{
  "patent_number": "US 8825660",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How eBay Uses Image Fingerprints to Search for Products",
  "original_title": "Image-based indexing in a network-based marketplace",
  "summary": "A system that lets you search for items on a marketplace by uploading a photo instead of typing text, using image 'fingerprints' to find matching products.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a way for a computer to recognize items in photos so you can search for them. When you upload a query image, the system breaks the photo into a grid of small sections and assigns numerical values to each section based on visual traits like light intensity. These values are bundled into 'image fingerprints' that overlap, which helps the system identify the image even if it is slightly different from the original. The system then compares these fingerprints against a database of pre-indexed product photos to find the best match, ranking results based on how many fingerprints align.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover searching using text-based metadata or keywords.",
    "Does not cover facial recognition or identifying specific people in images.",
    "Does not cover real-time video stream analysis for object tracking.",
    "Does not cover systems that rely solely on global image color histograms."
  ],
  "filed": "2009-03-17",
  "granted": "2014-09-02",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "eBay Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/ebay-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Naren Chittar",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/naren-chittar"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 12,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "ecommerce",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "A method and system to index and search item listings in a network-based publication system, such as a network-based marketplace. For example, a listing query may be received from a user, the listing query including a query image. The query image may then be processed to generate a plurality of index sets. Each index set of the plurality of index sets may correspond to a respective portion of the query image and may comprise a set of index values. Each index value of the set of index values may be indicative of an image attribute, such as light intensity, for a respective sub-portion of the corresponding portion of the query image. At least one result image from a database of listing images may be identified by comparing the plurality of index sets for the query image to pre-compiled index sets in an index database. Each pre-compiled index set may be associated with at least one listing image which, in turn, may be associated with an item listing on a network-based marketplace.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8825660/sql-server",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8825660/sql-server/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US8825660",
  "relatedPatents": []
}