IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,869,204
Granted Patent B2
US 8,869,204 · App. 11/894,612 · Granted Oct 21, 2014

Method and system for displaying advertisements in an electronic program guide

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,869,204
App. No.
11/894,612
Granted
Oct 21, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system and method for displaying an electronic program schedule guide is provided. The system has areas for displaying program schedule information. In addition, the system also has areas that may be used for advertising programs, products or services. In another embodiment, the system has areas for displaying messages to the user.

Claims (70)

1. A method for causing advertisements to be simultaneously displayed with program information, comprising:

causing the program information to be displayed in a program information region of a display;

selecting a first advertisement from a plurality of advertisements;

causing the first advertisement to be displayed in an advertisement region simultaneously with the program information displayed in the program information region, wherein the advertisement region is outside of the program information region;

selecting a second advertisement from the plurality of advertisements, wherein the second advertisement is selected independently from content of the displayed program information;

causing the advertisement region to change from displaying the first advertisement to displaying the second advertisement responsive to user input to navigate a cursor within the program information region, wherein the displayed program information remains unchanged during the changing of the advertisement region; and

in response to a user selection of the advertisement region, invoking a function related to the second advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first advertisement is selected independent of the displayed program information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the program information is displayed in a plurality of rows; and

the first advertisement is displayed with substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first advertisement includes one or more of graphics and video.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first advertisement is displayed above the program information region.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first advertisement is displayed below the program information region.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is ordering one or more of an advertised product and an advertised service.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is scheduling an autotuning to a television broadcast about an advertised product or service.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is scheduling a recording of a television broadcast about an advertised product or service.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is tuning to a television broadcast about an advertised product or service.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement is about a pay program.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the function is scheduling viewing of the pay program.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is accessing a website related to the second advertisement.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein accessing a website comprises inserting an internet address into a browser, and wherein the browser causes the website to be displayed.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein:

the first advertisement is associated with a first internet address;

the second advertisement is associated with a second internet address; and

the website corresponds to the second internet address.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the first advertisement to be simultaneously displayed adjacent to the program information region.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the program information region is scrollable.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the program information region is scrollable.

19. A system for causing an advertisement to be simultaneously displayed with program information, comprising:

memory configured to store the program information;

input circuitry configured to receive a user selection of an advertisement region;

control circuitry configured to:

cause the program information to be displayed in a program information region of a display;

select a first advertisement from a plurality of advertisements;

cause the first advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement region simultaneously with the program information displayed in the program information region, wherein the advertisement region is outside of the program information region;

select a second advertisement from the plurality of advertisements, wherein the second advertisement is selected independently from content of the displayed program information;

cause the advertisement region to change from displaying the first advertisement to displaying the second advertisement responsive to user input to navigate a cursor within the program information region, wherein the displayed program information remains unchanged during the changing of the advertisement region; and

in response to receiving the user selection of the advertisement region, invoke a function related to the second advertisement.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first advertisement is selected for display independently from the displayed program information.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein:

the program information is displayed in a plurality of rows; and

the first advertisement is displayed with substantially the same vertical height as at least one of the rows.

22. The system of claim 19 , wherein the first advertisement includes one or more of graphics and video.

23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the function is ordering one or more of an advertised product and an advertised service.

24. The system of claim 19 , wherein the function is scheduling an autotuning to a television broadcast about an advertised product or service.

25. The system of claim 19 , wherein the function is accessing a website related to the second advertisement.

26. The system of claim 25 , wherein accessing a website comprises inserting an internet address into a browser, and wherein the browser causes the website to be displayed.

27. The system of claim 25 , wherein:

the first advertisement is associated with a first internet address;

the second advertisement is associated with a second internet address; and

the website corresponds to the second internet address.

28. The system of claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to cause the first advertisement to be simultaneously displayed adjacent to the program information region.

29. A method for causing advertisements to be simultaneously displayed with program information, comprising:

causing the program information to be displayed in a program information region of a display;

selecting a first advertisement from a plurality of advertisements;

causing the first advertisement to be displayed in an advertisement region simultaneously with the program information displayed in the program information region, wherein the advertisement region is outside of the program information region;

selecting a second advertisement from the plurality of advertisements, wherein the second advertisement is selected independently from content of the displayed program information;

causing the advertisement region to change from displaying the first advertisement to displaying the second advertisement responsive to user input to navigate a cursor within the program information region, wherein the advertisement region changes irrespective of changes to the displayed program information; and

in response to a user selection of the advertisement region, invoking a function related to the second advertisement.

30. A system for causing an advertisement to be simultaneously displayed with program information, comprising:

memory configured to store the program information;

input circuitry configured to receive a user selection of an advertisement region;

control circuitry configured to:

cause the program information to be displayed in a program information region of a display;

select a first advertisement from a plurality of advertisements;

cause the first advertisement to be displayed in the advertisement region simultaneously with the program information displayed in the program information region, wherein the advertisement region is outside of the program information region;

select a second advertisement from the plurality of advertisements, wherein the second advertisement is selected independently from content of the displayed program information;

cause the advertisement region to change from displaying the first advertisement to displaying the second advertisement responsive to user input to navigate a cursor within the program information region, wherein the advertisement region changes irrespective of changes to the displayed program information; and

in response to receiving the user selection of the advertisement region, invoke a function related to the second advertisement.

Assignments (8)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 25, 2019
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: APTIV DIGITAL INC.; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION; INDEX SYSTEMS INC.; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; SONIC SOLUTIONS LLC; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
Reel/Frame 051145/0090 →
MERGER Recorded Jun 10, 2015
From: STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.
To: ROVI GUIDES, INC.
Reel/Frame 035848/0289 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Jul 24, 2014
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: ALL MEDIA GUIDE, LLC; APTIV DIGITAL, INC.; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION; INDEX SYSTEMS INC.; ROVI CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.; TV GUIDE INTERNATIONAL, INC.; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 033396/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 24, 2014
From: APTIV DIGITAL, INC.; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION; INDEX SYSTEMS INC.; ROVI GUIDES, INC.; ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; SONIC SOLUTIONS LLC; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC.; VEVEO, INC.
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 033407/0035 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2011
From: APTIV DIGITAL, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION; INDEX SYSTEMS INC, A BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS COMPANY; ROVI CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION; ROVI GUIDES, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION; ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION; ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 027039/0168 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 6, 2011
From: KLOSTERMAN, BRIAN LEE; SCHEIN, STEVEN
To: STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.
Reel/Frame 026238/0820 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 29, 2010
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. (A NATIONAL ASSOCIATION)
To: ALL MEDIA GUIDE, LLC; APTIV DIGITAL, INC.; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION; INDEX SYSTEMS INC.; ODS PROPERTIES, INC.; ROVI DATA SOLUTIONS, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS TV GUIDE DATA SOLUTIONS, INC.); ROVI GUIDES, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS GEMSTAR-TV GUIDE INTERNATIONAL, INC.); ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION (FORMERLY KNOWN AS MACROVISION CORPORATION); ROVI SOLUTIONS LIMITED (FORMERLY KNOWN AS MACROVISION EUROPE LIMITED); ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.; TV GUIDE, INC.; TV GUIDE ONLINE, LLC; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 025222/0731 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 15, 2008
From: APTIV DIGITAL, INC.; GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION; GEMSTAR-TV GUIDE INTERNATIONAL, INC.; INDEX SYSTEMS INC; MACROVISION CORPORATION; ODS PROPERTIES, INC.; STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC.; TV GUIDE ONLINE, LLC; UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 020986/0074 →