ICAP Patent Brokerage, the world’s largest intellectual property brokerage and patent auction firm, is offering for sale a patented method for targeting advertisements in electronic communications. The patent portfolio announced covers a broad range of communication activities including ad placement, use of user demographics, user remuneration and automated tracking.

The key patent, invented by Lawrence F. Glaser and owned by Nixon Peabody LLP and Studebaker & Brackett PC, discloses methods that offer significant new revenue opportunities for a wide range of communication networks. The patent covers methods of advertising on networks using data processing devices. This includes any user, network form, advertising form, data processing form and potentially any communication form.

The patent is broad and only recently issued, so the terms of the patent specification and scope of the claims include but are not limited to the following:

An ad is a banner, coupon, auction, reverse auction, video, hologram, animation, video or any other form. The unique demographics of the sender or recipient can affect content. A “user” references any entity attached to a network, either human or machine. “Data processor” is a very broad term and covers a wide and growing range of devices including PC, SmartPhone, iPad, even a smart watch with texting capabilities. “Network” is also a very broad term including but not limited to the internet. The claims cover automation of the ads going into the communications as well as the automatic use of demographic data mined about about users to determine the ads to embed.

This patent is critically important with tremendous implications and market potential for large networks and services who have electronic advertising as part of their business model.