WO2016049171A1

WO2016049171A1 - Method and system for processing media asset gifts

Info

Publication number: WO2016049171A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/051702
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jagjeet KHALSA; Lee Shartzer
Original assignee: Thomson Licensing
Priority date: 2014-09-23
Filing date: 2015-09-23
Publication date: 2016-03-31

Abstract

A method and system automatically process a gift of a media asset from a sender to a recipient based on information in a profile set up by the recipient. The recipient's profile includes information for at least one of: one or more preferred media type, one or more media services associated with different types of media assets, an account for each media service, whether any media asset should be rejected; and whether a gift credit should be received instead of a media asset. Based on information in the recipient's profile, the system can automatically process the media asset gift, and allows the gift transaction to be completed.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING MEDIA ASSET GIFTS

CROSS REFERENCE

This application claims priority to a U.S. Provisional Application, Serial No.

62/053,876 filed on September 23, 2014, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a method and system for automatically processing a gift of a media asset to a recipient based on information in a user profile established by the recipient.

BACKGROUND

When a media asset is given to a recipient, the form of the media asset or content may not be usable by the recipient, for example, due to incompatibility with the recipient's devices or for other reasons. Such a media asset is often linked to a specific media source, and the recipient is locked into using that media source for accessing the media asset. Although one can sometimes export the media asset to a device by downloading the media asset directly to the device or by saving the media asset to a common locker format like Ultraviolet, as used for video assets, such an operation requires the recipient to engage in extra work that can be cumbersome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present principles relates to a method for processing media asset gifts, which include: upon receiving a gift of a media asset from a gift sender to a recipient, automatically processing the gift in accordance with a profile for the recipient. According to the present principles, the recipient's profile includes information for determining at least one of: a preferred media type; a media service for accessing the media asset; a user account in the media service; whether the media asset is to be rejected; and whether a gift credit is to be received instead of the media asset.

Another aspect of the present principles relates to a system for processing media asset gifts, which includes at least one processor configured to, upon receiving a gift of a media asset from a gift sender to a recipient, automatically process the gift in accordance with a profile for the recipient; and a memory having stored therein the recipient's profile including information for determining at least one of: a preferred media type; a media service for accessing the media asset; a user account in the media service; whether the media asset is to be rejected; and whether a gift credit is to be received instead of the media asset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present principles can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a method for processing a gift of a media asset in accordance with one embodiment of the present principles; and

Figure 2 illustrates a server that can be used to implement the method of Figure 1.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present principles provide a method and system that allow a gift of media asset to a recipient to be automatically processed by a server based on information specified by the recipient, so that the gift (or a gift voucher for the media asset) can be automatically associated with an account in a media service, and the gift transaction to be automatically completed according to predetermined rules or criteria.

One aspect of the present principles provides a gift-processing system that allows a user to create a profile either unique to the system or based on a public identity (e.g., Facebook, Google, etc.). In his or her user profile, the user can specify information relating to: at least one media preference (e.g., user's preferred type of media content), and at least one media service and corresponding service account name used for a given media type. With an established user profile, any media asset (which may be in the form of a gift voucher) given to the user can be automatically processed by the system based on information in the recipient's profile. Such a system will allow the gift sender to focus on the media asset gift (e.g., book, music, video, games, among others, including different digital or physical formats) without having to select a media service. If a recipient's profile does not yet have a preference for a given type of media, or a media service associated with the media asset gift, the system can facilitate the transaction by notifying the recipient of a pending gift and completing the transaction once a preference has been defined by the recipient. The system of the present principles also allows the gift giver to find a particular recipient profile by any of the recipient's registered identities.

Another aspect of the present principles provides a method for automatically processing media asset gifts based on information in the recipient's profile, which includes information for determining at least one of: a media service for accessing the media asset; a user account in the media service; whether the media asset is to be rejected; and whether a gift credit is to be received instead of the media asset.

The system provides a server to automatically process media asset gifts to recipients who have set up user profiles in the system. For example, a user can set up a profile using an identity (ID) unique to this system, or by using a publicly-known ID from other services such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, or other social media IDs. A user can specify any number of identities for association with his or her profile, so that a gift sender can search for the recipient's profile using any of these specified identities. Alternatively, a recipient's email address can be used to locate and identify a recipient's profile, and used for communications with the recipient. The user can further specify at least one preferred type of media asset, or at least one media store account for accepting media gifts. For example, the user can specify different media stores or services for accepting different types of media assets, and the user's account can be specified by the user's ID for the specific media store, e.g., iTunes ID, Amazon user ID. Furthermore, the user can specify in the profile a preferred format for one or more types of media gifts, e.g., digital format for download, or physical disc format (e.g., disc for Playstation versus XBox, and so on).

A gift giver or sender can use this system to discover or search for a recipient's profile and specify a media asset to be given. Based on information in the recipient's profile, the system will notify the giver of the recipient's preferred media type and/or media service or store for the media gift. The giver can proceed with the media gift, and complete the transaction using the recipient's preferred media service or store, and the purchased media asset will be credited to the recipient's account in the media store. However, if there is no preferred media service specified in the recipient's profile, the giver can specify a maximum dollar amount for the media asset gift. The system will then notify the recipient of the gift. Upon the recipient's providing additional information, e.g., by updating the profile with a preferred media service and a corresponding account name or ID, the transaction relating to the media asset gift can be completed.

According to the present principles, a recipient (e.g., a user) can specify in his or her profile one or more of the following relating to any gift of a media asset:

1) at least one user name or account to be associated with a gift of a media asset.

2) at least one media service to be used for accessing the media asset.

3) for a particular media asset or type of media asset, whether the recipient should receive a gift credit instead of the asset itself (which can be used for re-gifting), or whether the media asset gift should be rejected. For example, the recipient can set up a rule in the user profile not to accept certain types of media asset or a given media asset based on a media content's rating.

4) whether the media asset and/or access privilege associated with the media asset should be transmitted to the recipient or a digital locker.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary method 100 for automatically processing gifts of media assets to a recipient, the processing being done based on information in a profile previously established by the recipient. For example, a sender can access a gift-processing system to search for the recipient's profile, and specify a media asset to be given to the recipient. The media asset may be a digital copy of a movie, television show, book, video game, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, upon receiving a gift or voucher for a media asset from the sender intended for a recipient (block 102) having a user profile in the gift processing system of FIG. 2, the system will make a determination system whether the media asset is acceptable to the recipient, and whether a media service has been specified in the recipient's profile for the media asset (block 104).

If the answer at block 104 is "yes", the method proceeds to block 106, at which the system (e.g., a server or processor associated with the system) notifies the sender of the media service and the recipient's account or ID.

For example, a recipient's profile may specify a first account at Amazon associated with e-books, and a second account at eMusic associated with music. Depending on the type of the media asset (i.e., whether an e-book or music), the sender will be notified of either the recipient's account at Amazon or eMusic.

At block 108, the sender completes the gift transaction through the gift-processing system of FIG. 2, which forwards transaction information to the specified media service. The transaction information includes payment information entered by the sender, the media asset, and the recipient's account associated with the media service. The system will credit the purchased media asset to the recipient's account in the media service. The recipient's identity in the media service can be represented by a user name, an email address, or other suitable identification code. The identity of the media asset can be represented by a title, an identifier or other code applicable to the type of media asset. The type of media asset may be a book, video game, television show, movie, and so on.

If the answer at block 104 is "no", i.e., based on the recipient's profile, the media asset is deemed not acceptable to the recipient, or a media service has not been specified, the system notifies the sender of the status and provides at least one option for the sender, such as changing to another media asset or specifying a gift amount, as shown in block 110.

At block 112, instructions are received from the sender, and a determination is made at block 114 as to whether the sender has specified a different media asset. If "yes", the process returns to block 104 again for processing. If the answer at block 114 is "no", the process proceeds to block 116 at which the recipient is notified by the system of a pending gift amount or the media asset, and an update of the recipient's profile is requested (e.g., whether to accept the media asset or specify a media service).

After additional information has been received from the recipient (block 118), for example, at least one of: an updated profile specifying a media service, and selection of a different media asset consistent with the gift amount, the gift transaction can be completed at block 120. The transaction can be completed based on at least one of: the instructions from the sender, the updated recipient's profile, and the media asset selected by the recipient. Once the transaction is completed, certain data such as the date, media asset, gift sender, and recipient information will be saved and accessible to the user, e.g., as part of or through the user's profile, but the financial details will be discarded as a security measure.

After completing the gift transaction (at block 108 or 120), the gift-processing system can notify the recipient that the media asset is ready for retrieval from the selected media service. The recipient can then initiate retrieval of the media asset, which can be streamed for real-time consumption and/or stored on a device or an online digital locker associated with the recipient. Many devices can be used for storing the media asset, including for example, computers, mp3 players, smart phones, among others.

FIG. 2 shows a system 250 for that can be used to implement the method 100 of

FIG. 1. The system of FIG. 2 includes a server 200, has at least one processor 202 and one memory 204 for use in processing one or more tasks associated with a gift transaction, with the at least one processor 202 also configured for accessing memory 204 to retrieve a recipient's profile.

The server 200 can communicate with a gift sender and recipient via their respective devices 206 and 208, e.g., to provide notifications to and receive instructions from the sender and/or recipient, as previously discussed in connection with FIG. 1.

When a gift giver or sender accesses the gift-processing system for sending a gift to a recipient, the processor 202 accesses memory 204 to retrieve information from a user profile belonging to the recipient, which includes information relating to the recipient's preferences regarding the processing and/or delivery of media assets. The memory 204 can be resident on the server 200, or any suitable memory device that is accessible to the server, whether at a local or remote location relative to the server 200.

Based on information in the user profile, the processor 202 determines whether the media asset is acceptable to the recipient, and whether a media service has been specified for the media asset (see block 104 of FIG. 1). Depending on the result of this determination, a suitable notification can then be sent to the gift sender (see blocks 106 and 110 of FIG. 1), and subsequent tasks performed accordingly.

For example, the user profile can include a listing of different media services 1 , 2 and 3 (or content providers) with corresponding user's accounts, with each media service being associated with a different type of media assets. In the example of FIG. 2, media service 3 is identified as the appropriate service for providing the media asset to the recipient.

Depending on the information in the user's profile, the media asset can be transferred directly to the recipient's device 208 or to a digital locker 210 that the recipient has access to. Alternatively, if the recipient has indicated that the media gift is to be provided in a physical format, a disc of the media asset can be sent to the recipient's physical address by a delivery method that can be specified in the recipient's profile or through communications with the recipient's device.

Another aspect of the present principles provides a computer readable medium (e.g., memory, storage device, removable media, and so on) with stored program instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors in the gift-processing system, will cause a method to be implemented such as described above according to one or more embodiments of the present principles.

While the foregoing is directed to various embodiments of the present invention, other embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. For example, one or more features described in the examples above can be modified, omitted and/or used in different combinations. Thus, the appropriate scope of the invention is to be determined according to the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A method for processing media asset gifts, comprising:

automatically processing a gift of a media asset sent by a sender to a recipient in accordance with a profile for the recipient;

wherein the profile for the recipient includes information for determining at least one of: a preferred media type; a media service for accessing the media asset; an account for the recipient in the media service; whether the media asset is to be rejected; and whether a gift credit is to be received instead of the media asset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the gift comprises:

determining whether the media asset is acceptable to the recipient and whether a media service has been specified by the recipient for the media asset.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

if the media asset is acceptable to the recipient and a media service has been specified, notifying the sender of the media service specified by the recipient; and

completing the transaction of the gift by forwarding transaction information to the specified media service.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

notifying the sender if the media asset is unacceptable to the recipient or a media service has not been specified by the recipient; and providing at least one option for the sender to specify one of: a different media asset or a gift amount.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

if the sender has not specified the different media asset, notifying the recipient of one of: the gift amount specified by the sender or the media asset; and requesting additional information from the recipient.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving from the recipient additional information relating to one of: the media service for accessing the media asset, or a selection of another media asset not exceeding the gift amount.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

completing transaction of the gift based on at least one of: the instructions from the sender and the additional information from the recipient.

8. A system for processing media asset gifts, comprising:

at least one processor configured to automatically process a gift of a media asset sent by a sender to a recipient in accordance with a profile for the recipient; and

a memory having stored therein a profile for the recipient including information for determining at least one of: a preferred media type; a media service for accessing the media asset; an account for the recipient in the media service; whether the media asset is to be rejected; and whether a gift credit is to be received instead of the media asset.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the media asset is acceptable to the recipient and whether a media service has been specified by the recipient for the media asset.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to notify the sender of the media service specified by the recipient if the media asset is acceptable to the recipient; and to complete the transaction of the gift by forwarding transaction information to the specified media service.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to notify the sender if the media asset is unacceptable to the recipient or a media service has not been specified; and to provide at least one option for the sender to specify one of: a different media asset or a gift amount.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to notify the recipient of one of: the gift amount specified by the sender or the media asset, if the sender has not specified the different media asset; and request additional information from the recipient.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive from the recipient additional information relating to one of: the media service for accessing the media asset, or a selection of another media asset consistent with the gift amount.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one process is further configured to complete transaction of the gift based on at least one of: the instructions from the sender and the additional information from the recipient.