Patents Assigned to Watertown Software, Inc.
  • Publication number: 20180247267
    Abstract: A method of forming a consensus from a collection of ideas is disclosed. The ideas are divided into non-exclusive groups for evaluation, with each group being provided to a participant for voting. The votes are tallied, and for each idea a “win percentage” is calculated, which is defined as the ratio of the number of groups in which a particular idea wins the voting, divided by the number of groups in which a particular idea appears. Each idea that has a “win percentage” that exceeds a particular threshold is passed on to one or more subsequent rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, the groups are configured so that no two ideas compete against each other more than once.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Publication date: August 30, 2018
    Applicant: Watertown Software, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael A. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, JR., Alex M. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, SR., Ralph E. Roland, Shawn M. Davis, Mark M. Piwowarski, John P. Gaus
  • Patent number: 8494436
    Abstract: A system and method for algorithmic selection of a consensus from a collection of ideas is disclosed. A group of ideas is provided to a group of participants for voting. Voting may occur in a single round or in several successive rounds, optionally until a consensus idea is chosen. Typically, the votes that are cast use discrete levels, such as “approve”, “disapprove”, “positive”, “neutral” or “negative”. For ideas that receive the same votes, a differentiator may be the time spent casting the vote. A relatively long evaluation time may signal some internal conflict in the mind of the participant, when compared with a relatively short evaluation time, which may signal no such conflict. The evaluation time may be combined with the rating of the participant to form a weighted rating. Consequently, a short evaluation time of a positive rating may yield a more positive weighted rating, while a short evaluation time of a negative rating may yield a more negative weighted rating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Watertown Software, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael A. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, Jr., Alex M. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, Sr., Ralph E. Roland, Shawn M. Davis, Mark M. Piwowarski, John P. Gaus
  • Publication number: 20130060605
    Abstract: A method of forming a consensus from a collection of ideas is disclosed. The ideas are divided into non-exclusive groups for evaluation, with each group being provided to a participant for voting. The votes are tallied, and for each idea a “win percentage” is calculated, which is defined as the ratio of the number of groups in which a particular idea wins the voting, divided by the number of groups in which a particular idea appears. Each idea that has a “win percentage” that exceeds a particular threshold is passed on to one or more subsequent rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, the groups are configured so that no two ideas compete against each other more than once.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Publication date: March 7, 2013
    Applicant: Watertown Software, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael A. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, JR., Alex M. Morgia, Pat A. Fontana, SR., Ralph E. Roland, Shawn M. Davis, Mark M. Piwowarski, John P. Gaus