US 9,807,438 B2Granted

Video on demand gifting

AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.

InventorsAarif Mohamed Hussain, Subramanyam Manda, Kunthunathan Virushabadoss, Nazeer Mahaboobjan, Arjun Baskaran

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A system receives, from a first user device associated with a giver, a request for a video-on-demand (VOD) gift, wherein the request identifies a recipient and a VOD selection. The system creates a billing event corresponding to the VOD gift, for an account associated with the giver, and generates a coupon code for the VOD gift. The coupon code is associated with the identified recipient and the VOD selection. The system sends, to a second user device associated with the recipient, an indication of the VOD gift that includes the coupon code. The system receives, from a third user device associated with the recipient, the coupon code and provides, to the third user device, information to enable access to VOD content corresponding to the coupon code.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method performed by one or more network devices, comprising:

providing, to a first user device associated with a giver, a user interface to enable out-of-franchise users to order video-on-demand (VOD) gifts from a provider network;
receiving, from the first user device associated with the giver, a request for a VOD gift, wherein the request identifies a recipient and a VOD selection;
creating a billing event, corresponding to the VOD gift, for an account associated with the giver;
generating, in response to receiving the request, a coupon code for the VOD gift, wherein the coupon code is based on both the identified recipient and the VOD selection;
sending, to a second user device associated with the recipient, a first indication of the VOD gift that includes the coupon code, when the recipient is a subscriber of the provider network;
sending, to the second user device associated with the recipient, a second indication of the VOD gift that includes the coupon code and a link to access the VOD gift, when the recipient is not a subscriber of the provider network, wherein the second indication is different than the first indication;
receiving, from a third user device associated with the recipient, the coupon code;
and
providing, to the third user device, information to enable access to VOD content corresponding to the coupon code.

6 more elements

One or more network devices, comprising:

one or more memories to store a plurality of instructions;
and
one or more processors configured to execute instructions in the one or more memories to:
provide, to a first user device associated with a first giver that is a subscriber of a provider network, a first user interface for a video-on-demand (VOD) gift system,
provide, to a second user device associated with a second giver that is not a subscriber of the provider network, a second user interface for the gift system that is different than the first user interface, wherein the first user interface and the second user interface are configured to solicit contact information for a recipient and a VOD gift selection;
receive, from the first user device via the first user interface or from the second user device via the second user interface, a request for a VOD gift, wherein the request includes the contact information for the recipient and the VOD gift selection;
create a billing event, corresponding to the VOD gift, for an account associated with the first giver or the second giver;
generate, in response to receiving the request, a coupon code for the VOD gift, wherein the coupon code is based on both the contact information for the recipient and the VOD gift selection;
send, to a third user device associated with the recipient and based on the contact information, a first indication of the VOD gift when the recipient is a subscriber of a provider network, wherein the first indication includes the coupon code;
send, to the third user device associated with the recipient and based on the contact information, a second indication of the VOD gift when the recipient is not a subscriber of the provider network, wherein the second indication includes the coupon code and a link to access the VOD gift;
provide, to a fourth user device, a third user interface to solicit the coupon code;
receive, from the fourth user device and via the third user interface, the coupon code;
and
provide, to the fourth user device, information to enable the fourth user device to access VOD content corresponding to the coupon code.

11 more elements

A system, comprising:

a catalog device configured to provide a list of video-on-demand (VOD) content available for gifting;
an application device configured to:
selectively provide, to a first user device associated with a giver, either of an in-franchise user interface or an out-of-franchise user interface for a video-on-demand (VOD) gift system of a provider network, wherein both of the in-franchise user interface and the out-of-franchise user interface are configured to solicit contact information for a recipient and a VOD gift selection based on the list of VOD content, and
receive, from the first user device and via the in-franchise user interface or the out-of-franchise user interface, a request for a VOD gift, wherein the request includes the contact information for the recipient and the VOD gift selection;
an order processing system configured to create a billing event, corresponding to the VOD gift, for an account associated with the giver;
and
a coupon platform configured to:
generate, in response to receiving the request, a coupon code for the VOD gift, wherein the coupon code is based on the contact information for the recipient and the VOD gift selection,
send, to a second user device associated with the recipient and based on the contact information, a first indication of the VOD gift when the recipient is a subscriber of the provider network, wherein the first indication includes the coupon code,
send, to the second user device associated with the recipient and based on the contact information, a second indication of the VOD gift when the recipient is not a subscriber of the provider network, wherein the second indication includes the coupon code and a link to access the VOD gift,
store the coupon code generated for the VOD gift and the VOD gift selection, and
validate a coupon code received from a recipient based on the stored coupon code generated for the VOD gift.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/370,350Filed 10 Feb 2012
Published: US 2013/0212610 A115 Aug 2013
Granted: 31 Oct 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

H04N 21/2542
Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server: for selling goods, e.g. TV shopping
G06Q 30/06
Commerce: buying, selling or leasing transactions
H04N 21/47815
Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application: electronic shopping
H04N 21/4784
Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application: receiving rewards