The patent is titled Advertising based on environmental conditions. It's quite simple, per the very short abstract:
Information about an environmental condition of a remote device is received, the environmental condition being determined based on a signal output from a sensor of the remote device or a sensor coupled to the remote device. An advertisement is identified based on the environmental condition, and the advertisement is provided to the remote device.
So, in theory, if it's raining, you might get ads for raincoats. This is already done to some extent on weather webites. High allergy day in your area? And ad for Claritin appears! It's also possible to sense background noise - say that of a concert - and based ads on that. The patent was applied for in 2008 and granted on March 20.
The privacy folks are concerned of course and there are the requisite comparisons to Minority Report. Google for its part notes it patents all kinds of ideas; some never are implemented in products.
- BBC
- Atlantic
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/27 at 04:00 AM |
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Real estate information portal Zillow Inc. has paid $850,000 to release the company from any claims that it infringed on two patents held by CIVIX-DDI LLC, an Alexandria, Va.-based company that's sued more than a dozen operators of websites that offer location-based search capabilities to consumers.
Hotels.com got a summary judgement saying they didn't infringe; the Michigan Association of Realtors paid up. (APB coverage) The defendent in the latest CIVIX suit, LoopNet, is fighting on.
- Inman.com
by Adena Schutzberg on 03/07 at 03:00 AM |
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PanoMap, based in Florida, filed a patent infringement case against Apple and Google last week. It's really about the display of data, not the capture and thus the allegations are against big users of these types of display.
The patent,
US No. 6,563,529, was filed back in 1999 and issued in 2003. There are a total of 28 claims in the patent, but the broadest of them essentially cover a mapping system that displays a wide map view in combination with a more detailed view of location specifics. The claims also require synchronization of the two views.
As I see it, the invention here is what I call "active overview maps" and I have to believe there may be prior art from desktop GIS, if not a sense of obviousness.
by Adena Schutzberg on 02/28 at 06:20 AM |
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The patent, Pedestrian route production, has this abstract:
As a pedestrian travels, various difficulties can be encountered, such as traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures. A route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian. Moreover, the route can alter as a situation of a user changes; for instance, if a user wants to add a stop along a route.
So, any GIS-based route built off a model might be patentable? Shortest? Darkest? Most dangerous? Most hilly?
The patent application was in 2007; Bing Maps added pedestrian directions in 2010.
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/04 at 11:08 AM |
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The patents is titled, Transitioning a Mixed-mode Vehicle to Autonomous Mode.
Abstract:
Disclosed are methods and devices for transitioning a mixed-mode autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an autonomously driven mode. Transitioning may include stopping a vehicle on a predefined landing strip and detecting a reference indicator. Based on the reference indicator, the vehicle may be able to know its exact position. Additionally, the vehicle may use the reference indictor to obtain an autonomous vehicle instruction via a URL. After the vehicle knows its precise location and has an autonomous vehicle instruction, it can operate in autonomous mode.
Experts confirm the patent is only for Google's specific method; it does not restrict development of rival self-driving cars.
- BBC
by Adena Schutzberg on 12/16 at 06:05 AM |
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