Patents Examined by James A Vezeris
  • Patent number: 7783555
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system are provided for declining auction with interest rate bidding. According to one embodiment, an interest rate may be set for a transacted financial instrument, and information regarding the financial instrument and an interest rate at which the financial instrument is offered are published via a computer network. Offers from respective bidders to transact the financial instrument may be received, via the computer network, being expressed as offered interest rates at which the bidders are willing to transact the financial instrument. On the termination of a bid receiving process, whether at least one of the offers satisfies transaction criteria, as defined by a seller of the financial instrument, may be determined. If it is determined that at least one of the offers satisfies the transaction criteria, then at least one of the offers may be identified as an accepted offer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: eBay Inc.
    Inventors: William R. Watt, II, Matthew F. Ackley, William J. Cornell
  • Patent number: 7778895
    Abstract: A system, method, and a user interface that allows a user of a tax preparation application to view a tax augmented accounting report in which tax related data from a financial accounting application is associated with an accounting line item and a tax line assignment for the accounting line item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Intuit Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory B. Baxter, Kathy L. Eusepi, Gillian Meyer, Kenichi Mori, Joseph M. Quadros, Jackie Rierdan, Sara Y. Clancy, Mary Kate Anderson, Elaine Marie Conway
  • Patent number: 7778899
    Abstract: Methods and systems for managing and analyzing multi-dimensional data are provided. Example embodiments provide a Meta-Object Data Management System “MODMS,” which enables users to arrange and to rearrange the hierarchical relationships of the data on an ad-hoc basis and allows the data to be analyzed using any set of attributes (dimensions) while the system is running. The MODMS represents heterogeneous data in a normalized (standardized) fashion using an object type management system that allows the coercion of one type of object into another different type of object and automatically resolves attribute dependencies. The MODMS supports object transitions for transforming an object from one type to another based upon meeting a defined set of criteria and subject to approval by designated entities. In one embodiment, the MODMS is used to implement an enterprise portfolio management system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Serena Software, Inc.
    Inventors: John Scumniotales, Jeff Hill, Vorun Kreal, Suhas A. Kelkar
  • Patent number: 7778918
    Abstract: A system comprises a memory operable to store a master index that is based at least in part on a separately managed account (SMA) index, a market index, a first weight associated with the SMA index, and a second weight associated with the market index. The system further comprises a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and operable to update the first weight based at least in part on the market index. The processor is further operable to update the second weight based at least in part on the SMA index. The processor is further operable to update the master index based at least in part on the SMA index, the market index, the updated first weight, and the updated second weight. The processor is further operable to store the updated master index in a memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Satyanarayan Reddy Chada, Kaushik K. Suchak, Donald A. MacLean
  • Patent number: 7774257
    Abstract: A financial advisory system and a user interface for such a system are provided. According to one embodiment, information regarding a retirement income goal of an individual is received. Multiple input values for corresponding decision variables are also received. The decision variables include an indication regarding a target retirement age for the individual, an indication regarding anticipated monetary contributions directed toward the retirement income goal and an indication regarding the individual's risk tolerance. A probability distribution dependent upon the decision variables is generated based on simulated market return scenarios and representing a set of possible future portfolio values based on the plurality of inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Financial Engines, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeff N. Maggioncalda, Christopher L. Jones, William F. Sharpe, Ken Fine, Ellen Tauber
  • Patent number: 7769650
    Abstract: Network-based systems and methods for hosting and operating a network-based platform that allows clients to open and build a portfolio-swap account that is subdivided into a plurality of client sub-accounts or funds. The methods and systems of the invention allow the client to sub-allocate equity-swap transactions among its various client sub-account or funds as the client deems appropriate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank
    Inventors: Daniel Bleunven, Eliane Karotsch, Christian Dalban, Andrew D J Miller
  • Patent number: 7752090
    Abstract: A method for reversing accounting distortions of financial information, comprising the steps of obtaining a set of financial information regarding an entity, the financial information including accounting distortions and notes detailing said accounting distortions; analyzing the financial information and notes to determine an accurate economic model; and using said accurate economic model to automatically determine the true profitability of an entity and comparatively value a plurality of expectations with respect to the financial information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Inventor: David Trainer
  • Patent number: 7747488
    Abstract: Systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means for conducting a transaction are provided. In some embodiments, a unit is issued to a holder including a forward contract and a note, in which the note specifies an initial capped remarketing, at least a first subsequent capped remarketing, and an uncapped remarketing, the uncapped remarketing performed only if each of the capped remarketings fail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Goldman Sachs & Co.
    Inventors: Emerson P. Jones, Karen Schoen
  • Patent number: 7734531
    Abstract: Computer-based methods for promoting sulfur dioxide futures contracts trading are described. The methods include creating a sulfur financial instrument for use by approved parties to trade sulfur emissions allowances and selling the sulfur financial instrument to an approved buyer who desires to acquire the amounts of the sulfur dioxide emissions allowances. The sulfur financial instrument represents allocated amounts of sulfur emissions allowances that include a future year sulfur dioxide allowance vintage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Sandor, Michael Walsh
  • Patent number: 7734528
    Abstract: A system and method for news-based trading are developed. According to one method, a trader can pre-define a trading strategy including a number of trading rules to be applied based on a comparison of one or more estimated event values to the respective actual event values to be released at some later time. The example method further includes, upon receiving one or more actual event values via a user input or directly from outside sources, executing one or more predefined trading rules selected based on the comparison of the received actual event values to the respective estimated indicator values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerald J. O'Connor, Stephen J. Murphy
  • Patent number: 7716135
    Abstract: A dynamically determined data-driven model for detecting fraudulent behavior is provided. An initial model is developed using historical data, such as demographic, psychographic, transactional, and environmental data, using data-driven discovery techniques, such as data mining, and may be validated using additional statistical techniques. The noise within the data models determine appropriate initial control points needed for the initial model. These initial control points define an ‘electronic fence,’ wherein data points within the fence represent acceptable behavior and data points outside the fence represent unacceptable behavior. Updated data is received. A fraud detection mechanism validates the updated data using data mining and statistical methods. The data model, or ‘electronic fence,’ is refined based on the newly acquired data. The process of refining and updating the data models is iterated until a set of limits is achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Robert Lee Angell
  • Patent number: 7707085
    Abstract: An environmental impact information collection system modifies and analyzes environmental impact information, which is collected and stored in advance, and obtains the environmental impact at each process done in an organization, according to each product. The environmental impact information collection system then obtains a set of environmental impacts in a product's life cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masamitsu Sakurai, Tatsuo Tani, Hiroshi Uramoto, Hiromitsu Hatano
  • Patent number: 7693762
    Abstract: In one implementation, a volatility of expected service usage is calculated along with an expected revenue. User input provides estimates of service usage such as an estimated high usage, an estimated low usage, and a swing range of percentiles for the high and low usage estimates, for each time period in a plurality of future time periods. A user also provides a schedule of prices that are based on usage rates. A model volatility is calculated based on the swing range of percentiles, the estimated high and low usage, and a cumulative density function, such as a cumulative lognormal density function, for each time period in a plurality of time periods. The expected usage and the schedule of prices, along with any discount plans, are also used to calculate an estimated revenue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Rapt, Inc.
    Inventors: Leonardo Dagum, Vivek Vaidya, Paul Dagum
  • Patent number: 7689494
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to household portfolio simulation and analysis to provide retirement income. In particular, it discloses advanced technologies for modeling, simulation and analysis of potential economic futures, as applied to household retirement prospects. Improved modeling may capture factors such as concrete objectives of participants' priorities among objectives, risk adversity and starting conditions that impact tax consequences of transactions. Improved modeling may address consistency among similar factors, tax consequences in simulation periods and transactions in real estate and private investments. Improved analyses may apply a margin of safety and/or risk budget analysis to a household portfolio to produce a meaningful presentation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Advisor Software Inc.
    Inventors: Nicolo G. Torre, Andrew T. Rudd
  • Patent number: 7685056
    Abstract: Software implemented guarantee valuation engine and methodology that enable a mutual fund that is continuously offered; always fully invested in traditional assets that correlate to a benchmark and which is subject to a guarantee with respect to net asset value on a specified future date to be re-priced on a daily basis and to have the effect of such re-pricing in the reported NAV of the fund.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Structured Investment Management, Inc.
    Inventor: Ramesh K. Menon
  • Patent number: 7647266
    Abstract: A user can submit an order to buy or sell a tradeable object, only the order does not get sent to the matching engine. Instead, the order is placed in temporary storage and it is displayed to the user in the form of a virtual order icon. The virtual order icon indicates that an order request is waiting for an event to occur before it is automatically released to the matching engine. The virtual order icon can be managed by the user, which might include moving the virtual order icon to a different price level or deleting it. The preferred system continuously monitors for an event to take place, and in response to detecting the event, the order is released to the matching engine. As such, a real order icon is displayed to indicate that the order has now been sent to the matching engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
    Inventor: Mark W. Triplett
  • Patent number: 7640206
    Abstract: A system and method for news-based trading are developed. According to one method, a trader can pre-define a trading strategy including a number of trading rules to be applied based on a comparison of one or more estimated event values to the respective actual event values to be released at some later time. The example method further includes, upon receiving one or more actual event values via a user input or directly from outside sources, executing one or more predefined trading rules selected based on the comparison of the received actual event values to the respective estimated indicator values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2009
    Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerald J. O'Connor, Stephen J. Murphy
  • Patent number: 7630928
    Abstract: The systems and methods of the invention are directed to portfolio optimization and related techniques. For example, the invention provides a method for multi-objective portfolio optimization for use in investment decisions based on competing objectives and a plurality of constraints constituting a portfolio problem, the method sequentially comprising: generating a non-dominated solution set in a space; applying a first set of user-specified constraints to reduce the solutions in the non-dominated solution set to a solution subset; and executing a series of local tradeoffs on the solution subset to result in a resulting solution subset, the local tradeoffs being performed in a lower dimension performance space as compared to the space, and the solution subset being used in investment decisioning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2009
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Piero Patrone Bonissone, Srinivas Bollapragada, Kete Charles Chalermkraivuth, Neil Holger White Eklund, Naresh Sundaram Iyer, Rajesh Venkat Subbu
  • Patent number: 7599866
    Abstract: A method for determining a market clearing price (“MCP”) in an electricity market, in which an objective function relates the MCP and constraints in terms of a nonlinear programming expression, and the MCP is found by resolving an augmented Lagrangian dual function using a surrogate optimization framework. A system is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignees: Southern California Edison Company, The University of Connecticut
    Inventors: Joseph H. Yan, Peter B. Luh, Gary A. Stern, William E. Blankson, Ernan Ni, Ying Chen, Feng Zhao, Yaming Ma
  • Patent number: 7593887
    Abstract: A system and methods for processing and charting security exchange trading and market information shows security traders if current transactions originated as buy orders (810) or sell orders (812), and simultaneously indicates traded quantity. Security exchange trading information is received including price, volume and time of each trade. Market information is also received including bids and offers. The security exchange trading and market information is processed simultaneously and displayed as a continuously updated real-time chart (800) depicting the exchange auction process. The chart (800) is formed by plotting each trade at the price traded, and for each plot point shows a distinctive icon indication whether the transaction was initiated by a buyer (810) or seller (812).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2009
    Assignee: Trading Technoloiges International Inc.
    Inventor: Douglas R. Duquette