Patents Examined by Brandon Parker
  • Patent number: 8191009
    Abstract: The present invention provides a device and a method for displaying appropriately on the display area for each processing unit such as an application according to the applied equipment. The CPU 12 processes display area acquisition requests from a plurality of processing units R1-Rn according to a display management program. The display management program decides whether use of the display area is allowed to each processing unit, considering the relationship of the plurality of display areas requested from each processing unit R1-Rn. Each processing unit R1-Rn executes display processing for the display area for which use is allowed. In this way, whether use is allowed is notified from the display management program to each processing unit R1-Rn after each processing unit R1-Rn sends the display area acquisition request. As a consequence, display in a plurality of areas by each processing unit R1-Rn can be controlled appropriately.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Takuya Sekiguchi, Taketo Yoshii, Kouichi Yasutake, Kazuo Okamura
  • Patent number: 8171422
    Abstract: In a system and method for displaying data, a processor may simultaneously scroll at different paces through a first data and through a second data in response to a single scroll instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: SAP AG
    Inventor: Volker Sauermann
  • Patent number: 8024660
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for variable help content and abandonment intervention based on customer behavior in computer applications. A pattern detection and intervention mechanism may be provided that may collect usage and possibly other data for the application for a plurality of users of the application and analyze the usage data to determine usage patterns. The collected data and determined usage patterns may then be used by the pattern detection and intervention mechanism to look for and detect deviations from expected behavior and/or patterns of abnormal behavior. Embodiments may provide one or more methods of intervention to provide context-specific help or otherwise assist users for which deviations from expected behavior and/or abnormal patterns of behavior are detected. The detection that users are having difficulty with the application and proactive intervention when such difficulties are detected may help to prevent the users from abandoning the application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Intuit Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher N. Quinn, Anthony L. Creed, Kenichi Mori
  • Patent number: 7945857
    Abstract: An interactive, multi-media presentation viewing system and process for viewing educational or business presentations integrating presentation graphics in the form of presentation slides, video, audio, text, and other streaming media into a powerfully coordinated viewing experience for the end user. The viewing system is an aggregate of synchronized presentation graphics, video, and text displays employing a graphical user interface that allows the user to control all aspects of media playback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: John Deutscher, Sunit Gogia, Brian Snyder, Brian Honey, Amy Beauford, Daniel Orme-Doutre, Becky Johnson
  • Patent number: 7937669
    Abstract: As access control system and method is provided. The access control system in one aspect may comprise a client application operable to provide a user interface for allowing a user to dynamically configure rules and associated parameters for controlling access to an entity; a rules engine proxy operable to receive said rules and associated parameters from the client application, the rules engine proxy further operable to dynamically compile and execute said rules; and a controller coupled to the rules engine proxy operable to receive input and further operable to trigger the rules engine proxy to execute one or more of said rules in response to the received input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: KaiLai Zhang, Liang Qian, Pu Xu
  • Patent number: 7917869
    Abstract: The present invention provides a human-computer interface. The interface includes provision of an application domain, for example corresponding to a three-dimensional application. The user is allowed to navigate and interact with the application domain. The interface also includes a personal domain, offering the user controls and interaction distinct from the application domain. The separation into two domains allows the most suitable interface methods in each: for example, three-dimensional navigation in the application domain, and two- or three-dimensional controls in the personal domain. Transitions between the application domain and the personal domain are under control of the user, and the transition method is substantially independent of the navigation in the application domain. For example, the user can fly through a three-dimensional application domain, and always move to the personal domain by moving a cursor near one extreme of the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Inventor: Thomas G. Anderson
  • Patent number: 7890862
    Abstract: An apparatus for entering data into a computing device includes a graphical user interface that presents hierarchically organized information in a menu structure of at least two hierarchy levels, including a topmost hierarchy level and at least one further hierarchy level. The apparatus also includes at least two haptic keys, each having more than one state of activation. Each of the haptic keys is assigned to a particular hierarchy level. A first haptic key is assigned to the topmost hierarchy level. A menu on the topmost hierarchy level is directly accessible using the first haptic key. A menu on a hierarchy level higher than one that is currently presented on the graphical user interface is directly accessible using a haptic key assigned to the menu on the higher level, when a hierarchy level of the currently presented menu is one of the at least one further hierarchy level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Ralf Kompe, Jason Williams
  • Patent number: 7823081
    Abstract: A user interface system, and an image forming apparatus using the user interface system for displaying an operation menu and transferring the contents thereof based on an operation input received in response to operation menu selection. The display and transfer of the operation menu are achieved using a group of independent software objects that include a menu flow software object that controls the transfer of the contents of the operation menu and a separate operation software object that functions in cooperation with the menu flow software object to control processing of the operation input by a processor and for creating, changing, and deleting the input operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Fumihiko Sato
  • Patent number: 7818687
    Abstract: A Graphical User Interface or “GUI” for use with a computer operating systems that operates dynamically according to the user's preferences. Each element of the GUI is surrounded by a dynamic edge which allows the user to combine two or more elements together to create a visually coherent unit in real time. Users can merge or fuse together two or more edges together thus creating a combined group that has aspects and qualities from the constituent elements. Particular colors and color combinations can be created by the user along with user selected shapes and sizes of individual elements selected from a library of element shapes and sizes. The grouped elements can then be separated back to the individual elements for use in different applications or other groupings as later desired by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: RealNetworks, Inc.
    Inventor: Alexandre Marc Jacques Brouaux
  • Patent number: 7730405
    Abstract: A method and system to preview video content. The system comprises an access component to receive a search request and a loader to simultaneously stream a plurality of videos associated with the search request. The system may further comprise a trigger to detect a pointer positioned over a first video and a mode selector to provide the first video in a preview mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: IAC Search & Media, Inc.
    Inventors: Antonino Gulli, Antonio Savona, Mario Veri
  • Patent number: 7653665
    Abstract: A system and method avoids anomalies in presence of data manipulation language (DML) plans maintaining dependent objects and snapshot isolation. An anomaly due to using a snapshot isolation level within the transaction is detected within a database transaction and the transaction is aborted based upon that detection. Involved in making the anomaly detection is determining whether a view of particular data accessed during the transaction under a snapshot isolation view to ensure read consistency differs from a view of the data under another isolation level, such as the read committed isolation level. Then a detection is made that an anomaly may occur if it is determined that the view of the data accessed during the transaction under the snapshot isolation differs from the view of the data under the other isolation level. Such anomaly avoidance prevents an indexed view being maintained nor a referential integrity constraint validated based on incorrect data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Stefano Stefani, Wei Xiao
  • Patent number: 7617460
    Abstract: Software optimized to use fewer computer resources provides a more appropriate user interface. The invention provides a display device for displaying a screen specified by an instruction. The display includes a display screen, a display frequency setting and a transitioned destination screen. Display control responds to instructions to set the screen to be displayed. A screen display sequentially displays each of a number of screens in response to a number of instructions. A display frequency for a transition destination screen is set in response to an instruction, and a display control sets a screen that the screen display means displays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2009
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuko Katoh, Atsushi Nishio, Tetsuo Morimura
  • Patent number: 7366983
    Abstract: A spell checker based on the noisy channel model has a source model and an error model. The source model determines how likely a word w in a dictionary is to have been generated. The error model determines how likely the word w was to have been incorrectly entered as the string s (e.g., mistyped or incorrectly interpreted by a speech recognition system) according to the probabilities of string-to-string edits. The string-to-string edits allow conversion of one arbitrary length character sequence to another arbitrary length character sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Eric Brill, Robert Moore