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U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in Washington (Feb. 20)
[February 20, 2013]

U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in Washington (Feb. 20)


(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service Targeted News Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- The following federal patents were awarded to inventors in Washington.

*** Boeing Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Boeing, Chicago, has been assigned a patent (8,380,731) developed by Oscar Kipersztok, Redmond, Wash., for "methods and apparatus using sets of semantically similar words for text classification." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computer-based searching method is described that includes receiving, at a computer, a search concept that includes a plurality of principal words, determining a set of semantically similar words for at least one of the principal words, calculating a degree of membership for each word in each set that reflects a semantic similarity in meaning to the principal word of the set, performing the search, computing a score based at least on the degrees of membership for the words in the word set, and sorting the results using the computed scores." The patent application was filed on Dec. 13, 2007 (11/955,903). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,731.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,731&RS=PN/83,80,731 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.



*** Amazon Technologies Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Amazon Technologies, Reno, Nev., has been assigned a patent (8,380,728) developed by Udi Manber, Los Altos Hills, Calif., Hilliard B. Siegel, Seattle, and Charles Gordon, Seattle, for a "personalized searchable library with highlighting capabilities." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for electronically searching a personalized library of content includes, in at least one embodiment, receiving one or more search terms and electronically searching a text searchable database to produce search results. After receiving a search result selection, a page image in a page image database corresponding to the search result selection is identified. A substitute image of the identified page image is prepared, wherein a portion of the content in the identified page image is suppressed in the substitute image. The substitute image is then provided for computer display, wherein the one or more search terms in the substitute image are highlighted when the substitute image is displayed. The substitute image appears substantially the same as the identified page image except for the portion that is suppressed. Information identifying the location of the search terms in the substitute image may be provided for highlighting." The patent application was filed on Jan. 14, 2009 (12/353,921). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,728.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,728&RS=PN/83,80,728 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,736) developed by Malcolm Erik Pearson, Kirkland, Wash., and Matthew Charles Setzer, Woodinville, Wash., for a "de-duplication in billing system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Scalable handling of billing events that affect one or more accounts. A computing system partitions received events into a number of channels, perhaps by account identifier. The channels receive the events, and perform de-duplication of the events. This de-duplication may be performed using a Bloom filter that is updated to reflect the receipt of any original event. The Bloom filter may be used to either determine that the event is not a duplicate of another, or to determine that the event cannot be ruled out as being a duplicate of another. In the latter case, further processing may be performed to for definitively determine whether the event is truly a duplication, or in the alternative, the event may be immediately treated as a duplicate." The patent application was filed on May 21, 2010 (12/785,313). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,736.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,736&RS=PN/83,80,736 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.


*** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,724) developed by Igor Ostrovsky, Bellevue, Wash., for "grouping mechanism for multiple processor core execution." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A concurrent grouping operation for execution on a multiple core processor is provided. The grouping operation is provided with a sequence or set of elements. In one phase, each worker receives a partition of a sequence of elements to be grouped. The elements of each partition are arranged into a data structure, which includes one or more keys where each key corresponds to a value list of one or more of the received elements associated with that key. In another phase, the data structures created by each worker are merged so that the keys and corresponding elements for the entire sequence of elements exist in one data structure. Recursive merging can be completed in a constant time, which is not proportional to the length of the sequence." The patent application was filed on Nov. 24, 2009 (12/625,379). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,724.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,724&RS=PN/83,80,724 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** EMC Assigned Patent for Systems and Methods for Providing Nonlinear Journaling ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- EMC, Hopkinton, Mass., has been assigned a patent (8,380,689) developed by four co-inventors for "systems and methods for providing nonlinear journaling." The co-inventors are Neal T. Fachan, Seattle, Peter J. Godman, Seattle, Justin M. Husted, Seattle, and Aaron J. Passey, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "In one embodiment, systems and methods are provided for nonlinear journaling. In one embodiment, groups of data designated for storage in a data storage unit are journaled into persistent storage. In one embodiment, the journal data is recorded nonlinearly. In one embodiment, a linked data structure records data and data descriptors in persistent storage." The patent application was filed on Feb. 25, 2011 (13/035,831). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,689.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,689&RS=PN/83,80,689 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** FTI Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- FTI Technology, Baltimore, has been assigned a patent (8,380,718) developed by Dan Gallivan, Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Kenji Kawai, Seattle, for a "system and method for grouping similar documents." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for grouping similar documents is provided. Frequencies of occurrences are determined for terms and noun phrases within a set of documents. A subset of the documents is selected by removing those documents having terms and noun phrases that fall outside a bounded range of upper and lower conditions for frequency of occurrence. Each of the documents in the subset is mapped to a cluster of documents based on a similarity of the documents to the cluster documents." The patent application was filed on Sept. 2, 2011 (13/225,325). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,718.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,718&RS=PN/83,80,718 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Extensible Pipeline for Data Deduplication ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,681) developed by four co-inventors for an "extensible pipeline for data deduplication." The co-inventors are Paul Adrian Oltean, Redmond, Wash., Ran Kalach, Bellevue, Wash., Ahmed M. El-Shimi, Seattle, and James Robert Benton, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The subject disclosure is directed towards data deduplication (optimization) performed by phases/modules of a modular data deduplication pipeline. At each phase, the pipeline allows modules to be replaced, selected or extended, e.g., different algorithms can be used for chunking or compression based upon the type of data being processed. The pipeline facilitates secure data processing, batch processing, and parallel processing. The pipeline is tunable based upon feedback, e.g., by selecting modules to increase deduplication quality, performance and/or throughput. Also described is selecting, filtering, ranking, sorting and/or grouping the files to deduplicate, e.g., based upon properties and/or statistical properties of the files and/or a file dataset and/or internal or external feedback." The patent application was filed on Dec. 16, 2010 (12/970,839). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,681.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,681&RS=PN/83,80,681 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Nuance Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Nuance Communications, Burlington, Mass., has been assigned a patent (8,380,692) developed by Mark A. Samuelson, Seattle, and Kevin B. Marshall, Kirkland, Wash., for a "fast index with supplemental store." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A hardware and/or software search facility for searching and retrieving data stored on a mobile device. An index to the data is stored in fast memory (e.g., RAM) on the mobile device. The index contains a minimal amount of information necessary to present search results to a user. A supplemental data file is stored in storage that is local to or remote from the mobile device. The supplemental data files contain additional organized data that may be used to enhance the search results. In response to a search query, the facility uses the index to identify results that are responsive to the search query. The results are presented by the facility in accordance with predetermined rules. The facility may use the supplemental data file to perform further processing and present additional information. In some embodiments, the facility may mount or unmount indices and supplemental files from a device." The patent application was filed on Jan. 25, 2008 (12/019,999). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,692.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,692&RS=PN/83,80,692 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Invention Science Fund I Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Invention Science Fund I, Bellevue, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,658) developed by seven co-inventors for a "determination of extent of congruity between observation of authoring user and observation of receiving user." The co-inventors are Edward K. Y. Jung, Bellevue, Wash., Eric C. Leuthardt, St. Louis, Royce A. Levien, Lexington, Mass., Robert W. Lord, Seattle, Mark A. Malamud, Seattle, John D. Rinaldo Jr., Bellevue, Wash., and Lowell L. Wood Jr., Bellevue, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: acquiring a result of an observation of an authoring user; acquiring a result of an observation of a receiving user; comparing the result of the observation of the authoring user with the result of the observation of the receiving user; and presenting data indicative of an extent of congruity between the result of the observation of the authoring user and the result of the observation of the receiving user based at least in part on said comparing. In addition to the foregoing, other related method/system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure." The patent application was filed on Jan. 27, 2011 (12/931,359). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,658.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,658&RS=PN/83,80,658 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for One-way Public Relationships ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,639) developed by four co-inventors for one-way public relationships. The co-inventors are Michelle M. Aleong, Seattle, Paul A. Elliott, Woodinville, Wash., Bhupinder S. Sethi, Redmond, Wash., and Eric J. Zappa, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Techniques are described to establish one-way public relationships. In an implementation, a control is exposed that is operable to become a fan of an object within a social networking page. Responsive to operation of the control, data may be stored to establish a one-way public relationship between a user and the selected object. By establishing a one-way public relationship rather than a mutual friend relationship, the object and/or a corresponding owner of the object is not included in the user's social network and is not provided access to the user's profile, status, or other personal information. The one-way public relationship may be employed by a service provider to serve content related to the object to the user. The one-way public relationships may also be employed by the service provider to push status updates regarding the object to "fans" of the object." The patent application was filed on July 6, 2009 (12/498,279). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,639.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,639&RS=PN/83,80,639 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Oracle International Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Oracle International, Redwood Shores, Calif., has been assigned a patent (8,380,702) developed by Thomas Baby, Maple Valley, Wash., Ali Maleki Tabar, Stanford, Calif., and Sivasankaran Chandrasekar, Menlo Park, Calif., for "loading an index with minimal effect on availability of applications using the corresponding table." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A database server provides a partitioned table with a corresponding locally partitioned index. When a request is made to load data into the table by an application, a table partition, along with a corresponding index partition, is created for the application. The corresponding index partition in marked as asynchronously maintained, allowing other index partitions to be used by the query optimizer in formulating query plans for other table partitions. Once the loading of data is complete, a synchronization operation is called with the result of conforming the data in the asynchronously maintained index partition with its corresponding table in which the data was loaded. Once the data in the corresponding table partition and the data in the asynchronously maintained index partition are synchronized, the asynchronously maintained index partition is marked as synchronously maintained." The patent application was filed on March 10, 2009 (12/401,397). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,702.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,702&RS=PN/83,80,702 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Stamps.com, iShip Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Stamps.com, Santa Monica, Calif., and iShip, Atlanta, have been assigned a patent (8,380,641) developed by five co-inventors for an "apparatus, systems and methods for online, multi-carrier, multi-service parcel shipping management featuring notification service option comparison for multiple carriers." The co-inventors are David Allison Bennett, Bothell, Wash., Scott Meyer, Woodinville, Wash., Paul Bilibin, Lynnwood, Wash., Jinyue Liu, Redmond, Wash., and Gary Rhoe Ingram, Missoula, Mont.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present invention provides apparatus, systems and methods for displaying to each of a plurality of users, upon each user's request, as to each particular parcel to be shipped by each user, the carriers that provide delivery notification service options, including electronic mail delivery notification and verbal delivery notification, wherein each user accesses the present invention over a global communications network using a client computer device, and wherein each user has an individual electronic connection to the global communications network. The present invention further provides apparatus, systems and methods for identifying to each of the users, upon each user's request, as to each of the particular parcels to be shipped by the particular user, a service charge for each delivery notification service option, including electronic mail delivery notification and verbal delivery notification for the particular package to be shipped by the particular user as to each carrier that supports electronic mail delivery notification." The patent application was filed on Oct. 6, 2000 (09/685,078). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,641.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,641&RS=PN/83,80,641 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for First Computer Process and Second Computer Process Proxy-executing Code on Behalf of First Process ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,634) developed by four co-inventors for a "first computer process and second computer process proxy-executing code on behalf of first process." The co-inventors are Andrey Lilikov, Redmond, Wash., Donald H. Rule, Mercer Island, Wash., Kristjan E. Hatlelid, Sammamish, Wash., and Nir Ben Zvi, Redmond, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Upon a first process encountering a triggering device, a second process chooses whether to proxy-execute code corresponding to the triggering device of the first process on behalf of such first process based at least in part on whether a license evaluator of the second process has determined that the first process is to be operated in accordance with the terms and conditions of a corresponding digital license. The license evaluator at least in part performs such determination by running a script corresponding to the triggering device in the code of the first process. Thus, the first process is dependent upon the second process and the license for operation thereof." The patent application was filed on Dec. 21, 2011 (13/332,698). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,634.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,634&RS=PN/83,80,634 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Data-tier Application Component Fabric Management ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,684) developed by six co-inventors for a "data-tier application component fabric management." The co-inventors are Matt Hollingsworth, Redmond, Wash., John M. Oslake, Seattle, Shawn Bice, Sammamish, Wash., Ken Van Hyning, Snoqualmie, Wash., Jin Feng, Sammamish, Wash., and Praveen Seshadri, Bellevue, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods for managing database applications are disclosed. A system includes a fabric that identifies a set of data-tier application components. Each of the data-tier application components includes a logical representation of a collection of database elements. The fabric identifies a set of database runtime resources hosting the set of data-tier application components, and the fabric identifies computing resources used by the set of database runtime resources to host the set of data-tier application components. The system also includes a management point to receive a fabric policy. One or more actions of the fabric policy are automatically applied to affected entities identified by the fabric to bring fabric elements into compliance with the fabric policy." The patent application was filed on Sept. 30, 2008 (12/242,808). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=83,80,684.PN.&OS=PN/83,80,684&RS=PN/83,80,684 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Amazon Technologies Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Amazon Technologies, Reno, Nev., has been assigned a patent (8,380,583) developed by Gaurav Chanda, Seattle, for a "system for extrapolating item characteristics." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system is provided that extrapolates item characteristics from items considered to possess a characteristic to items not known to possess the characteristic. The system may include an item data repository that stores data representing physical items. These items can include first items having a characteristic and second items not known to have the characteristic. A characteristic extrapolation module can extrapolate the characteristic from at least some of the first items to at least some of the second items based at least in part on the strength of associations between the plurality of items. A recommendations module may provide item recommendations based at least partly on the characteristic of the items." The patent application was filed on Dec. 23, 2008 (12/343,360). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,583&OS=8,380,583&RS=8,380,583 Written by Neha Bharti; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Parametric Portfolio Associates Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Parametric Portfolio Associates, Seattle, has been assigned a patent (8,380,605) developed by Paul W. Bouchey, Mercer Island, Wash., and Hemambara Dasu Vadlamudi, Bothell, Wash., for a "system and method for generating cross-sectional volatility index." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computer implemented system and method for generating a cross-sectional volatility index includes identifying a population of assets having predetermined characteristics to form an index, and capturing market capitalization data for each of the assets in the index. Each asset in the index is weighted according to its market capitalization, and returns are captured for each asset over a predetermined period. The weightings and the returns for each asset are used to calculate the weighted return dispersion for the index over the predetermined period, to form an XSV Index, in which the XSV Index is a measure of discrepancy in volatility among the assets in the index during the period." The patent application was filed on Sept. 22, 2010 (12/887,653). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,605&OS=8,380,605&RS=8,380,605 Written by Neha Bharti; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Strategies for Investigating and Mitigating Vulnerabilities Caused by the Acquisition of Credentials ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,841) developed by John Dunagan, Bellevue, Wash., Gregory D. Hartrell, Sammamish, Wash., and Daniel R. Simon, Kirkland, Wash., for "strategies for investigating and mitigating vulnerabilities caused by the acquisition of credentials." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A strategy is described for assessing and mitigating vulnerabilities within a data processing environment. The strategy collects access data that reflects actual log-in behavior exhibited by users in the environment. The strategy also collects rights data that reflects the rights possessed by one or more administrators within the environment. Based on the access data and rights data, the strategy identifies how a user or other entity that gains access to one part of the environment can potentially compromise additional parts of the environment. The strategy can recommend and implement steps aimed at reducing any identified vulnerabilities." The patent application was filed on Dec. 7, 2006 (11/608,126). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,841&OS=8,380,841&RS=8,380,841 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** F5 Networks Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- F5 Networks, Seattle, has been assigned a patent (8,380,854) developed by Paul I. Szabo, Seattle, for a "simplified method for processing multiple connections from the same client." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An apparatus is related to connection management for a communications network. A control component receives a data flow requesting a resource from a client, identifies the client, and determines when the data flow is unassociated with a connection to a requested resource. The control component selects a new content server for an unassociated resource request when either the identified client was previously unknown or the identified client has exceeded a maximum number of connections with a previously selected content server. The control component selects the previously selected content server when the identified client has not exceeded the maximum number of connections. A switch component is employed to maintain a connection between the client and the selected content server such that the client receives the requested resource. Utilizing cached connection information for up to "N" connections enhances the speed of connections between the client and the selected content server." The patent application was filed on May 17, 2002 (10/150,422). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,854&OS=8,380,854&RS=8,380,854 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Amazon Technologies Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Amazon Technologies, Reno, Nev., has been assigned a patent (8,380,850) developed by Sohel R. Ahuja, Bellevue, Wash., and Jason G. McHugh, Seattle, for a "system and method for damping overload state oscillations." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computer system that provides services to clients may be configured to adaptively throttle incoming service requests. It may modify throttle parameters to aggressively increase throttling in response to detecting that the system is in an overloaded state. For example, a throttle multiplier value may be increased by a large amount in an attempt to quickly exit the overloaded state. The throttle multiplier value may be increased multiple times before the system exits the overloaded state. The percentage of incoming requests that are throttled and/or the particular requests that are throttled may be dependent on the throttle multiplier value and/or on a request priority rank. Some time after the system returns to a non-overloaded state, the system may gradually reduce throttling by iteratively decreasing the throttle multiplier value until it is zero. Gradually reducing throttling may allow the system to avoid oscillating between an overloaded state and a non-overloaded state." The patent application was filed on March 22, 2011 (13/069,118). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,850&OS=8,380,850&RS=8,380,850 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,864) developed by Todd Bowra, Redmond, Wash., Ashley C. Speicher, Redmond, Wash., and Nicholas J. Fang, Redmond, Wash., for a "media stream slicing and processing load allocation for multi-user media systems." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Transrate/transcode functionality of media processing units in devices distributed within a networked media system are harnessed to enable media streaming to devices across networks while overcoming insufficient bandwidth to transmit the source content or while providing reformatted media to devices that do not support the source format. A policy engine may reallocate media processing resources for greater efficiency. The policy engine may further schedule time-slicing of media segments in available hardware and software-based codecs. Time-slicing may be used to transformatively process one or more media streams across potentially multiple media processing units connected within a network. The media streams are divided into independently processable segments based upon knowledge of underlying media formats. Processing requirements and a priority processing order may be determined for and assigned to each independently processable segment. The segments may be scheduled for delivery to the media processing units based upon the assigned priority and processing requirements." The patent application was filed on Dec. 27, 2006 (11/645,885). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,864&OS=8,380,864&RS=8,380,864 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** T-Mobile USA Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- T-Mobile USA, Bellevue, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,858) developed by Raymond Froelich, Issaquah, Wash., for a "system and method for telecommunication with a web-based network, such as a social network." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method is described for establishing a communications session between a telecommunications device and one or more registered users on web-based networks, such as social networks. Further details and features are described herein." The patent application was filed on March 17, 2009 (12/406,050). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,858&OS=8,380,858&RS=8,380,858 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Providing a Monitoring Service in a Cloud-based Computing Environment ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,845) developed by Marc Mercuri, Bothell, Wash., for "providing a monitoring service in a cloud-based computing environment." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Technologies are described herein for providing a monitoring service in a cloud-based computing environment. A request is received from a user to subscribe to the monitoring service. The monitor workflow may correspond to the monitoring service. A first call to a finder application is executed over a communications network to retrieve data points according to the monitor workflow. A second call to an analyzer application is executed over the communications network to identify a relevant data point in the data points. A third call to a notifier application is executed over the communications network to notify the user of the relevant data point." The patent application was filed on Oct. 8, 2010 (12/900,481). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,845&OS=8,380,845&RS=8,380,845 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Automatic Detection and Reconfiguration of Devices ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,827) developed by six co-inventors for an "automatic detection and reconfiguration of devices." The co-inventors are Steve E. Olsson, Camano Island, Wash., Sundararajan Aravamudhan, Bangalore, India, Prathibha Kundavaram, Hyderabad, India, Rajat Talwar, Gurgaon, India, Kiran Kumar Chava, Khammam, India, and Dennis Scott Batchelder, Bellevue, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Described is a technology by which movement of a shared network device (e.g., a printer or storage device) to a different network machine triggers an automatic reconfiguration of the device and/or the network machines, so that those machines remain able to share that device. Configuration data may be pushed to the network machines, pulled by the network machines, and/or provided to a server by which the network machines may access the confirmation data. Reconfiguration may include creating a system user account and modifying the permissions associated with the device so that the other machine has access permission to use the device via the created account." The patent application was filed on June 17, 2008 (12/141,068). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,827&OS=8,380,827&RS=8,380,827 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Sharp Laboratories of America Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Sharp Laboratories of America, Camas, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,822) developed by Daryl J. Hlasny, Vancouver, Wash., for "systems and methods for object distribution in a communication system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device includes a processor and memory in electronic communication with the processor. The memory is programmed with instructions for implementing a method. The method may include receiving an object from a server electronic device. The method may also include receiving a transfer queue from the server electronic device. The transfer queue may include a first client electronic device. The method may also include transmitting the object to the first client electronic device." The patent application was filed on Dec. 10, 2002 (10/315,618). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,822&OS=8,380,822&RS=8,380,822 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Amazon Technologies Assigned Patent for System and Methods for Updating Client-side Displays of Pages ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Amazon Technologies, Reno, Nev., has been assigned a patent (8,380,821) developed by Nigel Green, Bellevue, Wash., for "system and methods for updating client-side displays of pages." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A page update handler enables a browser to update the display of a page with data received from a server. For example, a page may initially be displayed with a visual display object that serves as a placeholder for data being retrieved by the server; once the server retrieves the data and sends it to the browser, the page update hander may populate the display object with the data. As another example, the server may predictively retrieve data in anticipation of a user performing a particular action on a page, and may send this data to the browser in a hidden format; if the user subsequently performs the action, the page update handler may update the displayed page with the predictively retrieved data." The patent application was filed on Dec. 22, 2011 (13/335,721). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,821&OS=8,380,821&RS=8,380,821 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,306) developed by Dave McPherson, Bothell, Wash., Muthukrishnan Paramasivam, Seattle, and Paul J. Leach, Seattle, for "translating role-based access control policy to resource authorization policy." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Translation of role-based authoring models for managing RBAC "roles" to resource authorization policy (RAP), such as ACL-based applications, is provided. A generic RBAC system is defined from which mappings to other authorization enforcement mechanism make possible the translation of RBAC "roles" to resource authorization policies applied to resources managed by a resource manager, e.g., a file system resource manager. An implementation is described that uses Windows Authorization Manager as a storage mechanism and object model to manage object types and relationships translated from an RBAC system." The patent application was filed on May 30, 2006 (11/443,638). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,306&OS=8,381,306&RS=8,381,306 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** AT&T Mobility II Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- AT&T Mobility II, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (8,381,277) developed by Farooq Bari, Bothell, Wash., for a "home networking using LTE radio." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and methodology that facilitates management of a single identity and billing relationship for multiple UE (user equipment) associated with a subscriber is provided. Specifically, each of the multiple UEs can employ LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio technology to authenticate and register with a femto access point. Further, the transport level billing associated with the multiple UE can be facilitated by the femto access point by employing a femto id (identity) and/or credentials. Moreover, the femto access point can be employed by the multiple UEs as a network hub and can be employed by the UEs to perform authentication to connect to a core network. In addition, the femto access point can determine an authorized IP cloud associated with a registered UE and allow the registered UE to access only the authorized IP cloud." The patent application was filed on Feb. 7, 2012 (13/368,165). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,277&OS=8,381,277&RS=8,381,277 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,380,576) developed by five co-inventors for "value determination for mobile transactions." The co-inventors are David S. Callahan, Everett, Wash., Marius Ionescu, Kirkland, Wash., Srivaths B. Copparam, Issaquah, Wash., Vijay Narula, Bellevue, Wash., and Sirius Kuttiyan, Sammamish, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Various embodiments provide techniques for determining a value share of a mobile transaction for one or more entities associated with the mobile transaction. Examples of mobile transactions include purchases of content such as applications, games, video, audio, graphics, and so on. In one or more embodiments, value share rules can be created and reconfigured. The value share rules specify a share of a transaction value (e.g., a percentage of revenue generated from a purchase of content) that an entity involved in a particular mobile transaction is credited with. In one example scenario, a user of a mobile device purchases an application for the mobile device. A value share rule can be applied to the application purchase amount to determine a share of the application purchase amount that is to be credited to a mobile operator that provides service for the mobile device." The patent application was filed on Feb. 5, 2010 (12/701,192). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,576&OS=8,380,576&RS=8,380,576 Written by Neha Bharti; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Constraining a Login to a Subset of Access Rights ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,279) developed by five co-inventors for "constraining a login to a subset of access rights." The co-inventors are John R. Michener, Sammamish, Wash., Niels T. Ferguson, Redmond, Wash., Carl M. Ellison, Seattle, Josh Benaloh, Redmond, Wash., and Brian A. LaMacchia, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "This document describes tools that constrain a login to a subset of access rights. In one embodiment, the tools generate a constrained password by executing a cryptographic algorithm on a user ID, general password, and one or more desired constraints. The constrained password is used in place of the general password to gain access rights that are a subset of the access rights that would be granted if the general password were used instead." The patent application was filed on Feb. 13, 2009 (12/371,464). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,279&OS=8,381,279&RS=8,381,279 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Offline Extraction of Configuration Data ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,300) developed by Hui Dai, Redmond, Wash., Anil F. Thomas, Redmond, Wash., and Catalin D. Sandu, Kirkland, Wash., for an "offline extraction of configuration data." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A configuration scanning system is described herein that scans a system configuration database for malware-related information with less impact on other operations that access the system configuration database. The system employs techniques to reduce the impact on other operations that access the configuration database, including parsing a file-based stored version of the configuration database, accessing the configuration database using opportunistic locking, and caching configuration information obtained by scanning the configuration database. In this way, the system is able to respond to requests antimalware programs using cached information without impacting other programs using the configuration database. Thus, the configuration scanning system protects a computer system against malware while reducing the burden on the configuration database and on other programs that access the configuration database." The patent application was filed on Jan. 26, 2009 (12/359,347). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,300&OS=8,381,300&RS=8,381,300 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Malware Detention for Suspected Malware ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,298) developed by Anthony Blumfield, Redmond, Wash., Robert Bisso, Redmond, Wash., and Edward Schaefer, Redmond, Wash., for a "malware detention for suspected malware." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and system for detecting and managing potential malware utilizes a preliminary signature to scan content and detect potential malware content based upon characteristics that match the preliminary signature. The detected content is detained for a predetermined period of time. If an updated signature is not received, the detained content may be purged, released or quarantined, based upon predetermined content policy. If an updated signature is received, the detained content is released from detention and rescanned with the updated signature. The content is then treated in accordance with the content policy, and again, can be purged, released, or quarantined." The patent application was filed on June 30, 2008 (12/165,634). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,298&OS=8,381,298&RS=8,381,298 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Google Assigned Patent for Automated Determination of Validity of Complaints ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Google, Mountain View, Calif., has been assigned a patent (8,380,571) developed by Michael Soonuk Kwun, San Francisco, and Kulpreet Rana, Bainbridge Island, Wash., for "automated determination of validity of complaints." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The potential validity of complaints, including those relating to intellectual property rights, may be automatically determined. In one implementation, whether a complaint is determined to be valid is based on a history of complaints of the complaining party." The patent application was filed on Nov. 30, 2009 (12/627,919). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,380,571&OS=8,380,571&RS=8,380,571 Written by Neha Bharti; edited by Jaya Anand.

*** Cisco Technology Assigned Patent for Network Authorization Status Notification ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Cisco Technology, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (8,381,268) developed by five co-inventors for a "network authorization status notification." The co-inventors are Nancy Cam Winget, Mountain View, Calif., Joseph A. Salowey, Seattle, James Edward Burns, Stratham, N.H., Susan Elizabeth Thomson, Summit, N.J., and Hao Zhou, Solon, Ohio.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system that enables network authorization status to be conveyed to the device requesting network services within or outside the scope of an authentication exchange is provided. The authorization status notification or information can be automatically generated or otherwise triggered by a request from the user or device. For instance, a query can be employed to solicit device authorization status related to a particular service or group of services. Additionally, authorization status notification can be automatically triggered based upon a change in the device authorization state." The patent application was filed on May 6, 2008 (12/115,677). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,268&OS=8,381,268&RS=8,381,268 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Safe URL Shortening ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,276) developed by Poul A. Costinsky, Seattle, for a safe URL shortening.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A safe URL shortening service creates a short URL from any valid long URL. At resolution time, the service determines if the resulting URL points to a known bad, known good, or unknown site. Depending on the determination results, the service may redirect a user to the target site, block redirection, or present a warning page that allows the user to manually activate the target link." The patent application was filed on Aug. 23, 2010 (12/861,416). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,276&OS=8,381,276&RS=8,381,276 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Positioning and Realizing of Virtualized Visible Content within a Viewport ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,123) developed by Benjamin Karas, Seattle, Fabrice A. Debry, Bellevue, Wash., and Jason Alan Christensen, Kirkland, Wash., for "positioning and realizing of virtualized visible content within a viewport." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and medium are provided for presenting virtualized visible content within a viewport in a user interface. An anchor is received that represents a point on a line of virtualized visible content and a target value is received that represents a location in a viewport of a user interface. The anchor and target values can be received from user input devices or by analyzing the position of a scroll thumb relative to a scroll trough in the user interface. A first line of virtualized visible content that corresponds to the anchor value is realized by loading the line into memory from another source. The line is then positioned in the viewport based on the target value. Additional lines surrounding the first line are realized until the viewport is full. Lines that are not visible in the viewport can be unrealized, thus conserving computing resources." The patent application was filed on June 27, 2008 (12/163,920). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,123.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,123&RS=PN/8,381,123 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Tegic Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Tegic Communications, Seattle, has been assigned a patent (8,381,137) developed by five co-inventors for an "explicit character filtering of ambiguous text entry." The co-inventors are Ethan Robert Bradford, Seattle, Keith Charles Hullfish, Snohomish, Wash., David J. Kay, Seattle, Pim Van Meurs, Seattle, and Michael R. Longe, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for explicit filtering in ambiguous text entry. The invention provides embodiments including various explicit text entry methodologies, such as 2-key and long pressing. The invention also provides means for matching words in a database using build around methodology, stem locking methodology, word completion methodology, and n-gram searches." The patent application was filed on March 16, 2010 (12/725,334). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,137.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,137&RS=PN/8,381,137 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Natural User Input for Driving Interactive Stories ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,108) developed by four co-inventors for a "natural user input for driving interactive stories." The co-inventors are Andrew Fuller, Redmond, Wash., Rudy Poat, Clyde Hill, Wash., Alex Aben-Athar Kipman, Redmond, Wash., and Kathryn Stone Perez, Kirkland, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method are disclosed for combining interactive gaming aspects into a linear story. A user may interact with the linear story via a NUI system to alter the story and the images that are presented to the user. In an example, a user may alter the story by performing a predefined exploration gesture. This gesture brings the user into the 3-D world of the displayed image. In particular, the image displayed on the screen changes to create the impression that a user is stepping into the 3-D virtual world to allow a user to examine virtual objects from different perspectives or to peer around virtual objects." The patent application was filed on June 21, 2010 (12/819,983). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,108.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,108&RS=PN/8,381,108 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Implementing Parallel Loops with Serial Semantics ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,195) developed by four co-inventors for "implementing parallel loops with serial semantics." The co-inventors are Jonathon Michael Stall, Bothell, Wash., Curt Oliver Hagenlocher, Mercer Island, Wash., John Benjamin Messerly, Seattle, and James J. Hugunin, Mercer Island, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing parallel loops with serial semantics. Embodiments of the invention provide a semantic transforms and codegen patterns that provide more efficient parallel loop implementations with serial loop semantics. Embodiments of the invention support assignments within for-loop bodies, support break/return constructs within for-loop bodies, and run transformations to covert serial constructs to parallel constructs." The patent application was filed on June 17, 2010 (12/817,466). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,195&OS=8,381,195&RS=8,381,195 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Dynamic Expansion of Data Calculation Scopes ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,090) developed by Robert Bruckner, Redmond, Wash., Victor Arakcheev, Redmond, Wash., and Nader Nashed, Issaquah, Wash., for a "dynamic expansion of data calculation scopes." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Nested and grouped report data are aligned. A data-bound object such as a data region or an outer group serves as a data container having a domain scope. Instances of an inner group with misaligned data values are identified. The inner group instances are synchronized based on the data container domain scope, in response to a synchronization instruction in a report definition. During synchronization, data values are injected, and a synchronization group may be dynamically created. Aggregate functions are calculated over a synchronized group without regard to injected data values. A report layout is generated with synchronization visually indicated." The patent application was filed on Jan. 15, 2010 (12/687,944). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,090.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,090&RS=PN/8,381,090 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Flagging, Capturing and Generating Task List Items ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,088) developed by seven co-inventors for a "flagging, capturing and generating task list items." The co-inventors are Erez Kikin-Gil, Redmond, Wash., Ned B. Friend, Seattle, Matthew J. Kotler, Sammamish, Wash., Charles W. Parker, Sammamish, Wash., Jesse Clay Satterfield, Seattle, Igor Zaika, Seattle, and Marta Rey-Babarro, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Generation of a task or reminder in an electronic task list authoring surface from a variety of data or information locations or media without the need for launching a separate task or reminder application and without the need for moving focus away from an information location or media presently in use is provided. Generation of a task or task reminder may be accomplished from a variety of information locations or media. When an information item is flagged or captured and a task/reminder is generated, one or more pieces of metadata may be applied to the flagged information item for enhancing the subsequent use of the associated generated task or reminder." The patent application was filed on June 22, 2010 (12/820,790). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,088.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,088&RS=PN/8,381,088 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Low-level Code Rewriter Verification ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,175) developed by Milind Mohan Chabbi, Bellevue, Wash., and Casimir Lakshan Fernando, Renton, Wash., for a "low-level code rewriter verification." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Verification of low-level rewriters such as binary rewriters involves "vanilla" rewriting a file to generate a rewritten low-level file without performing any optimization, compaction, or other substantive low-level code transformation during the rewrite. Then the metadata of the original low-level file is automatically compared with matching metadata of the rewritten low-level file for semantic equivalence. A properly functioning rewriter produces semantically equivalent files, whereas a defective rewriter may produce files whose metadata semantics differ. Comparison may distinguish composite metadata entities from self-contained metadata entities, and transitive closures of metadata may be compared. Comparison may also test for bitwise equality of self-contained metadata entities, and test for equality between respective flags, strings, fields, and/or methods of the original and rewritten files. Syntactic variants may be detected during comparison, and metadata may be converted into a canonical form to facilitate comparison." The patent application was filed on March 16, 2010 (12/724,762). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,381,175&OS=8,381,175&RS=8,381,175 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Presenting Video as a Background on a Search Engine Home Page ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,105) developed by eight co-inventors for "presenting video as a background on a search engine home page." The co-inventors are Rajeev Kumar Chand, Redmond, Wash., Stephanie S. Horstmanshof, Shoreline, Wash., Marcela Sobrinho Pereira, Bellevue, Wash., Robert James Barber, Bellevue, Wash., Sarah K. Berrier, Shoreline, Wash., Craig J. Miller, Mill Creek, Wash., Keith Alan Regier, Kirkland, Wash., and Javier Garcia Flynn, Seattle.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for presenting video as at least a portion of the background of search engine home pages are provided. Upon receiving a request for presentation of a search engine home page, a static image is transmitted for presentation as at least a portion of the background for the search engine home page. Also transmitted is a video file. The static image may or may not be associated with the video file. After a predetermined amount of time, play of the video file is initiated without user action, the video file replacing the static image as at least a portion of the background of the search engine home page. In this way, the user receives a seamless transition from a static image to a video presentation and is provided a rich, immersive experience at the search engine home page." The patent application was filed on July 14, 2011 (13/183,135). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,105.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,105&RS=PN/8,381,105 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Predicting Degradation of a Communication Channel Below a Threshold Based on Data Transmission Errors ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,381,047) developed by four co-inventors for "predicting degradation of a communication channel below a threshold based on data transmission errors." The co-inventors are Amer A. Hassan, Kirkland, Wash., Deyun Wu, Issaquah, Wash., Christian Huitema, Clyde Hill, Wash., and Vishesh M. Parikh, Redmond, Wash.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods and apparatus are disclosed for using error detection techniques, such as Forward Error Correction techniques, to predict the degradation below a certain threshold of an ability to accurately convey information on a communication channel, for example, to predict a failure of the communication channel. In response, transmission and/or reception of information on the channel may be adapted, for example, to prevent the degradation below the threshold, e.g., prevent channel failure. Predicting the degradation may be based, at least in part, on data transmission error information corresponding to one or more blocks of information received on the channel and may include determining an error rate pattern over time. Based on these determinations, the degradation below the threshold may be predicted and the transmission and/or reception adapted. Adapting may include initiating use of a different error encoding scheme and/or using an additional communication channel to convey information." The patent application was filed on Nov. 30, 2005 (11/290,144). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,381,047.PN.&OS=PN/8,381,047&RS=PN/8,381,047 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar.

*** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Extending Unified Process and Method Content to Include Dynamic and Collaborative Content ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 20 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (8,381,169) developed by John E. Boyer, Seattle, Eoin Lane, Littleton, Mass., and Bertrand H. Portier, Keswick, Calif., for "extending unified process and method content to include dynamic and collaborative content." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present i For more information about Targeted News Service products and services, please contact: Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service LLC, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; [email protected]; http://targetednews.com.

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