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:
Dec. 02, 2014
Filed:
Jun. 14, 2006
Jesse M. Kates, Kansas City, MO (US);
Balaji S. Thenthiruperai, Overland Park, KS (US);
Jeffrey A. Mau, Kansas City, MO (US);
Narin Jaroensubphayanont, Overland Park, KS (US);
Jesse M. Kates, Kansas City, MO (US);
Balaji S. Thenthiruperai, Overland Park, KS (US);
Jeffrey A. Mau, Kansas City, MO (US);
Narin Jaroensubphayanont, Overland Park, KS (US);
Sprint Spectrum L.P., Overland Park, KS (US);
Abstract
In a shared communication service plan in which multiple subscribers operate under a common billing account, a method and system is provided for more equitably allocating service costs among the subscribers in the group, by allocating overage costs based on the extent to which each subscriber used base services available to the group. For instance, if the group plan includes a designated number of base minutes of service per month and defines a per-minute overage cost for minutes used beyond the base number, the method and system may allocate to a given subscriber a portion of the group's overage cost, with the portion being determined based on the portion of the group's base minutes used by the subscriber. Advantageously, an invoice may then be generated setting forth the equitable allocation among the subscribers in the group, thus allowing the group to more readily determine how much each subscriber should pay.