Patents Assigned to DROPBOX, INC.
  • Patent number: 9294485
    Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling access to shared content in an online content management system, include receiving a request to access a content item from a requester, wherein the content item is stored in a synchronized online content management system. The example method then includes determining that the requester is in an approved list of requestors and granting access to the content item. In one variation, the request to access the content item includes activation of a shared link. In another variation, the request to access the content item includes access to a shared folder in the synchronized online content management system. In a third variation, determining that the requester is in an approved list of requesters includes determining that the requester is logged into a primary and secondary account, and that the requester is in an approved list for the secondary account.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Francois Alexander Allain, Anand Subramani
  • Patent number: 9288283
    Abstract: Content items stored in an online content management service can be organized and shared. Content items can be associated with sharing profiles that include various sharing-specific metadata, such as details of how an item is shared or with whom it is shared. In some embodiments, the metadata stored in the sharing profiles can be used to organize shared content into shared folders automatically and/or to sort a list of content items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Brett Alten
  • Patent number: 9258291
    Abstract: A content management system can tag a client installer with an information tag linking the client installer to a user account. The client installer can be configured to install the client-side application on the client device and pass the identification tag to the installed client-side application. The client-side application can transmit the identification tag to the content management system, which can use the identification tag to identify the linked user account and log the client-side application into the user account. The content management system can implement several verification measures such as limiting the number of times and when an identification tag can be used, as well as IP addresses that can use the identification tag. The content management system can also use data cached by the web-browser application to determine if the web-browser application was used to access the user account in the past.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Huy Nguyen, Josh Kaplan, Viraj Mody, Ritu Vincent, Andrew Bortz, David Euresti
  • Patent number: 9253133
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying threads of related messages. A computer can associate messages with threads by storing a thread identifier (thread ID) identifying a thread and associating the thread ID with a message identifier (message ID) of each known message that belongs to the thread. The computer can inspect a message to determine whether the message identifies a reference message. Before assigning a thread ID to the message or a reference message, the computer can determine whether a message ID for either message is stored in association with a thread ID. If a thread ID is stored for a message ID of either message, the computer can assign the thread ID to message IDs of other reference messages. If a thread ID is not stored for a message ID of either message or is different for either message, store a common thread ID in association with both messages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Jack Dubie, Michael Roeder, Steven Kabbes, Sean Beausoleil
  • Patent number: 9246875
    Abstract: To identify whether a content item is prohibited, a content management system can generate a content item fingerprint for the content item and then compare the generated content item fingerprint to a blacklist of content item fingerprints for prohibited content items. If the generated content item fingerprint matches any of the content item fingerprints included in the blacklist, the content management system can determine that the content item is prohibited. The content management system can deny requests to share prohibited content items and/or requests to assign prohibited content items to a user account on the content management system. The content management system can generate the content item fingerprint using the content item as input in a fingerprinting algorithm that was used to generate the content item fingerprints on the blacklist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Anton Mityagin
  • Patent number: 9235636
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for executing a database query based on an incomplete query. An example system configured to practice the method receives a web request, wherein a uniform resource locator (URL) of the web request provides an argument, and extracts the argument from the URL as a parameter for a database query. The system identifies an unspecified parameter in the database query, and selects a likely value for the unspecified parameter. Then the system executes the database query using the parameter and the likely value, and incorporates at least part of the query result in a web page served in response to the web request. The system can cache the web request and the likely value for the unspecified parameter for later use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventor: David Stein
  • Patent number: 9230191
    Abstract: Embodiments are provided for organization and presentation of content. In some embodiments, a plurality of images and a plurality of similarity rules for image categorization are received. For each image in the plurality of images, the image from the plurality and each remaining image from the plurality is compared by: applying each similarity rule to the image and a remaining image from the plurality to obtain a numeric result, and recording the numeric result for the two images in a numeric representation, the numeric representation embodying similarities found between each of the plurality of images. The numeric representation is used as a reference for clustering the plurality of images into clusters of similar images, and each image is stored with a marker denoting a cluster to which it has been assigned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Dwan, Jinpeng Ren
  • Patent number: 9218368
    Abstract: A system for determining a time that a file was created and associating an ID with the file based on the file creation time is disclosed. The system adjusts the creation time by a time zone offset. In the case of image files, the file creation time may be based on information associated with the image: (1) by the camera that took the picture (exchangeable image file data); (2) when the photo was last modified in memory (file modification time data); (3) based on the raw date and time the photo file was created (file date-time data); and (4) when the photo was imported onto a client device. The system may rename the file with this adjusted creation time to create a standardized name. As a result, the standardized name provides a filename nomenclature that is based on the actual or estimated time of when the file was created.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Ramesh Balakrishnan
  • Patent number: 9215242
    Abstract: The embodiments provide methods and systems for detecting and preventing phishing of a user's information, such as their username and password. In one embodiment, a website detects as a threshold matter whether the user has arrive at the site due to an automatic redirection from a prior visited site or by the user having clicked on a link to the website from the previous site. If this threshold is met, then the prior website is evaluated based on various criteria to determine if it appears to be a phishing site. If phishing is suspected, then the user may be notified and various other protective actions may be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Chris Varenhorst
  • Patent number: 9203926
    Abstract: A social networking system enables users to join multiple user groups and create separate profiles for each group they join on the site. Each profile has a default set of user fields and a set of customized, administrator-created fields. Members of a group may create a profile when joining a particular group and may create the profile using a custom profile template generated for each group. Thus, if the same user joins a second group, they can create a new profile for the second group based on a profile template that is unique to the second group. The system may use information from the first profile to auto-populate the second profile if the second profile includes one or more of the same fields as the first profile. However, users may be able to edit the auto-populated information in the second profile to make it more specific to the second group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Akhil Wable, Aditya Agarwal, Ruchi Sanghvi, Joshua Jenkins
  • Patent number: 9197590
    Abstract: Filtering rules for incoming messages can be dynamically generated by a message management service based on patterns in the user's behavior. The message management service can analyze event records associating user actions with features of messages to detect correlations between message features and resulting actions, including correlations across multiple messaging accounts belonging to the same user. Based on correlations, the message management service can provide a suggested rule to the user's client device, and the user can accept or decline the suggestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Sean Beausoleil, Jack Dubie, George Milton Underwood, IV, Adam Cue, Anthony DeVincenzi, Michael Roeder
  • Publication number: 20150331881
    Abstract: Messages can be managed based on expiration dates. For instance, a message having an expiration date can be removed from the recipient's inbox until the expiration date becomes imminent, automatically restored to the inbox when the expiration date becomes imminent, and automatically expired from the inbox (e.g., by deleting the message) after the expiration date has passed. Expirable messages can be identified based on user input and/or automatic extraction of expiration-date information from the message. Visual indicators can be used to distinguish a message whose expiration date is imminent from other messages in the inbox.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2014
    Publication date: November 19, 2015
    Applicant: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Gideon M. Myles
  • Patent number: 9189491
    Abstract: The disclosed technology can enable files to be stored with a networked environment. The files can be associated with information (e.g., properties) such as a file name, a file type, a date/time at which a respective file was last accessed, a number of times a respective file was accessed, data representing the contents of a respective file, and other information. Based at least in part on analyzing the information, the disclosed technology can select or identify a file and/or a file property (e.g., a file type) that the disclosed technology predicts to be most relevant to the user. The disclosed technology can then recommend applications based at least in part on the selected or identified file and/or file property (e.g., file type).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Ilya Fushman, Thomas Carriero, Francois Alexander Allain
  • Publication number: 20150326620
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present technology involve the sharing of media items via a virtual shared space. For example, a user could create and share a slideshow to other users in a presentation mode that includes establishing a shared screen session for simultaneous viewing of the images. Further, while in the presentation mode, interaction with the images by each user could be shown on each device. For example, if a user zooms in on an object, another user will see a magnification of the object. Additionally, if the other user subsequently zooms out, the first user will see a minimization of the object. In another example, an audio message describing one or more images of a slideshow could be provided for playback at a later time when establishing a shared screen session is not available.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2014
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Applicant: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Anna Lillian Kohnen, Joshua Puckett
  • Patent number: 9183303
    Abstract: A system and method for enabling a user to use a user computer to search the user's personal content items hosted by an online content management service, the online content management service having an indexer computer configured to generate a base index of the user's content items hosted by the service, a base index server computer configured to transmit the generated base index over a network to the user computer, an index mutation generator computer configured to generate index mutations for subsequent changes to user's hosted content items, and an index mutation sever computer configured to transmit the generated index mutations over the network to the user computer. In one aspect, the system and method enable searches of the user's hosted content items and changes thereto to be conducted at the user computer using an index local to the user computer constructed based on the base index and the index mutations received by the user computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Samir Goel, Franck Chastagnol, Abhishek Agrawal
  • Patent number: 9185164
    Abstract: A content management system synchronizes content items across client computing systems connected by a network. Each client device has a storage allocation for synchronized shared content items. If the storage allocation for shared content items on a client device is exceeded by the request to add or edit a content item such that it is enlarged, or open a large content item remote to the client device, a client application or the host of content management system selects content items to remove from residence on the client device but keep remotely on content management system. Upon removal of the selected content items, the client application creates shadow items, representing the content item but only containing the metadata of the content item. This creates sufficient space for the initial request to be completed while maintaining user access to all synchronized shared content items. The processes of replacing content items with shadow items may be completed while the client device is idle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Benjamin Zeis Newhouse
  • Publication number: 20150309698
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods that provide users with efficient and effective user experiences when browsing, selecting, or inspecting content items. More specifically, systems and methods described herein provide users the ability to easily and effectively select multiple content items via a single touch gesture (e.g., swipe gesture). Additionally, systems and methods disclosed herein can allow users to select various content items in a selection interface, preview a content item, and return to the selection interface with the previous selections remaining in tact. Still further, systems and methods described herein allow users to transition between a content graphical user interface and a selection interface based on touch gestures with content items.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Publication date: October 29, 2015
    Applicant: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Jan Senderek, Daniel Tobias Wagner, Leonard Fink
  • Patent number: 9171203
    Abstract: Embodiments are provided for content item classification. In some embodiments, an image for classification is received, a compact representation for the image having values indicative of pixel values within the received image is generated, a plurality of angle measurements for possible edges of at least one potential document within the received image are determined, and the image is classified using said compact representation and said plurality of angle measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: DROPBOX, INC.
    Inventors: Tej Chajed, Peter Welinder, Boris Babekno, Dimitar Simeonov
  • Publication number: 20150304265
    Abstract: An online content management service can manage distribution of event notifications to client devices based on notification keys. Client devices can register with the content management service to receive event notifications associated with one or more specific notification keys of interest. The content management service can receive information about events, determine a notification key for each event, and selectively send notifications to clients that are registered for that notification key. The content management service can store event notifications for client devices that are generated during a period when the client device is not in communication with the content management service and can send the missed event notifications to the client device when the client device reestablishes communication with the content management service.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2014
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Applicant: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Jonathan Vincent
  • Publication number: 20150304264
    Abstract: Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to techniques for serializing account and message management actions performed at a message management service for synchronization with a messaging service. A message management service can receive requests from a client device and/or a messaging service to perform actions on resources for an email message account. The actions can include account-related actions, folder-related actions, message thread-related actions, and/or message-related actions. Message management service can implement techniques for serializing actions that conflict, such as actions on a resource (e.g., a message account, a message, a folder, or a message thread) that conflict with other actions on the same resource and/or other resources that have a dependency relationship.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2014
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Applicant: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventor: Steven Kabbes