ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,436,734, issued on Oct. 7, was assigned to TouchTunes Music Corp. (New York).

"Entertainment server and associated social networking services" was invented by Dominique Dion (Verdun Nun's Island, Canada), Michael Tooker (Pointe Claire, Canada), Francois Guy (Montreal), Francois Beaumier (Montreal), Mounir Khenfir (Dollard des Ormeaux, Canada), Loic Gratton (Brossard, Canada), Dominique Bureau (Deux-Montagnes, Canada) and Harun Tunc Yayli (St. Leonard, Canada).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Certain exemplary embodiments relate to entertainment systems that interact with users so as to provide for social networking and/or other services. In ...