Prior art — US Patent 8494904

Prior Art Analysis for US Patent 8,494,904

As of April 26, 2026, the following represents an analysis of the most relevant prior art cited against US Patent 8,494,904, based on a review of the patent's file wrapper and the cited references themselves. This analysis focuses on the potential for anticipation of the patent's claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

Each of the following references was cited by the examiner during the prosecution of the patent application.

U.S. Patent 6,026,368: "Method and apparatus for collecting and analyzing data from a plurality of data sources"

Full Citation: US Patent 6,026,368, Brown, et al.
Publication Date: February 15, 2000
Filing Date: June 19, 1998
Brief Description: This patent describes a system for collecting data from various online sources, such as websites and databases, and then analyzing that data to create user profiles. The system can then use these profiles for various purposes, including targeted marketing. A key aspect is the ability to gather information from different, unaffiliated sources and consolidate it.
Potential Anticipation: This patent appears to disclose several key elements of the independent claims of the '904 patent. Specifically, it describes a system that receives data from multiple third-party sources and uses that data to build profiles for targeted advertising. It could be argued that this anticipates the core concepts of receiving partial profiles from unaffiliated third parties and using them for ad targeting, as outlined in claims 1, 11, and 21 of the '904 patent. The '368 patent, however, may not explicitly detail the "URL-redirected" reception of the partial profile or the specific mechanism for tracking the source of each profile attribute for compensation, which are elements of the '904 claims.

U.S. Patent 6,236,975: "System and method for targeting advertisements"

Full Citation: US Patent 6,236,975, Boe, et al.
Publication Date: May 22, 2001
Filing Date: March 31, 1998
Brief Description: This patent discloses a system for delivering targeted advertisements to users based on their demographic and psychographic profiles. The system collects user information from various sources and creates a profile that is then used to select and deliver relevant ads.
Potential Anticipation: This reference is relevant as it describes the use of user profiles for targeted advertising. It discloses the concept of collecting user data to form a profile for ad targeting, which is a central theme of the '904 patent. The '975 patent could potentially anticipate the broader concept of using profiles for ad targeting within claims 1, 11, and 21. However, similar to the '368 patent, it may lack the specific implementation details of the '904 patent, such as the URL redirection method for data collection and the tracking of data sources for compensation.

U.S. Patent 6,269,361: "System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine"

Full Citation: US Patent 6,269,361, Davis, et al.
Publication Date: July 31, 2001
Filing Date: May 28, 1999
Brief Description: This patent details a pay-for-performance search engine where advertisers can bid to have their websites appear in a more prominent position in search results. This system inherently involves tracking which advertiser is associated with which search listing for billing purposes.
Potential Anticipation: While focused on search engine result placement, the '361 patent describes a system where third parties (advertisers) provide information (bids and links) that is then used to present information to a user. It also necessitates tracking the source of the information for a financial transaction (payment for the ad placement). This could be argued to anticipate the concept of receiving information from a third party and tracking its source for compensation, as claimed in the dependent claims of the '904 patent that deal with payment. However, it does not describe the collection of user profile attributes in the same manner as the '904 patent.

U.S. Patent 6,505,169: "Apparatus and method for providing targeted advertisements"

Full Citation: US Patent 6,505,169, Bezos, et al.
Publication Date: January 7, 2003
Filing Date: September 29, 2000
Brief Description: This patent, assigned to Amazon, describes a system for providing targeted advertisements and promotions to users based on their past activities, such as purchase history and browsing behavior on a website. It focuses on using internally collected data to personalize the user experience.
Potential Anticipation: This reference is relevant for its disclosure of using behavioral data to target advertisements. It anticipates the general idea of creating user profiles based on online activity for marketing purposes. However, the '169 patent primarily focuses on data collected from a single entity's own platform (e.g., Amazon.com), rather than collecting "partial profiles" from a "plurality of unaffiliated third parties," which is a key limitation of the independent claims of the '904 patent.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0065730: "Method and system for internetworked marketing and advertising"

Full Citation: US 2002/0065730 A1, Fiala, et al.
Publication Date: May 30, 2002
Filing Date: November 21, 2001
Brief Description: This published application describes a system where different websites can share user data to create more comprehensive user profiles for targeted advertising. It explicitly discusses the exchange of user information between different online entities.
Potential Anticipation: This reference is highly relevant as it describes a network of unaffiliated entities sharing user data to build profiles for advertising, which is very close to the core claims of the '904 patent. It discloses the collection of profile attributes from multiple sources to enhance targeting. The key question for anticipation would be whether this application also discloses the "URL-redirected" method of receiving the partial profile and the specific mechanism for tracking and compensating the contributing third parties as claimed in the '904 patent.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0208401: "System and method for providing advertisements"

Full Citation: US 2003/0208401 A1, Tso, et al.
Publication Date: November 6, 2003
Filing Date: May 1, 2002
Brief Description: This application outlines a system for serving targeted advertisements to users based on their profiles. It includes mechanisms for collecting user data and matching it with advertiser criteria.
Potential Anticipation: This reference contributes to the landscape of prior art in targeted advertising. It describes a system for collecting and using user profiles to deliver ads, which is a foundational element of the '904 patent. However, its potential to anticipate the '904 patent's claims would depend on whether it discloses the specific methods of data collection from multiple unaffiliated sources and the tracking of those sources for compensation as detailed in the claims of the '904 patent.