Mobile Transformation v. Spotify

7/28/2019 Mobile Transformation v. Spotify

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IN T HE U NITE D STATES DI STR ICT COURTFOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YO RK

MOBILE TRANSFORMATION LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

SPOT IFY USA INC.

Defendant.

Civil Case No.

JURY TR IA L DEMANDED

COMPLA INT

Plaintiff Mobile Transformation LLC ("Plaintiff), for its Complaint against DefendantSpotify USA Inc. ("Defendant"), hereby alleges as follows:

PART IES

1. Plaint iff i s a Delaware limited liability company.2. Upon information and belief, Defendant is a Delaware corporation having a

principal place of business at 76 9th Avenue, Suite 1110, 11th Floor, New York, New York10011. Upon information and belief, Defendant may be served with process through itsregistered agent, CT Corporation System, at 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

NATURE OF T HE A C TIO N

3. This is a civil action for the infringement of United States Patent No. 6,351,736(the "736 Patent") under the Patent Laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C. 1 et seq.

Case 1:13-cv-03598-UA Document 1 Filed 05/29/13 Page 1 of 15


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JUR ISD ICTION AND VENUE

4. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to 28U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a) because this action arises under the Patent Laws of the UnitedStates, 35 U.S.C. 271 etseg.

5. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant because it maintains an officein New York and has purposely availed itself of the privileges and benefits of the laws of theState o fNew York.

6. Upon information and belief, more specifically, Defendant, directly and/orthrough authorized intermediaries, ships, distributes, offers for sale, sells, and/or advertises(including the provision of an interactive web page) its products and services in the United Statesand the State of New York. Upon information and belief, Defendant has committed patentinfringement in the State ofNew York. Defendant solicits customers in the State ofNew York.

Defendant has many paying customers who are residents of the State ofNew York and who eachuse Defendant's products and services in the State ofNew York.

7. Venue is proper in this judicial district as to Defendant pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1391 and 1400(b).

THE PATENT - IN SUIT

8. Paragraphs 1-7 are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.9. On February 26, 2002, the 736 Patent entitled "System and Method for

Displaying Advertisements with Played Data" was duly and lawfully issued by the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office ("PTO"). The 736 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit A.



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10. Plaintiff is the exclusive licensee of the 736 Patent and possesses all rights ofrecovery under the 736 Patent, including the right to sue and recover all damages forinfringement thereof, including past infringement.

COUNT I - PATENT INFR INGEMENT

11. Paragraphs 1-10 are incorporated by reference as if fully restated herein.12. Upon information and belief and in violation of 35 U.S.C. 271(a), Defendant has

infringed and continues to infringeone or more claims of the 736 Patent by making, using, providing,offering to sell, and selling (directly or through intermediaries), in this district and elsewhere in the UnitedStates, systems and methods for displaying advertisements with played data via various audio media, (the"Spotify Application"). More specifically, and by wayof non-limiting example, the Spotify Applicationpresents a first data type of audio media data along with the presentation of advertising data of a secondtype.

13. For purposes of the 736 Patent, the Spotify Application downloads the data of a firstdata type, such as the audio media data. Next, the Spotify Application downloads the advertising data ofthe second data type, which includes the advertisement data. The Spotify Application generates first andsecond commands for presenting the first and second data types. Next, the first and second data types arepresented by the Spotify Application to the end user. More specifically, the Spotify audio playerapplication presents the first data type of the audio media data. Subsequently, the Spotify Applicationpresents the second data type of the advertisement data as the end user plays the audio media. That is, theseconddata type is presented automatically based on the presentationof the dataof the first data type.

14. To the extent such notice may be required, Defendant received actual notice of itsinfringement of the 736 Patent at least as early as the filing of the original complaint in thisaction, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 287(a).



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15. Defendant's aforesaid activities have been, intentional, without authority and/orl icense from Plain ti f f.

16. Plaintiff is entitled to recover from the Defendant the damages sustained byPlaintiffas a resultof the Defendant's wrongful acts in anamountsubject to proof at trial,which,by law,cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interestand costs as fixed by thisCourt under 35 U.S.C. 284.

17. Defendant's infringement of Plaintiffs exclusive rights under the 736 Patent willcontinue to damage Plaintiff, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy atlaw, unless enjoined by this Court.

PRAYER FOR REL IEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Mobile Transformation LLC respectfully requests that thisCourt enter judgment against Defendant Spotify USA Inc. as follows:

A. An adjudication that Defendant has infringed the 736 Patent;B. An award of damages to be paid by Defendant adequate to compensate Plaintiff

for its past infringement and any continuing or future infringement up until thedate such judgment is entered, including interest, costs, and disbursements asjustified under 35 U.S.C. 284 and, if necessary to adequately compensatePlaintiff for Defendant's infringement, an accounting of all infringing salesincluding, but not limited to, those sales not presented at trial;

C. A declaration that this case is exceptional under 35 U.S.C. 285;D. An award to Plaintiff of its attorney fees, costs, and expenses incurred in

prosecuting this action; and



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E. An award to Plaintiff of such further relief at law or in equity as the Court deemsjust and proper.

DEMAND FOR JURY TR IAL

Plaintiff hereby demands trial by jury on all claims and issues so triable.

: May 29, 2013 ^-^ETON LAW PARTNERS LLP

Damian Wasserbauer (DW3507)[email protected] Centerpoint Drive, Suite 105

Middletown, CT 06457Telephone: (860)724-2160Counselfor PlaintiffMobile TransformationLLC



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EXH IB I T A



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(12) United States PatentWeisberg et al.

(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPIAYINGADVERTISEMENTS WITH PLAYED DATA

(76) Inventors : Tomer Weisberg, Topaz 24, Caesarea;Etay Baz, Amal 32, Haifa; Assaf BenHarush, Dulchin 25, Haifa; LlorCohen, Shtam Benovcmbcr 16, Haifa,all of (IL)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of thispaten t is ex tended or adjusted under 35U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 09/389,356(22) Filed: Sep. 3, 1999(51) Int. CI.7 G06F17/60(52) U.S. CJ 705/14; 705/1; 705/26;

705/27; 345/333(58) Field of Search 705/1,14,50,705 /51, 54, 34, 10, 26 , 27; 709/238, 707/11,

13, 100, 101(56) References Cited

U . S. PATENT DOCUMENTS5,740,549 A 4/1998 Reilly e t al .5,793,364 A * 8/1998 Bolanos el al 345/3275,890,242 A 9 /1998 Shaw et a l.5,838,790 A 11/1998 McAuliffe et al.5.848,397 A * 12/1998 Marsh el al 705/145,959,623 A * 9/1999 Van Hoff el al 345/3336,014,502 A 1/2000 Moraes6.073.105 A * 6/2000 Sutcliffe et al 705/16.098.106 A * 8/2000 Philyaw et al 709/2386,119,098 A * 9/2000 Guyot et al 705/146,157,946 A 12/2000 I takura e t al .

user computer (12)sound card (14) speaker(!6)audio display module (18)

display screen(22)

jvideo display module (26)

video card(24)

advertisement managementmodule (28)

US006351736B1(10) Patent No.: US 6,351,736 Bl(45) Date of Patent: Feb. 26,2002

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTSEP 0817414 * 7/1998

OTHER PUBLICATIONSLarry Langc, Intcmcl a nickel-and-dimc affair, 1995, PP1-2.*Marlatt Andrew, Equipping Sites with content and commerce, Feb. 15, 1999, PP 1-2 .*Bradley Oscar, Network and National spot advertising support of commercial television, PP 1-2.*Bryan John, RighlFAX suits heterogeneous networks. Sep.1995, PP 1.*Leonard Milt, Interact ive TV blends, Aug. 20, 1992, PP1-2.*Nov. 28, 2000, Fore ign Sea rch Repor t from PCT/US00/23775.* cited by examinerPrimary ExaminerEricW. StamberAssistant ExaminerMussie Tesfamariam(57) ABSTRACTA method and a sys tem for playing a first type of data, suchas audio st ream data, for the user while simultaneouslydisplaying an advertisement in the form of a second type ofdata, such as v ideo data. The system and method enab leadvertisements to be displayed while music is being playedfrom an audio file by the comput er of the user, therebyproviding an alternative revenue source for the owner of ther ights to the audio data. Furthermore , since the advertisement is in a data format, preferably video data, which isdifferent from that of the audio music file, ihe display of suchan advertisement does not interfere with the enjoyment ofthe music or other audio data being played.

66 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets

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U.S. Patent Feb. 26,2002 Sheet 2 of 2 US 6,351,736 BlFigure 2

down load adve rt i semen tmodule (step 1)

connect to Internet (step2)

contact external server(step 3)

retrieve audio file(step 4)

retr ieve adve r t i sement(step 5)

play audio file (step 6)

display advertisement (step7)

display browserwindow (step 8)

iretrieve newadvertisements (step 9)



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US 6,351,736 Bl

S Y STEM AND METHOD FOR D I SPLAYINGADVERT ISEMENTS WITH PLAYED DATA

F IE LD A N D BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 5The present invention relates to a system and method for

displaying visual advertisements with played data, and inparticular, for displaying such advertisements in the formatof video data while electronic files containing audio dataand/or streaming audio data are playedon a computer. itiAudio data are stored on many different types of media inmany different formats, and are then played by differentaudio players. Apart from dedicated audio devices such ascassette tape players and CD (compact disc) players, com

puterscan also play audio data, which ares tored in the form 15of electronic files and/or are provided as streaming data.These electronic files and streaming data are highly portableand can easily be transmitted through a network such as theInternet.

Unfortunately, the ease of transport of such data has also 20increased problems of piracy of recorded music, includingunauthorized copying and distribution of such music without the payment of royalties to Iheowner of the rights lo themusic. For example, electronic files in the MP3 (MPEGaudiolayer3) formatcanbe used tostoremusicina compact 25form, which is then readily played by a computer whichfeatures a sound device an d sui table software. Col lections ofsuch files, which have not received any authorization fromthe owner of the r igh ts to these files, have been found onservers connected to the Internet, although many other such 30collections are assumed to exist. Since detecting fraud andtheft through the Internet is quite difficult, particularly forthe protection of such easily copied materials as audio files,a different business model for the sale of audio files throughthe Internet would be quite useful. 35

Unfortunately, such a different business model is notavailable currently. Instead, the technology which is cur-rendy available for the distribution of audio fi les, is nowdirected, for example, toward increasing the ease of distribution of the data and receiving revenue for such data, for 40example, for charging for downloading the data, and/or forplaying the data. In addition, the current technology alsoattempts to prevent the unauthorized copying and theft ofsuch data. Given the previously described difficulties withmonitoring andpolicing the Internet, protective technologies 45may safely be assumed to be vulnerable to attack, since oncea weakness in the security protection mechanism has beenfound, knowledge of such a weakness spreads rapidlythrough the Internet. Therefore, simply attempting to protectaudio files f rom unauthor ized d ist ribut ion is not a useful sosolution to the problem of the theft of such data.

A more useful solution would provide an alternativemechanism for handling the unauthorized use of audio data,and more specif ical ly , for the loss of revenues associatedwith such loss. However, such a solution is not currently 55available.

There is thus a need for, and it would be useful to have,a method and a sys tem for providing revenue to the ownerof the rights without attempting to control the unauthorizeddistribution of data such as audio data or video data or any 60other content, which also provides an alternative businessmodel forobtaining revenuefromsuch data, andspecificallyfor obtaining revenue from audio files containing music.

SUMMARY OFTHE INVENTION 65The present invention is of a method and a system forplaying a first type of data, including but not limited to,

audio stream data or aud io dat a in an electronic file fo rexample, for the user while simultaneously displaying anadvertisementin the formof a second type of data, such asvideo data for examp le. The system and method enableadvertisementsto be displayed while data is played by thecomputer of the user, for example while music is beingplayed from an audio file by the computer of the user,thereby providing an alt erna tive revenue source for theowner of the rights to the data such as the music.Furthermore , since the advertisement is in a data format,p re fe rably video data, which is different from that of theaudio music file, the display of such an advertisement doesnot interfere with the enjoyment of the music orother audiodata being played.

In particular, the present invention is of a method andsystemforplayinganyfirst typeof datawhile displayingtheadvertisement in the format of a second type of data. By"playing", it ismeantthat thecontent of thedata is presentedto the user by a hardware device, optionally in combinationwith software. Examples of the first type of data include, butare not limited to, audio data, video data, text data, graphicimages and substantially any other form of data. The firsttypeof data shouldbe differentfromthe second type of datain the displayed and/or stored format. Therefore, if the firsttype of data is audio data, the advertisement is preferablydisplayed as video dala, text data and/or graphic images, ora combination thereof. However, if the first type of data isvideo data, then the advertisement is preferably displayed astext data, g raph ic images, any o ther type of data which isdifferent than the video data, or a combination thereof.According to the present invention, there is provided asystemforplaying data of a first data type while displayingan advertisement of a second data type, the first data typebeing different than the second data type, the system comprising: (a) a user computer for receiving the data of the firstdata type and the advertisement of the second data type; (b)a firstdatatypedisplaymodule fordrivingthe usercomputerfor playing the data of the first data type; and (c) an

advertisement module for receiving the advertisement of thesecond data type and for driving the user computer to displaythe advertisement, such that playing the data of the first datatype is coupled to displaying the advertisement. Hereinafter,the term "coupled" refers to a link between playing the dataof the first data type and displaying the advertisement, suchthat playing the data of the first data type triggers the displayof the advertisement. The link may include, but is not limitedto, simultaneously playing the data of the first data type andthe advertisement, and/or retrieving the advertisement fromthe same source, such as the same server, as the data of thefirst data type, and/orplayingthe data of the firstdata typeafter or before the advertisement is displayed.According to another embodiment of the presentinvention, there is provided a method for playing dala of afirstdata type while displaying an advertisement of a second

data type, the first data type being different than the seconddata type, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providinga user computerforplayingthedata of thefirstdata typeandfor displayingthe advertisementof theseconddata type; (b)retrieving the data of the first data type; (c) retrieving theadvertisement; (d) simultaneously playing the data of thefirst data type by the user computer while displaying theadvertisement by the user computer; and (e) collecting anamount of revenue according to the step of displaying theadvert isement.Hereinafter, the term "advertisement" refers to promotional data for promoting a part icular product, service,individual, company, organization or other promoted item,



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US 6,351,736 Blas well as any other type of data which is pushed orpromoted to the user by the operator of a server in aclient-server system.Hereinafter, the term "client" refers to a computer forreceiving data, optionally in combination with a software 5program. Hereinafter, the term "server" refers to a computer

for serving data, optionally in combination with a softwareprogram.Hereinafter , the term "Web browser" refers to any software program which can display text, graphics, or both, 10from Web pages on World Wide Web sites and/or from data

stored locally to the computer of the user. Hereinafter, theterm "Web page" refers to any document written in amark-up language including, but not limited to, HTML(hypertext mark-up language) or VRML (virtual reality 15modeling language), dynamic HTML, XML (extendedmark-up language) or related computer languages thereof, aswell as to any collect ion of such documen ts reachablethrough one specific Internet address or at one specificWorld WideWebsite, or anydocument obtainable through 2aa particular URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Hereinafter,the term "Web site " refers to at least one Web page, andpreferably a plurality of Web pages, virtually connected toform a coherent group. Hereinafter, the term "Web server"refers to a computer or other electronic device which is 25capable of serving at least one Web page to aWeb browser.

Hereinafter, the term "video data" includes, but is notlimited to, graphic sti ll images , vi de o stream dat a,animation, and displayed text dala. Hereinafter , the term"network" refers to a connection between any two computers which permits the transmission of data.

Hereinafter, the phrase "display a Web page" includes allact ions neces sa ry to rende r at least a portion of the information on the Web page available to the computer user. Assuch, the phrase includes, but is not limited to, the s ta ti cvisual display of static graphical and/or textual information,the audible production of audio information, the animatedvisual display of animation and the visual display of videostream data.

Hereinaf ter, the term "user" refers to the person whooperates the system of the present invention by operating acomputer, described below as the computer of the user.Hereinafter, the term "computer" refers to a combinationof a particular computer hardware system and a particular 45software operating system. Examples of such hardwaresystems include those with any type of suitable data processor. Hereinafter, the term "computer" includes, but is notlimited to, personal computers (PC) having an operatingsystem such as DOS, Windows, OS/2 or Linux; Macin- 50tosh computers ; computers having JAVA-OS as the

operating sys tem; and graphical works ta tions such as thecomputers of Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics,and o th er c ompu te rs h av ing s ome vers ion of the UNIXoperating system such as A1X or SOLARIS of Sun 55Microsystems; a PalmPilot, a PilotPC, or any otherhandheld device; or any other known and available operating system. Hereinafter, the term "Windows" includes butis not l imited toWindows95, Windows3.x in which "x"is an integer such as "1", Windows NT, Windows98, soWindows CE and any upgraded versions of these operating systems by Microsoft Corp. (USA).For the present invention, a software application could bewritten in substantially any suitable programming language,which could easily be selected by one ofordinary skill in the 65art. The programming language chosen should be compatible with the computer by which the software application is

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executed, and in particular with the operating system of thatcomputer. Examples of suitable programming languagesinclude, but are not limited to, C, C++, Delphi and Java.Furthermore, the functions of the present invention, whendescribed as a series of steps for a method, could beimplemented as a series of software instructions for beingoperated by a data processor, such that the present inventioncould be implemented as software, firmware or hardware, ora comb i n at i o n t h er e of .

BRIEF DESCRIPT ION O F T HE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary method accordingto the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THEINVENTION

The present invention is of a method and a system forplaying a first type of data, inc luding but not l im ited to,audio stream data or audio data f rom an electronic file, forthe user while simultaneously displaying an advertisementin the form of a second type of data, such as video streamdata. The sys tem and method enable advertisements to bedisplayed while data is played by the computer of the user,for example while music is being played from an audio fileby the computer of the user, thereby providing an alternativerevenue source for the owner of the r ight s to the data suchas the music. The revenue is preferably received accordingto the display of the advertisement to the user. Furthermore,since the advertisement is in a data format, preferably videodata, which is different from that of the audio music file, thedisplay of such an advertisement does not interfere with theenjoyment of the music or other audio data being played.Acco rd ing to p ref er re d embod imen ts of the presentinvention, the advertisements are included with the first typeof data, including but not limited to, audio data, which areretrievedby theuser for playing on thecomputerof theuser.

Alternatively and preferably, the advertisements areobtained from a server through a network such as theInternet, separately from the process of retrieving the audiofile, and are then optionally stored on the computer of theuser. Also alternatively, the advertisements are not stored onthe user computer, but rather are streamed from the serverfor direct display by the user computer whenever the usercomputer is connected to the network.In particular, the present invention is of a method andsystem for playing any first type of data while displaying theadvertisement in the format of a second type of data. By"playing",it ismeantthat thecontent of thedata is presentedto the user by a hardware device, optionally in combinationwith software.Examplesof the firsttypeof data include,butare not limited to, audio data, video data, text dala, graphicimages and substantial ly any other form of data. The first

type of data should be different from the second type of datain the displayed format. Therefore, if the first type of data isaudio data, the advertisement is preferably displayed asvideo data, text data and/or graphic images, or a combination thereof. However, if the first type of data is video data,then the advertisement is preferably displayed as text data,graphic images, any other type of data which is differentthan the video data, or a combination thereof. By "displaying" it is meant that the data is presented to the user in asuitable format, through a different mechanism than the firsttype of data is played.The principles and operation of a system and a methodaccording to the present invention may be better understood



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US 6,351,736 Blwith reference to the drawings and the accompanyingdesc ription , it being understood that these drawings aregiven for i llus trat ive purposes only and are not meant to belimi ting. Although reference is made to audio files as anexample of the data to be retrieved,while the advertisements 5are described only as being in video formal, il is understoodthat the present invention is applicable to any such combination of two different types of data, in which a first type ofdata is retrieved by the user for playing on the usercomputer, while the second type of data is used for the 10display of the advertisements to the user.Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a schematicblock diagram of a system according to the present invention. A system 10 features a user computer 12 for playing

audio data for the use r, such as music contained in an audio 15file. User computer 12 contains several components whichenable such audio data to be played, although it is understood that the exemplary configuration shown could easilybe altered and/or replaced by one of ordinary skill in the art.As shown, user computer 12 features a sound card 14 and at 2aleast one speaker 16 as the required hardware componentsfor playing audio data. The audio data ispreferably stored asan electronic audio file on some type of storage mediumwhich is non-volat ile (not shown). The audio data is thenret ri eved by an audio d isplay module 18, which drives the 25playing of the data by sound card 14 and at least one speaker16 .Audio display module 18 is optionally and preferablyimplemented as an audio codec software program forretrieving and driving the playing of the audio data.

Examples of suitable audio display modules 18 include, butare not limited to, WinAmp (available from http://www.winamp.com as of Aug. 25, 1999) and RealJukebox(available from http://www.real.com as of Aug. 25, 1999).Other suitable audio display modules 18 could easily beselected by one of ordinary skill in the art, although preferably such an audio display module 18 is able to play audiodata in a plurality of audio file formats, more preferablyincluding, but not limited to, the MP3 file format, the MIDI(musical instrument digital interface) format and the WAV(digital audio file) format.As audio display module 18 drives the playing of theaudio data, preferably an advertisement module 20 simultaneously causes an advertisement to be displayed as visualdata. More preferably such visual data is video data, optionally video stream data. Furthermore, user computer 12contains several components which enable such video datato be played, although it is understood that the exemplaryconfiguration shown could easily be altered and/or replacedby one of ordinary skill in the art.Advertisement module 20causes such visual data to be displayed to the user througha display screen 22 connected to a video card 24, which areshown in FIG. 1 as an example only and which are well

known in th e art.Preferably, advertisement module 20 features a videodisplay module26 which drivesthe display of the video dataon display screen 22 by communicating with video card 24.Video display module 26 is preferably implemented as avideo codec software program. An example of a suitable 60video display module 26 is a RealPlayerTm (available fromhttp:/ /www.real.com as of Aug. 25, 1999), although ofcourseoneof ordinaryskill in theart could easilyselectsucha video display module 26 which is compatible with ihepresent invention. 65The selection, retrieval and overall management of theadvertisements is preferably provided by an advertisement

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management module 28. Advertisement management module 28 is preferably implemented as a software program.Advertisement management module 28 first selects theadvertisement, for example according to the content of theaudiodata.Preferably,the audio filewhich is played byusercomputer 12 features an advertisement identifier, such thatadvertisement management module 28 is able to select anadvertisement according to the identifier provided with theaudio file.According to preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, user computer 12 is connected to a server computer 30 through a network 32, which is more preferably theInternet. Although only one server computer 30 is shown, itis understoodthat a plurality of suchserver computerscouldbe availablewithout limitation. User computer 12 can thenoptionallydownload audio filesfromservercomputer30. Inaddition, preferably advertisement management module 28retrieves advertisements from server computer 30 or analternative computer, according to the advertisement identifier for example. Optionally, the audio files and the advertisementsmay be retrieved from different server computers30 (not shown).The advertisement itself may optionally be stored in usercomputer 12 in an associated non-volatile storage medium.Alternatively, adver tisement management module 28retrieves the advertisement "on the fly" as required fordisplay when the audio file is played.Although advertisement module 20 and audio displaymodule 18 are shown as two separate modules , il is understood that this is for the purposes of description only, asthese modules have different functionality. However, advertisement module 20 and audio display module 18 couldoptionally and preferably be packaged as a singlecomponent, such as a software program for example, which

would perform both sets of functions.The operation of system 10 is now described with regardto a particular exemplary method according to the presentinvention, shown as a flowchart in FIG. 2. In step 1, the

advertisement module of FIG. 1 i s downloaded to th e usercomputer. Preferably, the advertisement module then installsitself automatically to the user computer. In step 2, the usercomputer preferably becomes connected to the Internet,which is detected by the advertisement module. Instep 3, theadvertisement module preferably contacts an external advertisement server and receives a unique user identifier.In step 4, the user retrieves an audio file or streamingaudio data, preferably w it h at least one adver tisementidentifier, from an audio server. In step 5, the advertisementmodule optionally and preferably retrieves at leasl one

advertisement from the ex te rna l adve r ti semen t s erveraccording to the identifier. Optionally, the advertisementmodule is implemented in ActiveX. The external advertisement server preferably uses an ISAPI DLL (MicrosoftCorp., USA) for managing the interaction with the advert isement module. It should be noted that the advertisementserver and the audio server are optionally different servers,or alternatively may be implemented as a single server.In step 6, the audio d ispl ay module begi ns to play theaudio data, such as an audio file or streaming audio data. Itshould be noted that s teps 5 and 6 could be reversed and/orcould be performed substantially simultaneously. Inparticular, the advertisementcould be optionally and preferably downloaded with the audio file as a singlecomponent, for example.In step 7, the advertisement module causes the displayscreen of the computer to display the advertisement.



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US 6,351,736 BlPreferably, the advertisement is displayed such that if theuser "c licks" or otherwise selects th e advertisement with amouse or other pointing device in step 8, a Web browser isinvoked for displaying an associated Web page if the usercomputer is connected to the Internet. sOtherwise,preferably a window is displayed for requesting the user toconnect the user computer to the Internet inorder to view the associated Web page. Alternatively andpreferably,a GUI (graphical user interface)display may beinvoked, in place of, or in addition to, the Web browser, fordisplaying associated information when theadvertisement isselected. The associated information optionally includes butis not limited to, video dala, graphical still images,animation,bannerdisplays of text to forma textdisplay,andso forth. In either case, if the user computer is not connectedto a network suchasthe Internet, thedisplayed window may 15optionally and preferably interact with the user and receivedata through this interaction. The received data may then beoptionally and preferably sent through the network when theuser computer is next connected.Optionally and preferably, in step 9, the advertisement 20module periodically retrieves new advertisements from theexternal advertisement server when the user computer isconnected to the Internet. More preferably, these new advertisements replace previous advertisements, in order to maintain the interest of the user and in order to provide newadvertising opportunities for merchants. Most preferably,the adver ti sement module also repor ts stati sti cs on howmany advertisements were seen by the user, which advert is ements were selec ted by the user and o ther stati st ic sregarding the program usage. 30

Revenueis thenpreferablycollectedaccordingto thestepof displaying the advertisement. For example, the revenuecould be charged to the provider of the advertisement, suchas a merchant for example, according to the number of timesthat the advertisement is displayed, the frequency of the rateof the display, characteristics of the user viewing the displaysuch as demographic data about the age of the user and soforth, the collected statistics), and/or the type of media inwhich the advertisement is displayed.

The statistic preferably includes at least one characteristicselected from the group consisting of position for displayingthe advertisement, size of the advertisement as displayed,frequency of display, duration of display and content of theadvertisement, in which the content more preferably isdetermined by the type of media such as video data forexample.

Thus, the system and method of the present inven tionprovide a new business model for generating revenues fromdownloaded audio files through the display of 50advertisements, rather than by attempting to control thedis tr ibut ion o f such files.

It wil l be appreciated that the above descriptions arcintended only to serve as examples, and that many otherembodimentsare possiblewithin the spirit and the scopeof 55the present invention.

Wha t i s c la im e d is:1. A system for playing data of a first data type whiledisplaying an advertisement of a second data type, the firstdata type being different than the second data type, the fi0system comprising:(a) a user computer for receiving the data of the first datatype and the advertisement of the second data type, andfor playing thedata of thefirstdata type anddisplayingthe advertisement of the second data type; 55(b) a first data type display module for driving said usercomputer for playing the data of the first data type; and

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8(c) an advertisement module for receiving the advertisementof the second data type and for driving said usercomputer to display the advertisement,such that playing the data of the first data typeis coupled to displaying the advert isement.2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dala of the first data

type is audio dala and the advertisement is visual dala.3. The system of claim 2, wherein said first data typedisplay module is an audio display module and said usercompute r fu rther compr is es a sound card and at least onespeaker for displaying said audio data.4. The system of claim 3, wherein said audio displaymodule is an audio codec software program.5. The system of c la im 2, where in said audio data is in aformat of audio stream data,6. The system of c la im 2, where in said audio data is in aformat of an electronic audio file.

7.The system of claim 2, wherein said visualdata isvideodata, said advertisement module includes a video displaymodule, and said user computer further comprises a videocard and a display screen.8. The system of claim 7, wherein said video displaymodule is a video codec software program.9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) an external server for serving at least the advertisementof the seconddata typeto said user computer;and(e) a network for connecting said user computer to said

ex ternal s erver .10. The sys tem of cla im 9, wherein said external serveralso serves said data of the first data type to said user

computer.11. The system of claim 10, wherein the advertisement ofthe second data type is downloaded with said data of the firstdata type.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said advertisementmodule further comprises an advertisement managementmodule, said advertisement management module retrievingIh e advertisement from s a id ex te r na l server .13. The system of claim 12, wherein said data of the firstdata type includes an identifier, such that the advertisementof the second data type is selected by said advertisementmanagement module according to said identifier.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the advertisement isstored on said user computer.

15. The sys tem of c la im 9, wherein said network is theInternet.16. The system of claim 1,wherein playing the data of thefirst data type triggers the display of the advertisement.

17. The system of cla im 16, wherein the data of the firstdata type is played before the advertisement is displayed.18. The system of cla im 16, wherein the data of the firstdata type is played after the advertisement is displayed.19. A method for playing dala of a first dala type whiledisplaying an advertisementof a second data type, the first

data type being different than the second data type, themethod comprising the steps of:(a) providing a user computer for playing the data of thefirst data type and for displaying the advertisement ofthe second data type;(b) retrieving the data of the first data type;(c) retrieving the advertisement;(d) simultaneously playing the data of the first data typeby said user computer while displaying the advertisement by said user computer; and(e) collecting an amount of revenueaccording to thestepof displaying the advertisement.



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US 6,351,736 Bl20. The method of claim 19, wherein the data of the firstdata type is audio data and the advertisement is visual data.21. The method of claim 20, wherein said user computeris connected to the Internet and step (b) is performed bydownloading said audio data as an audio file from the 5

In ternet .22 . The method of claim 21, wherein the advertisement isselected according to a content of said audio file.23. The method of claim 19, wherein step (e) furthercomprises the step of detecting each time that the advertise- 10

mcnt is displayed, such that said amount of revenue is atleast partially calculated according to a number of times theadvertisement is displayed.24.Themethod of claim19, wherein said user computeris connected to an external server through the Internet, the 15method further comprising the steps of:(f) collecting at least one statistic about at least oneperformance of step (d);(g) transmitting said at least one statistic to said externalserver from said user computer; and(h) at least partially calculating said amount of revenue

according to said at least one statistic.25. The method of claim 24, wherein said at least ones ta tis t ic includes at least one characteris t ic se lected from th egroup consisting of position for displaying theadvertisement, size of the advertisement as displayed, frequency of display, duration of d isplay and con ten t of theadver t i sement .26. The method of claim 19, further comprising the stepsof :

(f) selecting the advertisement by the user; and(g) displaying a Web browser when the advertisement is

selected.27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step ofselecting 35the advertisement forms at least one statistic for calculatings ai d a moun t of said revenue.28. The method of claim 19, wherein the user computer isintermittently connected to the Internet, the method furthercomprising the steps of: 40(f) selecting the advertisement by the user;(g) displaying a GUI (graphical user interface) when theadvertisement is selected if said user computer is not

currently connected to the Internet;(h) performing at least one interaction with the user 45through said GUI;(i) connecting said user computer to the Internet; and(j) sending a result of said al leastone interactionthrough

th e Internet.29. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of selectingthe advertisement forms at least one statistic for calculatingsaid amount of said revenue.30. A system for displaying data of a first data set inconjunction with displaying an advertisement of a seconddata set, the system comprising:

(a) a user computer for receiving the data of the first dataset and the advertisement of the second data set, and fordisplaying the data of the first data set and displayingthe advertisement of the second data set; ,.

(b) a first data set display module for driving said usercomputer for displaying the data of the first data set;an d

(c) an advertisement module for receiving the advertisement of the second data set and for driving said user 65computer to display the advertisement of the seconddata set, such that displaying the data of the first data

20

25

30

50

55

10set is coupled to displaying the advertisement of thesecond data set.31. The sys tem of c la im 30, where in the data of the first

d al a s et a nd the data of the second dala se i each include atleast one of audiodata, visual data and appUcation programdata, and at least one type of data di stinct from the dataincluded in th e o t he r da ta s et .32. The system of claim 31, wherein said audio data refersto a file format selected from at least one of the MP3 fileformal, the MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)format, and theWAV(digital audio file) format.33. The system of c la im 31, where in said v isua l data isselected fromat least oneof text,al leastonestill image,alleastone animated image,al leastone video image,lexturalinformation, and information pertaining to position on adisplay device of said user computer.34. The system of claim 31, wherein at least one of saidfirst data set display module and said advertisement moduleis an audio display module, and said user computer furthercomprises a sound card and at leastone speaker for displaying audio data.35. The system of claim 34, wherein said audio displaymodule is an audio codec software program.36. The system of claim 31, wherein said audio data is ina format of audio s t ream data .37. The sys tem of cla im 31, wherein said audio data is in

a format o f an electronic audio file.38. The sys tem of claim 31, where in said v isua l data isv ideo dat a, s ai d advertisement module includes a videodisplaymodule, andsaid user computer further comprises avideo card and a display screen.39. The system of claim 38, wherein said video displaymodule is a video codec software program.40. The system of claim 30, further comprising:

(d) an external server for serving at least the advertisement of the second data set to said user computer; and(e) a network for connecting said user computer to said

external server.41. The sys tem of cla im 40, wherein said external serveralso s er ve s s ai d d ata of th e first d ata sel to said user

computer.42. The system of claim 41, wherein the advertisement ofthe s econd dat a s et is downloaded with said data of the firstdata set.43. The system of claim 40, wherein said advertisementmodule further comprises an advertisement managementmodule,said advertisementmanagementmodule retrievingthe advertisement from said external server.44. The system of claim 43, wherein said data of the firstdata set includes an identifier, such that the advertisement ofthe second data set is selected by said advertisement management module according to said identifier.45. The system of claim 40, wherein the advertisement ofIhe second data set is stored in said user computer.

46. The sys tem of cla im 40, wherein said network is theIn ternet .47. The system of claim 30, wherein a command to playthe data of the first data set triggers at least one of:(i) the display of the second dala set prior to displaying the

data of the first sel;(ii) the display of the second data set after displaying thedata of the first s et ; a nd(iii) thedisplayof theseconddata set duringthedisplayof th e data of th e first set.48. A method for displaying data of a first data set anddisplaying an advertisement of a second data set, the methodcomprising the steps of:



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US 6,351,736 Bl11

(a) providinga user computer for displaying thefirst dataset and for displaying the advertisement of the seconddata set;

(b) retrieving the data of the first data set and the advertisement of the second data set by the user computer; 5(c) displaying the data of the firsl dala sel and theadvertisement of the second data set by the user computer; and(d) collecting an amountof revenue accordingto thestepof displaying the advertisement of the second data set.49. The method of claim 48, wherein the data of the first

data se t a nd t he d at a of the s econd da ta s et e ach include atleast oneof audiodata, visual data, andapplicationprogramdata, and at least one type of data distinct from the dataincluded in th e other da ta s et .

50. The method of claim 49, where in said audio datarefers to a file format selected from at least one of the MP3file format, theMIDI (musical instrument digital interface)format, and theWAV (digital audio file) formal.

51. The method of cla im 49, wherein said visual data isselected from at least one of text, at least one still image, atleast one animated image, at least one video image, texturalinformation, and information pertaining to position on adisplay device of said user computer.52. Themethodof claim 49, wherein said user computeris connected to the Internet and said audio data is downloaded as an audio file f rom the Int er n et .

53. The method of claim 52 , wherein the advertisement ofthe second data set is selected according to a content of saidaudio file.54. The methodof claim 53, further comprisingthe stepof detecting each time that the advertisement of the seconddala set is displayed, such that said amount of revenue is alleast partially calculated according to a number of limes theadvertisement of the second data set is displayed.55. The method of claim 48, wherein said user computeris connected to an external server through the Internet, themethod further comprising the steps of:(e) collecting at least one statistic about at least one 40performance of step (c);(f) transmitting said at least one statistic to said externalserver from said user computer; and(g) at least partially calculating said amount of revenueaccording to said at least one statistic. 4556. The method of claim 55, wherein s ai d al l ea st onestatistic includes at least one of a position for displaying theadvertisement, a size of the advertisement as displayed, afrequency of display, a duration of display and content of the

adver t isement . 5057. The method of claim 55, further comprisingthe stepsof :(h) selecting the advertisement by the user; and(i) displaying a Web browser when the advertisement is

selected.58.Themethod ofclaim57,wherein thestepof selectingthe advertisement forms at leastonestatisticfor calculatings ai d amou nt o f said revenue.59.The methodof claim55, whereinthe user computerisintermittently connected to the Internet, the method furthercomprising the steps of:(h) selecting the advertisement by the user;

12(i) displaying a GUI (graphical user interface) when theadvertisement is selected if said user computeris notcurrently connected to the Internet;(j) performing at least one interaction with the userthrough said GUI;(k) connecting said user computer to the Inlemel; and(1) sending a result ofsaidat least one interaction through

th e Internet .60. The method of claim 59,wherein thestepof selectingtheadvertisement formsat leastone statisticfor calculatings ai d amoun t of said revenue.61. A systemfor presentingdata of a first data typewhilepresenting advertising data of a second data type, the data ofthe first data type having at least one difference from theadvertising data of the second data type, the systemcomprising:(a) a receiver, the receiver receiving the data of the firstdala type and the advertising data of the second data

type;(b) a presenting unit coupled to the receiver,the presenting unit coupling the presentation of the data of the firstdata type to the presentationof the advertising data ofthe second data type.62.The systemof claim 61,whereinthe advertising dalaof the seconddata type is presented at least one of concurrentlywith, before, and after presentationof the data of thefirst data type.63. The system of claim 61, wherein the presenting unitincludes a first presenting module and a secondpresentingmodule, the first presenting module presenting the data ofthe firsl data lype, and the second presenting module presenting the advertising data of the second dala type.64. A method for presenting data of a first data type andpresenting advertising data of a second data type, comprising the s teps of:

(a) downloading the data of a first data type;(b) downloading the advertising data of the second datatype;(c) generatinga first command for the presentation of thedata of the first data type;(d) presenting the data of the firstdata type;(e) generating a second command for the presentation oftheadvertisingdata of the second data type basedon atleast one of the first command and the presentation ofthe data of the first dala type; and(f) presenting theadvertising dataof theseconddatatype.65. The system of claim 1, wherein the data of the firstdata type includes data other than an update to the systemprogramming.66. Themethodof claim 19, wherein the user computer isintermittently connected to the Internet, the method furthercomprising the steps of:(f) selecting the advertisement by the user;(g) displaying a GUI (graphical user interface) when theadvertisement is selected if said user computer is not

currently connected to the Interne t;(h) p erfo rming al least one interaction with the userthrough said GUI.


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