The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 26, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2000
William Gale, Oak Park, IL (US);
Ildiko Hegedus, Des Plaines, IL (US);
Matthias Thorner, Budenheim, DE;
Lawrence M. Kaplan, Northbrook, IL (US);
Navigation Technologies Corporation, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
An improved system and method for specifying physical locations when using applications run on navigation systems or other computer platforms that provide navigation- or map-related functions. When requesting a navigation- or map-related function from such an application, a user specifies a physical location using a keyword instead of specifying the physical location conventionally, such as by street address. A keyword database relates keywords to physical locations. The application uses the keyword database, or a copy thereof, to find data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword specified by the user. Preferably, physical locations are defined in the keyword database in terms of data in a corresponding navigable database. The application then performs the requested navigation- or map-related function using the data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword. The keyword database is built using input from users. An online system is provided that users can access to associate keywords with physical locations. A user accessing the online system is presented with a map from which a physical location can be selected. A keyword, which may be selected by the user, is associated with the selected physical location. The keyword is stored in the keyword database along with data indicating the associated physical location. Keywords can be related to each other in order to facilitate navigation applications that involve routing through multiple locations.