IP Library Granted Patent US 8,185,437
Granted Patent B2
US 8,185,437 · App. 12/127,713 · Granted May 22, 2012

Systems and methods to provide communication connections via partners

View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,185,437
App. No.
12/127,713
Granted
May 22, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to provide user interfaces dynamically customized according to partners through which the user interfaces are accessed in a customer acquisition process. One embodiment includes providing to a plurality of entities a platform, configured to assign references for embedding in listings for presentation and configured to connect people for real time communications according to the references embedded in the listings, the references to be used to request the platform to provide the connections; responsive to a request received via a first entity of the plurality of entities, presenting a user interface of the platform in a first format to identify the first entity; and responsive to a request received via a second entity of the plurality of entities, presenting the user interface of the platform in a second format to identify the second entity.

Claims (38)

1. A method, comprising:

providing, via a telecommunication connection provider server, to a plurality of demand partners, each acting as a demand partner for a respective set of advertisers for the presentation of a respective advertisement for a respective advertiser, a platform configured to assign a respective reference embedded in a respective listing of the respective advertiser, for presentation and configured to connect a customer for a real time communication utilizing the respective reference embedded in the respective listing, the reference used to request the platform to provide the connection;

responsive to a request received from a first demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, presenting a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, having the first demand partner as a demand partner, in a first format specific to the first demand partner and having a first type of tracking mechanism specific to the first demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the first demand partner; and

responsive to a request received from a second demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, presenting a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, having the second demand partner as a demand partner, in a second format specific to the second demand partner and having a second type of tracking mechanism specific to the second demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the second demand partner.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface presented in the first format and the user interface presented in the second format are each presented to further identify the platform.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first entity is identified in the first format using one of text, an icon image, an audio clip, a video clip, an animation, and an applet.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of user interfaces are configured to one of register a user, create a listing, manage the listing, show a progress of a connection process initiated using a presentation of the listing, and guide the user through the connection process, and wherein the plurality of user interfaces are customized for presentation according to the entity through which the platform is accessed.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of user interfaces are customized according to one preference setting of the demand partner through which the platform is accessed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to one of register an advertiser of a listing, create the listing, manage the listing, show a progress of a connection to the advertiser, register a customer, and guide a customer of the advertiser through the connection to the advertiser.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the advertiser is charged an advertisement fee for the connection to the advertiser.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

assigning, via the platform, a telephonic reference and embedding the telephonic reference in the listing of the advertiser for presentation of the listing to the customer; and

responsive to a request made using the telephonic reference embedded in the listing, establishing a first connection to the customer and a second connection to the advertiser and bridging the first connection and the second connection to connect the customer and the advertiser.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the bridging the first connection and the second connection comprises establishing a media connection over a data communication network to connect the customer and the advertiser; and wherein the media connection does not go through the platform.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the telephonic reference assigned for embedding in the listing of the advertiser comprises one of a telephone number of the platform without an extension, a telephone number of the platform with an extension, a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier, a user identifier of an instant messaging network, and a voice over Internet protocol user identifier.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the connection to the advertiser comprises a peer to peer connection between a user terminal of the customer and a user terminal of the advertiser.

12. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

the platform charging the customer on behalf of the advertiser in response to the customer accepting a payment request from the advertiser.

13. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

the platform charging the customer on behalf of the advertiser in response to the customer purchasing one of a product and a service from the advertiser.

14. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the listing is created using the first entity and then presented using the second entity, a user interface to the customer is presented identifying both the first entity and the second entity.

15. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the listing is created using the first entity, the method further comprises:

requesting, via the platform, the first entity to authenticate the advertiser to be able to access user interfaces to manage the listing.

16. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

identifying, via the platform, a duplicate registration of the advertiser.

17. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

identifying, via the platform, a duplicate listing of the advertiser.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, via the platform, the user interface for embedding in an interface of the first demand partner to serve requests received from the first demand partner and for embedding in an interface of the second demand partner to serve requests received from the second demand partner.

19. A tangible machine-readable media storing non-transitory instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

providing to a plurality of demand partners, each acting as a demand partner for a respective set of advertisers for the presentation of a respective advertisement for a respective advertiser, a platform configured to assign a respective reference embedded in a respective listing of the respective advertiser, for presentation and configured to connect a customer for a real time communication utilizing the respective reference embedded in the respective listing, the reference used to request the platform to provide the connection;

responsive to a request received from a first demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, presenting a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, having the first demand partner as a demand partner, in a first format specific to the first demand partner and having a first type of tracking mechanism specific to the first demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the first demand partner; and

responsive to a request received from a second demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, presenting a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, having the second demand partner as a demand partner, in a second format specific to the second demand partner and having a second type of tracking mechanism specific to the second demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the second demand partner.

20. A system, comprising:

a computing device configured to:

provide to a plurality of demand partners, each acting as a demand partner for a respective set of advertisers for the presentation of a respective advertisement for a respective advertiser, a platform configured to assign a respective reference embedded in a respective listing of the respective advertiser, for presentation;

connect a customer for a real time communication utilizing the respective reference embedded in the respective listing, the reference used to request the platform to provide the connection;

present, responsive to a request received from a first demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, presented by the first demand partner, in a first format specific to the first demand partner and having a first type of tracking mechanism specific to the first demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the first demand partner; and

present, responsive to a request received from a second demand partner from amongst the plurality of demand partners, a user interface of the platform for creation of an advertisement for an advertiser, presented by the second demand partner, in a second format specific to the second demand partner and having a second type of tracking mechanism specific to the second demand partner and selected at least in part based on a success rate for the second demand partner.

Assignments (36)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 069830/0339 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 7, 2025
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 069830/0826 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: DEX MEDIA, INC.; YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
Reel/Frame 067381/0745 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 7, 2024
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 067341/0434 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067310/0627 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 1, 2024
From: THRYV, INC.
To: CITIZENS BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 067287/0759 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 3, 2021
From: TREE LINE DIRECT LENDING, LP, AS RETIRING AGENT
To: TREE LINE CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC, AS SUCCESSOR AGENT
Reel/Frame 057064/0788 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Recorded Mar 2, 2021
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: THRYV, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA, INC.); THRYV HOLDINGS, INC. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.)
Reel/Frame 055472/0592 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 1, 2021
From: THRYV, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 055452/0258 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 25, 2020
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM, LLC
To: THRYV, INC.
Reel/Frame 052071/0589 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043194 FRAME: 0505. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 14, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 043544/0720 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043170 FRAME: 0318. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 10, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 043512/0799 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NATURE OF CONVEYANCE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 043183 FRAME: 0734. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Aug 9, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043493/0648 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 28, 2017
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043363/0518 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 17, 2017
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 043217/0875 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 14, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 043194/0585 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 13, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 043183/0734 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 12, 2017
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 043170/0318 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 3, 2017
From: YP LLC; YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC; YP ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING LLC; PRINT MEDIA LLC; DEX MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC.; CERBERUS YP DIGITAL BLOCKER LLC; CERBERUS YP BLOCKER LLC; YP HOLDINGS LLC; PRINT MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC; YP INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS CORP.; YP WESTERN HOLDINGS CORP.; YP SOUTHEAST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP MIDWEST HOLDINGS CORP.; YP CONNECTICUT HOLDINGS CORP.; PLUSMO HOLDINGS CORP.; INGENIO HOLDINGS CORP.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 043074/0794 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 1, 2016
From: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 040540/0948 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 1, 2015
From: MEDLEY CAPITAL CORPORATION
To: INGENIO, LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
Reel/Frame 035353/0871 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jan 28, 2015
From: INGENIO LLC
To: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
Reel/Frame 034838/0217 →
MERGER Recorded Jan 28, 2015
From: YP INTERACTIVE LLC
To: YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC
Reel/Frame 034838/0226 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST -- PATENTS Recorded Feb 28, 2014
From: YP INTERACTIVE LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO LLC)
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 032372/0639 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 2, 2013
From: INGENIO LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 030740/0085 →
RELEASE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST -- PATENTS Recorded Jun 5, 2013
From: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC
To: INGENIO LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS INGENIO, INC.)
Reel/Frame 030554/0356 →
LICENSE Recorded May 10, 2013
From: YP HOLDINGS LLC; INGENIO LLC
To: INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
Reel/Frame 030390/0131 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2013
From: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030389/0946 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2013
From: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030389/0746 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 10, 2013
From: INGENIO ACQUISITION, LLC
To: MEDLEY CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 030390/0231 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2013
From: UTBK LLC
To: INGENIO LLC
Reel/Frame 030341/0882 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 19, 2012
From: UTBK LLC
To: PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 029342/0075 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 16, 2012
From: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: INGENIO, INC.
Reel/Frame 029453/0560 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 9, 2012
From: UTBK, INC.
To: UTBK LLC
Reel/Frame 029275/0129 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: INGENIO, INC.
To: CERBERUS YP ARRANGER, LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0081 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST - PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2012
From: INGENIO, INC.
To: FORTRESS CREDIT CO LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 028177/0004 →