US7596759B2
Active / In Force
US
⏱️ 0.5 years remaining
Instant football widget
Assignee: Verna IP Holdings LLC
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Filing: 2007-05-03
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Granted: 2009-09-29
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Expires: 2027-05-03
Abstract
Abstract A widget adapted to constantly display on an electronic device having a screen, a grid having yard markers which represent the yard markers on a football field, a football which appears on the grid, means to move the football along the grid to represent the line of scrimmage of an actual football game after each play of the actual game.
Inventors
- 👤 Anthony F. Verna
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 13:53
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M1/00; H04M1/72; H04M1/724; H04M1/72403; H04M1/72427; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/487; H04M3/4872
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
231 words
A method for continuously transmitting to a web-enabled electronic device having a screen and a user interface, data about the progress of a football game played on a football field having yard markers, said data comprising, the exact line of scrimmage for each play of the game, a game tracker who views the game, the game tracker inputting into a computer server the data about the game, including the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, the computer server converting the data about the game to the placement of a football icon on a grid comprising the yard markers of a football field, the computer server transmitting the converted game data to a self-activating widget on the electronic device screen which is continuously displayed on the screen, the widget comprising a grid having yard markers which represent the yard markers of a football field, a football icon which appears on the grid, on the exact line of scrimmage of the football game after each play of the game, the widget and the user interface both being active at the same time, the grid comprising 200 possible yard markers, 100 indicating the play going to the left and 100 indicating play going to the right, the direction of the play of the game, left or right, being indicated by intensification of the color of the football on its forward tip.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
231 words
A method for continuously transmitting to a web-enabled electronic device having a screen and a user interface, data about the progress of a football game played on a football field having yard markers, said data comprising, the exact line of scrimmage for each play of the game, a game tracker who views the game, the game tracker inputting into a computer server the data about the game, including the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, the computer server converting the data about the game to the placement of a football icon on a grid comprising the yard markers of a football field, the computer server transmitting the converted game data to a self-activating widget on the electronic device screen which is continuously displayed on the screen, the widget comprising a grid having yard markers which represent the yard markers of a football field, a football icon which appears on the grid, on the exact line of scrimmage of the football game after each play of the game, the widget and the user interface both being active at the same time, the grid comprising 200 possible yard markers, 100 indicating the play going to the left and 100 indicating play going to the right, the direction of the play of the game, left or right, being indicated by intensification of the color of the football on its forward tip.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 1 in which the game data further comprises one or more of the type of play, the down, the yards to go for a first down, the score, the game time, the quarter, and the result of the play.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 in which the game tracker selects all game data from a pre-selected list of data present on the server.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 in which the data is transmitted using a computer code selected from the group consisting of RSS, RSS2, XML, RPC, REST, SOAP RDF and ATOM.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 in which the game tracker observes the game live, by television, streaming on a computer, listening on the radio, or having updates phoned in.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting to the widget one or more features selected from the group consisting of electronic sound bites, custom alarms, whistles, crowd noise, game noise, band noise, school cheers and school songs.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 in which the electronic device is a computer, a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant, having Internet access.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 1 in which the game tracker, who is observing the football game, inputs the game data to a server, the data from the server is transmitted to a secondary server which converts the data and transmits the converted data to the widget appearing on the screen of the electronic device.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
291 words
A method for continuously transmitting to a user's web-enabled electronic device having a screen and a user interface, data about one, of a plurality of football games, played by two opposing teams on a football field having yard markers, comprising a master computer server which assigns a unique identification number to each of the plurality of football games, said data comprising, the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, a game tracker, who is viewing a football game, logs onto the master computer server and selects the unique identification number of the football game being viewed by the game tracker, the game tracker inputting data about the football game into a secondary computer server which sorts the data about the game, including the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, the secondary computer server converting the data about the game to the placement of a football icon on a grid comprising the yard markers of a football field, the secondary computer server transmitting the converted game data to a self-activating widget on the user's electronic device screen which is continuously displayed on the screen and updated after each play, the widget comprising a grid having yard markers which represent the yard markers of a football field and a football icon which appears on the grid, on the exact line of scrimmage of each play of the football game, the widget and the user interface both being continuously active, the grid comprising 200 possible yard markers, 100 indicating the play going to the left and 100 indicating play going to the right, the direction of the play of the game, left or right, being indicated by intensification of the color of the football icon on its forward tip.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
291 words
A method for continuously transmitting to a user's web-enabled electronic device having a screen and a user interface, data about one, of a plurality of football games, played by two opposing teams on a football field having yard markers, comprising a master computer server which assigns a unique identification number to each of the plurality of football games, said data comprising, the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, a game tracker, who is viewing a football game, logs onto the master computer server and selects the unique identification number of the football game being viewed by the game tracker, the game tracker inputting data about the football game into a secondary computer server which sorts the data about the game, including the line of scrimmage for each play of the game, the secondary computer server converting the data about the game to the placement of a football icon on a grid comprising the yard markers of a football field, the secondary computer server transmitting the converted game data to a self-activating widget on the user's electronic device screen which is continuously displayed on the screen and updated after each play, the widget comprising a grid having yard markers which represent the yard markers of a football field and a football icon which appears on the grid, on the exact line of scrimmage of each play of the football game, the widget and the user interface both being continuously active, the grid comprising 200 possible yard markers, 100 indicating the play going to the left and 100 indicating play going to the right, the direction of the play of the game, left or right, being indicated by intensification of the color of the football icon on its forward tip.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 9 in which the user of the web-enabled electronic device selects a particular football game widget for his electronic device screen, by logging onto to the master server and entering the unique identification number for that particular game.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 9 in which the game data_further comprises one or more of, the type of play, the down, the yards to go for a first down, the score, the game time, the quarter, and the result of the play.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 9 in which the game tracker selects all game data to be transmitted from a pre-selected list of data present on the secondary server.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 9 in which the data is transmitted using a computer code selected from the group consisting of RSS, RSS2, XML, RPC, REST, SOAP RDF and ATOM.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 9 in which the game tracker observes the game by one of, live, by television, streaming on a computer, listening on the radio, or having updates phoned in.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 9 further comprising transmitting to the widget one or more features selected from the group consisting of electronic sound bites, custom alarms, whistles, crowd noise, game noise, band noise, school cheers and school songs.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 9 in which the electronic device is a computer, a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant, having Internet access.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 9 in which the football icon spins as an alert on a fumble, interception or scoring play, tumbles when a fumble occurs and arches over the grid on a kick or passing play.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 9 in which the logos of the teams playing the game are displayed on the widget, one at each end of the grid.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2012-09-28 | 2013-03-30 | 2013-09-29 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2016-09-28 | 2017-03-30 | 2017-09-29 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2020-09-28 | 2021-03-30 | 2021-09-29 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |