Patents Examined by Ming Shui
  • Patent number: 10055780
    Abstract: A ticket transaction system includes auction logic coupled with a database of ticket inventory. The auction logic periodically executes online auctions among sellers of the ticket inventory to determine placement of tickets in a user interface view to potential buyers of the tickets. Real time event engine logic coupled with the auction logic provides real time updates of ticket inventory availability to mobile devices over a machine network. The system is adapted with logic to substitute in real time a next best value ticket for a sold ticket in the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Gametime
    Inventors: Brad Griffith, Richard Lowenberg, Jairo Avalos, Brendan Winter
  • Patent number: 10025809
    Abstract: A system is designed for processing instructions in real time during a session. This system comprises: a preloader for obtaining reference data relating to the instructions, the reference data indicating the current values of each specified resource account data file, and the preloader being arranged to read the reference data for a plurality of received instructions in parallel from a master database; an enriched instruction queue for queuing the instructions together with their respective preloaded reference data; an execution engine for determining sequentially whether each received instruction can be executed under the present values of the relevant resource account files and for each executable instruction to generate an updating command; and an updater, responsive to the updating command from the execution engine (for updating the master database with the results of each executable instruction, the operation of the plurality of updaters being decoupled from the operation of the execution engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: Euroclear SA/NV
    Inventors: Henri Petit, Jean-Francois Collin, Nicolas Marechal, Christine Deloge
  • Patent number: 10019744
    Abstract: A real-time fraud prevention system enables merchants and commercial organizations on-line to assess and protect themselves from high-risk users. A centralized database is configured to build and store dossiers of user devices and behaviors collected from subscriber websites in real-time. Real, low-risk users have webpage click navigation behaviors that are assumed to be very different than those of fraudsters. Individual user devices are distinguished from others by hundreds of points of user-device configuration data each independently maintains. A client agent provokes user devices to volunteer configuration data when a user visits respective webpages at independent websites. A collection of comprehensive dossiers of user devices is organized by their identifying information, and used calculating a fraud score in real-time. Each corresponding website is thereby assisted in deciding whether to allow a proposed transaction to be concluded with the particular user and their device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Brighterion, Inc.
    Inventor: Akli Adjaoute
  • Patent number: 10019696
    Abstract: A system for transferring digital rights managed (DRM) files from a first seller device to a buyer device involves a buyer device configured to receive a file package having the DRM file. Some file packages may also have a DRM file access key. The system also has a first seller device having the DRM file stored thereon and configured to receive a request to purchase the DRM file (the request having a DRM file identifier); receive a buyer identifier associated with the request; transfer the file package to a buyer device to the buyer device; detect through a network connection, a digital rights management server; and send, responsive to detecting the digital rights management server, a sale record to the digital rights management server, where the sale record includes the DRM file identifier and the buyer identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Susann M. Keohane, Gerald F. McBrearty, Shawn P. Mullen, Jessica C. Murillo, Johnny M. Shieh
  • Patent number: 10010926
    Abstract: A method is provided wherein a metallic container is filled with a consumer identified beverage, seamed to a metallic end closure, distributed, and sold to the consumer. Thus, a consumer has influence and control over volume, qualities, and size of the beverage along with specific characteristics regarding the size and shape of the metallic container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Ball Corporation
    Inventor: James W. Billings
  • Patent number: 9953084
    Abstract: An application store tastemaker recommendation service determines experts within a user's social network(s), receives recommendations from the experts, filters and/or ranks mobile application query results based at least in part on the recommendations. Additionally, the service may further determine the experts based on data compiled about previous actions, reviews, comments, etc., of the experts. Further, the service may provide recommendations to the user to aid in selecting mobile applications for purchase, and may provide an avenue for completing such purchases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Joseph Futty, Matthew Graham Dyor, Danny Lange, Miller T. Abel
  • Patent number: 9934498
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are example embodiments for facilitating guaranty provisioning for an exchange. For certain example embodiments, at least one device, such as a mobile device or a server device or an electronic apparatus: (i) may facilitate a matching of at least one proffered guaranty transaction with one or more proffered transaction characteristics; or (ii) may participate in at least one guaranty transaction marketplace to produce at least one guaranty transaction associated with at least one guaranty for a proposed product transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: Elwha LLC
    Inventors: Edward K. Y. Jung, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord
  • Patent number: 9922356
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enable online transactions related to buying/selling an item, such as a vehicle. In an embodiment, one or more installment agreements relating to a user and one or more items may be generated in response to one or more received inputs. In an embodiment, a deal table comprising the one or more installment agreements may be generated, and the deal table may be transmitted to a user device for presentation via the user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: CARVANA, LLC
    Inventors: Ernest C. Garcia, III, Nicole Behrens, Adam Swofford, William Adams
  • Patent number: 9916578
    Abstract: A method for minimizing risk of a consumer performing a fraudulent Internet purchase transactions using a transaction card is disclosed herein, the method comprising receiving an enrollment verification request for a transaction from a merchant's website, transmitting the enrollment verification request to an access control server; receiving an enrollment verification response from the access control server, determining whether the transaction is risky based on at least a portion of the enrollment verification request, if the transaction is not risky, forwarding the enrollment verification response to the merchant website and, if the transaction is risky, modifying the enrollment verification response to denote the transaction is risky and forwarding the modified enrollment verification response to the merchant's website.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Visa International Service Association
    Inventor: Benedicto Dominguez
  • Patent number: 9911130
    Abstract: Online retailers may provider various content to the electronic commerce website such as advertisements. Content on the electronic commerce website may be optimized by assigning attribution value to the content where the attribution values correspond to the influence the content may have on a customer's decision making. The attribution values may be calculated using one or more regression models.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Kyle Leon Battisti
  • Patent number: 9892450
    Abstract: In some cases, a handheld electronic device may operate in a voice input mode or a scanner input mode. When operating in the voice input mode, the handheld electronic device may record and store audio data in memory. In some cases, the stored audio data may be communicated from the handheld electronic device (e.g., via a Wi-Fi connection) to one or more remote computing devices (e.g., for speech processing). When operating in the scanner input mode, the handheld electronic device may record and store item identifier information (e.g., as barcode data) in the memory. In some cases, the stored item identifier data may be communicated to the one or more remote computing devices (e.g., for item identification processing).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Julien George Beguin, John Mathew Depew, Richard David Young, David George Butler, Thomas William Keen, John Avery Howard, Thomas Bruno Mader, Toni Raquel Reid Thomelin
  • Patent number: 9852487
    Abstract: A method includes providing a processor and receiving a request to inspect property for sale. The method also includes establishing an audio-visual remote presence connection between at least one buyer and at least one agent, transmitting a plurality of purchase information to at least the buyer, and receiving a plurality of buyer requests for additional information. The method further includes generating, using the processor, a response to at least one of the plurality of buyer requests for additional information and delivering the response to the buyer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
    Inventors: Anthony Farnsworth, Wayne Hartman, Jonathan Neuse, Andrew Higgins
  • Patent number: 9846903
    Abstract: Selecting a first silhouette image of an item at a client machine displays a plurality of silhouette images representing aspects of the item such as style, length type and sleeve type. Selecting any of those aspects allows a server to search a database for listings of similar items that have those aspects. Concurrently selecting one or more of the images representing those aspects and one or more sizes, allows a server to search a database for listings of similar items that have those aspects and those sizes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: eBay Inc.
    Inventor: Rini Kundu
  • Patent number: 9818141
    Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for pricing data according to provenance-based use in a query are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A set of data cubes is identified. A data cube in the set comprises a quantum of data configured for trading in exchange for a payment, the set being usable for answering the query. A first portion of a price for performing the query is computed, which includes a price of a first data cube computed using a first set of provenance attributes and a first provenance-based pricing adjustment from a first pricing definition, the first data cube being included in the set. A confidence level of a result set of the query is computed. The set of data cubes, the first set of provenance attributes, the first portion of the price, and the confidence level are presented in a pricing preview of the query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tamer E. Abuelsaad, Gregory J. Boss, John M. Ganci, Jr., Craig M. Trim
  • Patent number: 9818105
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are example embodiments for guaranty provisioning via wireless service purveyance. For certain example embodiments, at least one device, such as a server device of a wireless service provider: (i) may detect at least one proffered guaranty transaction that is associated with at least one product transaction; or (ii) may proffer at least one guaranty based at least partially on at least one wireless service data stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: Elwha LLC
    Inventors: Edward K. Y. Jung, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord
  • Patent number: 9811840
    Abstract: A consumer interface device (“CID”) implemented in a retail store provides an interactive in-store shopping experience. In particular, the CID may provide in-store navigation to a desired product. The CID may receive input from a user specifying the desired product, or the CID may suggest a product and provide navigation to the desired and/or suggested product. The CID may be mounted on a shelf in a retail store and may include a microprocessor, a touchscreen, a digital storage medium, and a networking device. The CID may track the success of particular in-store advertisements with regard to particular consumers or types of consumers; provide in-store navigation to products; enable purchases via a network; and target an individual consumer or group of consumers with product content specifically directed to the respective consumers or groups of consumers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: THE SINCLAIR GROUP, INC.
    Inventor: Craig M. Sinclair
  • Patent number: 9812022
    Abstract: A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and apparatus for providing a healthier food purchase suggestion to a shopper are disclosed. For example, the method receives a selection of a food item that the shopper has selected to purchase, determines one or more healthier food items that have a higher score than a score of the food item that the shopper has selected, selects one of the one or more healthier food items based upon a profile of the shopper, provides the one of the one or more healthier food items that is selected as the healthier food purchase suggestion to the shopper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Elizabeth Dubiel Wayman, Karen M. Braun
  • Patent number: 9805397
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes providing a post generated by a first user for display to one or more other users of the site, receiving an indication of a request from a second user of one or more other users to suggest auxiliary content relating to at least one of one or more items represented in the post, providing a suggestion mechanism to the second user on the page displaying the post to allow the second user to provide auxiliary content relating to the at least one of the one or more items, receiving a suggestion from the second user including the auxiliary content, providing the auxiliary content for display to the first user and providing the first user with a mechanism for viewing the auxiliary content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: GOOGLE INC.
    Inventors: Timothy Youngjin Sohn, Twum Djin, Andrew Chang Huang, Harim Kim
  • Patent number: 9805404
    Abstract: The present disclosure concerns the hierarchical splitting of large datasets by multi-level segmentation and providing a system and method for enabling requests of reuse of the values of previously estimated nodes of said hierarchy. This is applied in making connections between different suppliers in a complex hierarchical multi-level chain of purchase items, facilitating the communication of request for quotes and respective responses. The disclosure allows higher level bidders to traverse dense hierarchical multi-level chains of purchasing data, re-using existing estimates and quotes, allowing quicker processes and more efficient use of resources. The system comprises a Request for Quote module (RFQ Module), an estimate module (Estimate Module) and a Request for Quote reply module (RFQ Reply Module), and a module for storing and/or communicating existing estimates and quotes (Rides Module) across hierarchical levels in the purchase process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: VORTAL—COMÉRCIO ELECTRÓNICO, CONSULTADORIA E MULTIMÉDIA, S.A.
    Inventor: Nuno Miguel Sanfins Milagres
  • Patent number: 9785990
    Abstract: Global shoppers may access numerous predetermined online shopping websites. Users can shop normally and can generate a third-party cart. Foreign shipping addresses and foreign payment types may be accepted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Inventor: Chris Folayan