?le database 48 Which it maintains and updates With data (e. g., search argument received With search request) Moreover, user pro?le data may be maintained on end user device 12 and accessed by the associative search engine 18. The pro?le data contains, for example, end user preferences and previous search arguments Which may be used to aug from the current search session. 3) The search engine 44 provides the end user With the results of the search against the given argument including the ment the individual search arguments received With the search request to select a best ?t product advertisement. The associative search engine 18 retrieves and updates the pro?le data on the device 12, using appropriate messages exchanged 20 user device 12. 4) The end user re?nes his/her search by either clicking on a result, or re?ning their search through additional arguments over the communications link 14. For example, the search arguments from the current search session may be added to the user pro?le data. Turning to the system illustrated in FIG. 2, the advertising machine 30 (similar to the machine 10 in FIG. 1) is integrated initial product advertisement from the associative search engine 40. The results and advertisement are displayed by end or search criteria. 25 5) The associative search engine 40 and the database search engine 44 again Work together in providing re?ned data as in as part of the functionality embodied at an Internet access (2) above. In the case of the end user clicking on (selecting) a provider equipment site 32 Which typically includes a tele phone netWork terminating equipment 34, a router 36 through 30 speci?c search result the associative search engine 40 further re?nes its logical tree strategy and selects the probable best ?t product and generates an advertisement. 35 6) The end user device 12 search results advertisement WindoW is continually updated on each selection or re?ne ment using a technology such as Java, providing the end user With a continually updated product advertisement that is con sidered to be mo st relevant (best ?t) at that point in the search. Which TCP/IP packets are transmitted to and received from the Internet, and a server 38 Which in general controls opera tion and couples data calls terminated by equipment 34 to router 36. The link 39 represents a data call established through the telephone netWork to the access provider site 32. The associative search engine 40 of machine 30 contains In addition, failure of the end user to click on the advertise ment is used as a criterion in the logical tree in providing the softWare algorithms or non-precise techniques, such as, fuZZy logic that correlates a search argument derived from the user appropriate advertisement. The access provider’s home page and changes in the argument during a single session With the product database 42 Whereby the most logical product from its available list may be selected. It then provides an adver tisement insert that is added to the enduser’s search page in an attempt to offer the end user With the product that is closest to the need as determined by the associative search engine 40. sent to the end user can also contain a specialiZed advertise 40 searches and/or buying habits). 7) Once the end user is led to click on the advertisement, the The access provider site 32, incorporating the advertising machine 30, is the sole channel available to the end user for 45 accessing the Internet. When an end user carries out a search using the search engine 44 and clicks on (selects) a speci?c result or chooses an alternate information site address, the information is passed to the associative search engine 40 of that access provider 32. Thus, not only the page With the search results but also the home page of the access provider can be updated With the appropriate advertisement Which is selected by the associative search engine 40 from the product database 42. In addition, since the data processing device 12 of the end user is connected through the access provider site 32 for all destinations Within the Internet, a comprehensive user pro?le database 48 may be maintained by the associative search engine 40, about the end users preferences and previ 50 55 The invention claimed is: 1. A method for operating an advertising machine imple mented on at least one computer to provide advertisements via a communications link to a data processing device of a 60 In operation, for example, the process effected When an user, the method comprising: creating user pro?le data for the user; storing the user pro?le data; receiving from the data processing device via the commu nications link a search request that includes a search end user at the device 12 accesses the Internet through access outlining the search argument. fore be understood that the claims are not to be considered as directed to each embodiment. to select a best ?t product advertisement. provider site 32 is as follows. 1) The end users access the search engine 44, provided as a basic service by the access provider, and requests a search associative search engine 40 of the selling machine 30 takes control and connects the potential buyer to the WWW site of the seller of the product, thereby exacting a toll for the trans action of bringing a buyer and seller together. Those skilled in the art Will recogniZe that various modi? cations and changes could be made to the invention Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. It should there being limited to the precise embodiments of the selling machine set forth above, in the absence of speci?c limitations ous search arguments Which may be used to augment the individual search argument received With the search request ment constructed from the end user’s pro?le data (e. g., argument; 65 searching at least one database having data netWork related information using the search argument to generate search results; US 7,933,883 B2 8 7 selecting at least one advertisement from an advertisement 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating database relating to the search argument using the user the user pro?le data using data created via interaction With the pro?le data; and advertising machine. 18. The method of claim 11, Wherein the search results have been sorted based upon the user pro?le data. 19. The method of claim 11, Wherein the search results and the at least one advertisement comprise: search results obtained from at least one database that stores netWork related information; and transmitting the search results together With the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device. 2. The method of claim 1, Wherein the user pro?le data includes prior purchasing information regarding the user. 3. The method of claim 1, Wherein storing the user pro?le data comprises storing the user pro?le data in a user pro?le database of the advertising machine. 4. The method of claim 1, Wherein storing the user pro?le data comprises storing the user pro?le data on the data pro the at least one advertisement Was obtained from at least one differing database that stores advertisement infor mation. 20. An advertising machine implemented on at least one computer and operable to provide advertisements via a com cessing device. 5. The method of claim 1, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon prior search history of the user. 6. The method of claim 1, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon user interests selected from the group consisting of social interests, family interests, political interests, tech nological interests, geographical interests, environmental interests, and educational interests. 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the user pro?le data based upon the search argument. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the user pro?le data using data obtained via interaction With the data processing device. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sorting the munications link to a data processing device of a user, the advertising machine comprising: a communications interface operable to interface With the data processing device of the user via the communica tions link; 20 cations interface a search request that includes a search argument; and search at least one database having data netWork related 25 search results based upon the user pro?le data. 10. The method of claim 1, Wherein searching at least one database having data network related information using the search argument to generate search results and selecting at information using the search argument to generate search results; an associative search engine operable to: create user pro?le data for the user; store the user pro?le data; and 30 select at least one advertisement from an advertisement database relating to the search argument using the user pro?le data; and least one advertisement from an advertisement database relat the advertising machine operable to transmit the search ing to the search argument using the user pro?le data com prise accessing distinct differing databases. 11. A method for operating a data processing device of a a database search engine operable to: receive from the data processing device via the communi 35 results together With the at least one advertisement via the communications link to the data processing device. 21. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the user user to receive advertisements via a communications link from an advertising machine implemented on at least one pro?le data includes prior purchasing information regarding computer, the method comprising: the user. interacting With the advertising machine via the commu ing data netWork related information based upon the search argument; and 22. The advertising machine of clam 20, Wherein the asso ciative search engine is operable to store the user pro?le data in a user pro?le database of the advertising machine. 23. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the asso ciative search engine is operable to transmit the user pro?le data via the communications interface to the data processing device for storage. 24. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon prior search history of the user. 25. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon user interests selected from the the at least one advertisement obtained from at least one 50 group consisting of social interests, family interests, political nications link to provide information used to create user 40 pro?le data for the user; transmitting to the advertising machine via the communi cations link a search request that includes a search argu ment; receiving search results and at least one advertisement via 45 the communications link from the advertising machine; the search results obtained from at least one database hav database having advertisement information based upon the search argument and the user pro?le data. 12. The method of claim 11, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon prior purchasing information regarding the user. 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing the user pro?le data on the data processing device. 14. The method of claim 11, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon prior search history of the user. 15. The method of claim 11, Wherein the user pro?le data is based upon user interests selected from the group consisting of social interests, family interests, political interests, tech nological interests, geographical interests, environmental interests, and educational interests. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating the user pro?le data based upon the search argument. interests, technological interests, geographical interests, 55 60 environmental interests, and educational interests. 26. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the asso ciate search engine is operable to update the user pro?le data based upon the search argument. 27. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the asso ciate search engine is operable to sort the search results based upon the user pro?le data. 28. The advertising machine of claim 20, Wherein the at least one database having data netWork related information and the advertisement database comprise distinct differing databases.

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