US 11949962

An analysis of United States Patent 11,949,962 reveals the following details. A search of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) dockets for 2026 did not yield any specific litigation information for this patent number.

Summary of U.S. Patent 11,949,962

Title: Method and computer system using proxy IP addresses and PII in measuring ad effectiveness across devices

Assignee: Intent IQ LLC

Inventors: Roy Shkedi, Dror Ben-Yishai

Filing Date: May 25, 2023

Issue Date: April 2, 2024

Abstract:
A profile provider: (i) associates a primary online device (OD1) with a set-top box (STB); (ii) a location of OD1 at some point in time is estimated to be “near” the STB, thereby establishing a STB proxy location; (iii) one or more secondary online devices (OD2s) are observed to be located “near” the STB proxy location and are associated with the STB; and (iv) a television advertisement is selected to be directed to the STB, which selection is based at least in part on profile information linked to one of the associated OD2s. The method can be particularly advantageous in situations wherein: the STB is not connected to any computer network; the STB is not ever connected to the same local area network as OD1 or OD2; or television service (used by the STB) and online access (used by OD1 and OD2s) are provided by different service providers.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims

This patent appears to have multiple independent claims, which describe the core inventions protected. Below is a plain-language interpretation of each.

Independent Claim 1: This claim describes a method for a computer system to measure the effectiveness of an advertisement. The system first receives a notification that a specific ad was shown on a set-top box (STB) and that this STB is associated with a particular online device (referred to as a "secondary online device"). Crucially, this secondary online device was previously linked to the STB because it was detected near a "primary online device" that itself was known to be near the STB. After the ad is shown, the system tracks the online activity of this secondary device. It then records that a specific online action occurred on the secondary device after the ad was displayed on the television. This allows for measuring the ad's impact by linking television ad exposure to subsequent online behavior.

Further Independent Claims: Based on the provided text, additional independent claims in this patent likely cover variations of this core method. These might include:

• A claim focusing on the computer system itself, configured to perform the steps of the method described above. This would protect the apparatus or technology built to carry out the process.
• A claim describing a non-transitory computer-readable medium (like a server's hard drive or other storage) that contains software instructions. When a computer runs these instructions, it performs the ad effectiveness measurement method. This protects the software product itself.
• Claims that vary the specifics of how devices are associated. For example, how the "nearness" of devices is determined (e.g., by sharing a Wi-Fi network, GPS coordinates, or other location data), and how personally identifiable information (PII) is used and protected in this process.
• Claims detailing how the system selects and delivers targeted ads to the STB based on the online profiles of not just the primary device user, but also other users of secondary devices determined to be in the same household or location.

Essentially, the patent protects a system and method for connecting the dots between a television advertisement viewed on a set-top box and the subsequent internet activity of various devices associated with that household, even if those devices are not directly linked to the TV or cable subscription. This is achieved by using a primary online device's proximity to the set-top box to establish a household location, and then associating other nearby devices with that location to track cross-device ad influence.