Patents Represented by Attorney Mark D. Simpson
  • Patent number: 7080029
    Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system and computer program product for placing a group order, mediated by a system having one or more computers, the method comprising the steps of: publishing, by a publisher, information about a quantity of a material; subscribing, via a subscriber, to a topic comprising said information; receiving, via a subscriber, said information; aggregating, via a subscriber, said information from at least one of said publishers; and responsive to said step of aggregating, selecting based on at least one criterion a best time to place said group order.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corp.
    Inventors: David C. Fallside, John B. Ibbotson, Andrew J. Stanford-Clark
  • Patent number: 5727980
    Abstract: A decorative wind device that rotates about a central point. The axis of rotation can vary depending upon several factors including the direction of the wind and the speed or intensity of the wind. The device includes multiple strips of flexible, lightweight material that are connected at a common point at one end (the top of the device); the bottom ends of the strips are not connected at a common point but are, instead, linked to multiple concentric connecting rings made of, for example, sections of connecting material such as wire. The strips are positioned at an angle that places them in an optimum position to be blown by the wind. The resulting device, when hung outdoors or in any other area that has a source of wind, requires very little wind current to cause it to rotate. Further, because of the lightweight, flexible material used for the strips, the strips bend when the wind blows upon them, deforming the device into a pleasing, rounded shape approaching the shape of a sphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1998
    Inventor: Guido Stipa