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:
Apr. 15, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 18, 2004
Michael Joseph Frentz, Laurel, MD (US);
Theodore Reed Farrell, Penfield, NY (US);
Michael Joseph Frentz, Laurel, MD (US);
Theodore Reed Farrell, Penfield, NY (US);
Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc., New York, NY (US);
Level 3 Communications LLC, Broomfield, CO (US);
BBN Technologies Corp., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, unwanted calls may be prevented. In particular, information about a particular destination is stored in a registry at a clearinghouse server located within a network, e.g., the public telephone network. When a call is being made to the destination, it is routed to the clearinghouse server. Identifying information such as caller-id data is retrieved and the registry is searched. If the caller is registered as being approved, the call is forwarded with information indicating that the call is 'approved'. If the caller is not registered or is unknown, the call is forwarded with information indicating that call is 'unregistered' or “unavailable”. A user at the destination is then able to quickly determine if the call is unwanted. Alternatively, a user may be compensated for answering calls from an “unregistered” caller, thereby encouraging businesses to focus their telemarketing efforts by imposing a cost on them for unsolicited phone calls and providing compensation to users accepting calls from unregistered callers.