Patents by Inventor Douglas Milvaney
Douglas Milvaney has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 10979237Abstract: A computer system tracks and analyzes activity data, notifications, and user interactions with activity data and notifications. By analyzing this information, the computer system can identify, for individual users and across a set of users, which activity data and notifications are most relevant. Such activity data and notifications are most relevant when they result in the end user having further user interaction through the electronic document. The information about the relevance of the activity data and notifications can be used for managing sending of notifications and presenting activity data in end user applications.Type: GrantFiled: October 28, 2016Date of Patent: April 13, 2021Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Douglas Milvaney, Hoi Mei Wong, Andrew Harris, Manish Shukla, Taili Feng
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Patent number: 10721279Abstract: To manage complexity related to messages and comments about collaboratively edited electronic documents, an electronic document has associated activity data and comment data, where a type of activity data includes messages among users. Message data is stored in a stream of activity data in a format that is accessible both to communication applications outside of the electronic document, and to end user applications for editing the electronic document. The message data can include a document identifier, a user identifier for a sender and/or a receiver, and content of the message. A communication application, given a user identifier, can access document messages for that user, from a single electronic document or over multiple electronic documents. Further, the communication application can be notified when new document messages related to a user identifier are added to one or more electronic documents.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2019Date of Patent: July 21, 2020Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLCInventors: Benjamin Wilde, Patrick Gan, Samantha N. Powers, Aleksandr Polyakov, Sudarshan Sundar, Graham Baker, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver, Nikhil Nathwani
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Patent number: 10599526Abstract: To manage complexity related to automatically saving an electronic document while the electronic document is collaboratively edited, an end user application running on a local client computer, while participating in collaborative editing of a shared electronic document, is configured to automatically save the electronic document based on both local user activity and external user activity received from a collaboration system on a server computer. The collaboration system implements a save protocol that maintains consistency of the electronic document among the shared storage, remote client computers and the local client computer. The local client computer determines a save interval based on information about external user activity through the server computer, the activity of a user of the end user application on the local client computer. The performance specifications for local and shared storage and the computer network also can be considered.Type: GrantFiled: January 13, 2016Date of Patent: March 24, 2020Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLCInventors: Douglas Milvaney, Barak Cohen
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Publication number: 20190158550Abstract: To manage complexity related to messages and comments about collaboratively edited electronic documents, an electronic document has associated activity data and comment data, where a type of activity data includes messages among users. Message data is stored in a stream of activity data in a format that is accessible both to communication applications outside of the electronic document, and to end user applications for editing the electronic document. The message data can include a document identifier, a user identifier for a sender and/or a receiver, and content of the message. A communication application, given a user identifier, can access document messages for that user, from a single electronic document or over multiple electronic documents. Further, the communication application can be notified when new document messages related to a user identifier are added to one or more electronic documents.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 29, 2019Publication date: May 23, 2019Inventors: Benjamin Wilde, Patrick Gan, Samantha N. Powers, Aleksandr Polyakov, Sudarshan Sundar, Graham Baker, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver, Nikhil Nathwani
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Patent number: 10225291Abstract: To manage complexity related to messages and comments about collaboratively edited electronic documents, an electronic document has associated activity data and comment data, where a type of activity data includes messages among users. Message data is stored in a stream of activity data in a format that is accessible both to communication applications outside of the electronic document, and to end user applications for editing the electronic document. The message data can include a document identifier, a user identifier for a sender and/or a receiver, and content of the message. A communication application, given a user identifier, can access document messages for that user, from a single electronic document or over multiple electronic documents. Further, the communication application can be notified when new document messages related to a user identifier are added to one or more electronic documents.Type: GrantFiled: March 4, 2016Date of Patent: March 5, 2019Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Benjamin Wilde, Patrick Gan, Samantha N. Powers, Aleksandr Polyakov, Sudarshan Sundar, Graham Baker, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver, Nikhil Nathwani
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Patent number: 10019427Abstract: An end user application running on a local client computer stores activity data and comment data for an electronic document. Activity data includes data indicative of actions taken by users and associated with the electronic document, such as actions with respect to the electronic document itself, and actions with respect to comments, such as adding a comment and marking a comment as resolved. A displayed comment or comment thread can be marked as resolved in response to a user action. A corresponding action is stored in the activity data. Activity data can be displayed while the electronic document is open in the end user application. An action of resolving a comment can be accessed in the displayed activity data. In response to receiving an input associated with a displayed action of resolving a comment, the comment can be marked as unresolved.Type: GrantFiled: March 4, 2016Date of Patent: July 10, 2018Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Benjamin Wilde, Erin O'Connell, Patrick Gan, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver
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Publication number: 20180157676Abstract: An end user application stores activity data in a part of an electronic document. When the electronic document is stored on a shared storage system, activity data is extracted and stored in an activity store. After activity data has been successfully stored in the activity store, the end user application can remove the activity data from the electronic document. In particular, the end user application can periodically query the activity store to identify activities that have been successfully stored in the activity store. By removing the activity data from the electronic document, the electronic document can be maintained at a reasonable size. By having the end user application remove the activity data, coherency of the data file, and consistency between local copies on end user computers and copies on the shared storage system, can be maintained.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 1, 2016Publication date: June 7, 2018Inventors: Douglas Milvaney, William Tierney, Kristen Tardito, Jerry Shekhel, Feng Liu, Manish Shukla
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Publication number: 20180123815Abstract: A computer system tracks and analyzes activity data, notifications, and user interactions with activity data and notifications. By analyzing this information, the computer system can identify, for individual users and across a set of users, which activity data and notifications are most relevant. Such activity data and notifications are most relevant when they result in the end user having further user interaction through the electronic document. The information about the relevance of the activity data and notifications can be used for managing sending of notifications and presenting activity data in end user applications.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 28, 2016Publication date: May 3, 2018Inventors: Douglas Milvaney, Hoi Mei Wong, Andrew Harris, Manish Shukla, Taili Feng
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Publication number: 20170255604Abstract: An end user application running on a local client computer stores activity data and comment data for an electronic document. Activity data includes data indicative of actions taken by users and associated with the electronic document, such as actions with respect to the electronic document itself, and actions with respect to comments, such as adding a comment and marking a comment as resolved. A displayed comment or comment thread can be marked as resolved in response to a user action. A corresponding action is stored in the activity data. Activity data can be displayed while the electronic document is open in the end user application. An action of resolving a comment can be accessed in the displayed activity data. In response to receiving an input associated with a displayed action of resolving a comment, the comment can be marked as unresolved.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 4, 2016Publication date: September 7, 2017Inventors: Benjamin Wilde, Erin O'Connell, Patrick Gan, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver
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Publication number: 20170257406Abstract: To manage complexity related to messages and comments about collaboratively edited electronic documents, an electronic document has associated activity data and comment data, where a type of activity data includes messages among users. Message data is stored in a stream of activity data in a format that is accessible both to communication applications outside of the electronic document, and to end user applications for editing the electronic document. The message data can include a document identifier, a user identifier for a sender and/or a receiver, and content of the message. A communication application, given a user identifier, can access document messages for that user, from a single electronic document or over multiple electronic documents. Further, the communication application can be notified when new document messages related to a user identifier are added to one or more electronic documents.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 4, 2016Publication date: September 7, 2017Inventors: Benjamin Wilde, Patrick Gan, Samantha N. Powers, Aleksandr Polyakov, Sudarshan Sundar, Graham Baker, Douglas Milvaney, Joan Weaver, Nikhil Nathwani
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Publication number: 20170199789Abstract: To manage complexity related to automatically saving an electronic document while the electronic document is collaboratively edited, an end user application running on a local client computer, while participating in collaborative editing of a shared electronic document, is configured to automatically save the electronic document based on both local user activity and external user activity received from a collaboration system on a server computer. The collaboration system implements a save protocol that maintains consistency of the electronic document among the shared storage, remote client computers and the local client computer. The local client computer determines a save interval based on information about external user activity through the server computer, the activity of a user of the end user application on the local client computer. The performance specifications for local and shared storage and the computer network also can be considered.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 13, 2016Publication date: July 13, 2017Inventors: Douglas Milvaney, Barak Cohen