US7913275B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for switching targeted advertisements at a set top terminal
Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC
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Filing: 2003-12-01
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Granted: 2011-03-22
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Expires: 2023-12-01
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for switching targeted advertisements is described. In one embodiment one primary advertisement is assigned to a first channel, where the first channel carries a program. At least one alternate advertisement is assigned to one or more alternate channels. Selected set top terminals switch to one or more of the alternate channels to display alternate advertisements, where the selection of the alternate channel is based on information related to users of the set top terminals.
Inventors
- 👤 John S. Hendricks
- 👤 Alfred E. Bonner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 04:58
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/40; H04N21/47; H04N21/478; H04N21/4786; H04H; H04H20/00; H04H20/10; H04H20/103; H04H20/38; H04H20/42; H04H60/00; H04H60/02; H04H60/04; H04H60/35; H04H60/38; H04H60/41; H04H60/43; H04H60/61; H04H60/64; H04H60/66; H04N21/20; H04N21/21; H04N21/218; H04N21/2181; H04N21/21815; H04N21/2187; H04N21/222; H04N21/2221; H04N21/23; H04N21/235; H04N21/236; H04N21/23608; H04N21/2362; H04N21/238; H04N21/2381; H04N21/2389; H04N21/25; H04N21/251; H04N21/252; H04N21/254; H04N21/2543; H04N21/258; H04N21/25866; H04N21/25883; H04N21/25891; H04N21/262; H04N21/26208; H04N21/26283; H04N21/266; H04N21/2668; H04N21/41; H04N21/422; H04N21/42204; H04N21/42206; H04N21/426; H04N21/42653; H04N21/42684; H04N21/43; H04N21/431; H04N21/4312; H04N21/4314; H04N21/4316; H04N21/433; H04N21/4331; H04N21/434; H04N21/4344; H04N21/4345; H04N21/435; H04N21/438; H04N21/4383; H04N21/4385; H04N21/442; H04N21/44204; H04N21/44213; H04N21/44222; H04N21/443; H04N21/45; H04N21/4508; H04N21/4532; H04N21/454; H04N21/458; H04N21/462; H04N21/4622; H04N21/466; H04N21/4668; H04N21/472; H04N21/47211; H04N21/47214; H04N21/475; H04N21/4755; H04N21/4788; H04N21/482; H04N21/4821; H04N21/60; H04N21/63; H04N21/64; H04N21/6405; H04N21/643; H04N21/64307; H04N21/65; H04N21/654; H04N21/6543; H04N21/6547; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/812; H04N21/8146; H04N21/85; H04N21/858; H04N21/8586; H04N5/00; H04N5/44; H04N5/445; H04N5/44504; H04N5/60; H04N5/602; H04N7/00; H04N7/08; H04N7/087; H04N7/088; H04N7/0882; H04N7/0884; H04N7/0887; H04N7/10; H04N7/102; H04N7/16; H04N7/162; H04N7/163; H04N7/165; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17318; H04N7/17336; H04N7/17345; H04N7/17354; H04H20/02; H04H20/06; H04H60/09; H04H60/14; H04H60/23; H04H60/29; H04H60/31; H04M; H04M1/00; H04M1/57; H04N5/45
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 52
Claim 1
Independent Claim
149 words
A system for targeting advertising to at least one subscriber comprising: a processor having means for selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein the selecting means selects a plurality of advertisements, and wherein the processor is a network controller; means for gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programs; means for correlating the currently watched programs information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and a transmitter, wherein a selected advertisement selected by selecting means is transmitted, and wherein the transmitter transmits the selected advertisements on a single channel; and a display, operably connected to a set top terminal, on which the transmitted advertisement is displayed via a single channel, wherein the set top terminal switches channels based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programs information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
149 words
A system for targeting advertising to at least one subscriber comprising: a processor having means for selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein the selecting means selects a plurality of advertisements, and wherein the processor is a network controller; means for gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programs; means for correlating the currently watched programs information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and a transmitter, wherein a selected advertisement selected by selecting means is transmitted, and wherein the transmitter transmits the selected advertisements on a single channel; and a display, operably connected to a set top terminal, on which the transmitted advertisement is displayed via a single channel, wherein the set top terminal switches channels based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programs information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the set top terminal is configured to scale and reposition video for the display, the video being displayed on a portion of the display displaying the selected advertisement.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein advertisement video displayed is targeted to individual set top terminals.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
44 words
The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes future television programming available on the set top terminal, the future programming targeted to individual set top terminals based on analysis of currently watched television programs.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 4 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for targeting advertising, comprising: selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for targeting advertising, comprising: selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the terminal device scales and repositions video for display, the video being displayed on a portion of the display displaying the selected advertisement.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein advertisement video displayed is targeted to individual terminal devices.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes future television programming available on the terminal device, the future programming targeted to individual terminals based on analysis of currently watched television programs.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 10 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
108 words
One or more machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions, that, when executed, cause a device to perform a method for targeting advertising comprising: selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
108 words
One or more machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions, that, when executed, cause a device to perform a method for targeting advertising comprising: selecting an advertisement from pre-selected advertising categories, wherein a plurality of advertisements are selected; gathering information corresponding to currently watched television programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; and transmitting a selected advertisement; and displaying, using a terminal device, the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device switches datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
34 words
The one or more machine-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the terminal device scales and repositions video for display, the video being displayed on a portion of the display displaying the selected advertisement.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
The one or more machine-readable media of claim 13 , wherein advertisement video displayed is targeted to individual terminal devices.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
34 words
The one or more machine-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
44 words
The one or more machine-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes future television programming available on the terminal device, the future programming targeted to individual terminal devices based on analysis of currently watched television programming.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
36 words
The one or more machine-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
107 words
A system for targeting advertising comprising: a network controller processor, configured to perform the following: select a plurality of advertisements from pre-selected advertising categories; gather information corresponding to currently watched television programming; and correlate the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; a transmitter configured to transmit a selected advertisement; and a terminal device, configured to cause the display of the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device is configured to switch datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
107 words
A system for targeting advertising comprising: a network controller processor, configured to perform the following: select a plurality of advertisements from pre-selected advertising categories; gather information corresponding to currently watched television programming; and correlate the currently watched programming information with categories of the pre-selected advertisements, wherein each advertisement category includes at least one advertisement; a transmitter configured to transmit a selected advertisement; and a terminal device, configured to cause the display of the transmitted advertisement, wherein the terminal device is configured to switch datastreams based on which advertisement is selected, the selected advertisement corresponding to the correlated currently watched programming information and categories of the pre-selected advertisements.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system as recited in claim 19 , wherein the terminal device is configured to scale and reposition video for display, the video being displayed on a portion of the display displaying the selected advertisement.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system as recited in claim 19 , wherein advertisement video displayed is targeted to individual terminal devices.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system as recited in claim 19 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
63 words
The system as recited in claim 22 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes future television programming available on the terminal device, the future programming targeted to individual terminal devices based on analysis of currently watched television programming, and wherein a select button on a terminal device remote control permits a user to select a future program to view.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 22 , wherein the selected advertisement is a promotional video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
62 words
A method for targeting advertising, comprising: gathering, by a computing device, information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; selecting an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmitting the selected advertisement.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
62 words
A method for targeting advertising, comprising: gathering, by a computing device, information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlating the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; selecting an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmitting the selected advertisement.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 25 , further comprising, prior to the gathering step: selecting the plurality of advertisements based on the advertisement categories, wherein, upon selection, the plurality of advertisements includes one or more advertisements for each advertisement category.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 25 , wherein the selected advertisement is transmitted in a datastream separate from the currently watched programming.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as recited in claim 25 , wherein the selected advertisement is targeted to an individual terminal device.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as recited in claim 25 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method as recited in claim 25 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes future programming targeted to one or more individual terminal devices based on analysis of the currently watched programming information.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 25 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
68 words
One or more non-transitory machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to: gather information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmit the selected advertisement.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
68 words
One or more non-transitory machine-readable media including machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to: gather information corresponding to currently watched programming; correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertising categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements; select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and transmit the selected advertisement.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
56 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , further including machine-executable instructions that cause the apparatus to, prior to gathering the information corresponding to currently watched programming: select the plurality of advertisements based on the advertisement categories, wherein, upon selection, the plurality of advertisements includes one or more advertisements for each advertisement category.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
26 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , wherein the selected advertisement is transmitted in a datastream separate from the currently watched programming.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
22 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , wherein the selected advertisement is targeted to an individual terminal device.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
35 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
39 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes future programming targeted to one or more individual terminal devices based on analysis of the currently watched programming information.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
36 words
The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 32 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
67 words
A system for targeting advertising comprising: a processor configured to: gather information corresponding to currently watched programming, correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertisement categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements, and select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and a transmitter configured to transmit the selected advertisement.
Claim 46
Independent Claim
67 words
A system for targeting advertising comprising: a processor configured to: gather information corresponding to currently watched programming, correlate the currently watched programming information with a plurality of advertisement categories each associated with one or more advertisements of a plurality of advertisements, and select an advertisement from the plurality of advertisements based on the correlated currently watched programming information; and a transmitter configured to transmit the selected advertisement.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
50 words
The system as recited in claim 39 , wherein the processor is further configured to, prior to gathering information corresponding to currently watched programming: select the plurality of advertisements based on the advertisement categories, wherein, upon selection, the plurality of advertisements includes one or more advertisements for each advertisement category.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system as recited in claim 39 , wherein the selected advertisement is transmitted in a datastream separate from the currently watched programming.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system as recited in claim 39 , wherein the selected advertisement is targeted to an individual terminal device.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system as recited in claim 39 , wherein the selected advertisement is one of video commercials, infomercials, and promotional video, wherein infomercials are time varying video segments greater than 30 seconds.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system as recited in claim 39 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes future programming targeted to one or more individual terminal devices based on analysis of the currently watched programming information.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 39 , wherein the selected advertisement is a video that includes a description of future programming, a time and date of availability, and a cost to purchase.
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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) | 2014-03-21 | 2014-09-20 | 2015-03-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2018-03-21 | 2018-09-20 | 2019-03-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2022-03-21 | 2022-09-20 | 2023-03-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |