Patents by Inventor Timothy B. Westergren

Timothy B. Westergren 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).

  • Patent number: 8306976
    Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Pandora Media, Inc.
    Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
  • Publication number: 20110213769
    Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: PANDORA MEDIA, INC.
    Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
  • Patent number: 7962482
    Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2011
    Assignee: Pandora Media, Inc.
    Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
  • Patent number: 7003515
    Abstract: A method of determining at least one match item corresponding to a source item. A database of multiple items such as songs is created. Each song is also represented by an n-dimensional database vector in which each element corresponding to one of n musical characteristics of the song. An n-dimensional source song vector that corresponds to the musical characteristics of a source song is determined. A Distance between the source song vector and each of database song vector is calculated, each distance being a function of the differences between the n musical characteristics of the source song vector and one of source database song vector. The calculation of the distances may include the application of a weighted factor to the musical characteristics of resulting vector. A match song is selected based on the magnitude of the distance between the source song and each database songs after applying any weighted factors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Assignee: Pandora Media, Inc.
    Inventors: William T. Glaser, Timothy B. Westergren, Jeffrey P. Stearns, Jonathan M. Kraft