Ocean Tomo to Sell Social Networking Patent
Published August 29th, 2008
CHICAGO – Ocean Tomo Auctions today announced a fundamental patent relating to social networking technology, US 6,480,885, will be placed on the auction block at the Chicago Cultural Center on October 30th, 2008. Inventor Michael Olivier developed the ‘885 patent and launched the www.Local2Me.com social networking site after successfully connecting his one-square-mile San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood via an emailing list. The patent will be offered as Lot 22 at The Ocean Tomo Fall 2008 Live IP Auction.
This ‘885 patent, which is referenced by 68 other patents and has priority dating to 1998, discloses a method of enabling new group communication applications derived from large user bases via both online services and on portable electronic communication devices.
The system establishes acceptance criteria that define what user characteristics are desired; gathers matching acceptance criteria from user profiles; and calculates the degree of match between a user’s profile data and the acceptance criteria of all the other users in the database. When the system receives a communication from the primary user, the message data is then made available to the other users in the targeted subgroup.
“It’s a novel and highly scalable approach that creates valuable communications channels from large user bases by matching their criteria and profile data to form affinity groups. This enables organizations to leverage their databases, increase the effectiveness of communication for their clients, and improve their behavioral targeting,” Olivier said. “From a user perspective, it simplifies the process of exchanging information with nearby or like-minded people,” he added.
This technology can extend to any sort of group-based communication, including, but not limited to: email, discussion boards, SMS/MMS, advertising, voicemails, chat, and instant messaging. It has applications in fields such as social networking, advertising networks, mobile communication, consumer research, market research, and online games.
“Ocean Tomo is extremely excited to offer this Lot from such a dynamic industry in the Fall Auction. The early priority date — before the real boom of social networking and location-aware mobile devices — as well as its innovative methods for connecting like-minded users, makes it an extremely valuable asset to own,” said Andrew T. Ramer, President of Ocean Tomo Auctions.
For more information on Lot 22, or to register to bid or attend the Ocean Tomo Fall 2008 Live IP Auction, please call 312.377.4851, email auctions@oceantomo.com or visit www.OceanTomoAuctions.com.
