Method and apparatus to invoke a shopping ticker
US7237252B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 27, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jun 26, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 27, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/478
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A shopping ticker can be invoked when the viewer presses a BUY button on a remote control while a television program is being shown. The television program, which can be a commercial, may not necessarily have an interactive commerce opportunity originally associated with it. However, instead of ignoring a signal sent from the remote control when the BUY button is pressed, the signal is processed to invoke the shopping ticker. The shopping ticker can include advertisements, links to e-commerce opportunities (including merchant web sites), product information, or other information that may be potentially useful to help initiate a transaction with the viewer, including context-sensitive shopping information that is related to the subject matter of the television program. A commerce opportunity is thus created in a situation where there originally would not have been such an opportunity and where the viewer's remote control action would otherwise have been ignored.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.