Patents Examined by Robert A. Weinhardt
  • Patent number: 7685019
    Abstract: The present invention relates to systems and methods for the optimized delivery of one or more advertisements from a group of advertisements. The method of the present invention comprises receiving a request for one or more advertisements and retrieving advertisements responsive to the request received. Click through data associated with the one or more advertisements is retrieved and is normalized using a normalization algorithm. The normalized click through data is used to assign weights to the one or more advertisements. Tracking codes are generated for the one or more advertisements to track user interactions with a given advertisement. Advertisements are distributed according to the one or more advertisements' associated weights with associated tracking codes in one or more formats to one or more locations through which advertising may be conducted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Yahoo! Inc.
    Inventor: Robert J. Collins
  • Patent number: 6275813
    Abstract: The transcription software records actual transactions as transfers of money between two of five accounting categories of income (I), expenses (E), assets (A), liabilities (L) and capital (C). Example: 1823.15, A<I. The directional graphic character “<” visually indicates the direction of transfer between a user-input source and a destination category and always points at the destination category, thus assisting the user in posting the actual transactions. Since the destination is identical with the debit category, and the source with the credit category, the computer automatically posts the amount, in a fully computerized ledger-creating program, on proper debit and credit accounts. In a modification, a plurality of account titles are assigned to each of the four basic categories (I, E, A, L), and each title includes a numeric identifier and a descriptive name. The first digit in the identifier denotes a category and the remaining digits denote an account number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Inventor: George B. Berka
  • Patent number: 6157918
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus relating to the formulation and trading of investment contracts are described. An ordering party inputs contract data relating to a phenomenon. The phenomenon has a range of future outcomes and a future time of maturity. The contract data includes a set of probabilities of occurrence for each outcome within the range, and a consideration due a counterparty at or after the time of matching. At least one counterparty inputs registering data that includes a set of probabilities of occurrence for each outcome in the range. A data processing means prices and matches a contract for the phenomenon from the contract data and registering data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: Swychco Infrastructure Services PTY Ltd.
    Inventor: Ian Kenneth Shepherd
  • Patent number: 6154726
    Abstract: A system and method for processing patient data permits physicians and other medical staff personnel to record, accurately and precisely, historical patient care information. An objective measure of a physician's rendered level of care, as described by a clinical status code, is automatically generated. Data elements used in the determination of the generated clinical status code include a level of history of the patient, a level of examination of the patient, a decision-making process of the physician treating the patient, and a "time influence factor." The quantity and quality of care information for a particular patient is enhanced allowing future care decisions for that patient to be based on a more complete medical history. Enhanced care information can be used in outcome studies to track the efficacy of specific treatment protocols. Archiving of patient information is done in a manner which allows reconstruction of the qualitative aspects of provided medical services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Rensimer Enterprises, LTD
    Inventors: Edward R. Rensimer, Jacqueline P. Tomsovic, Pamela A. Wright
  • Patent number: 6119102
    Abstract: An MRP system that operates on a single data set containing records for all item demands and supplies. The file may be opened under a demand alias and a supply alias to expedite MRP regeneration. A second item master extension file includes data for each item which is subject to MRP, which further contributes to improved MRP regeneration time. Item low level codes for an item are recalculated in real time whenever a bill of material referencing the item is created or modified. Therefore, low level codes need not be calculated during MRP regeneration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Assignee: Made2Manage Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Gary W. Rush, Herman J. Kiefus
  • Patent number: 6108638
    Abstract: A data processing system and a data processing method using data processing system which comprises a plurality of input units for registering selected products, and a processing unit connected to the plurality of input units for calculating a total price for the selected products for each input unit, in accordance with data related to at least one of the registered selected products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2000
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Miyuki Sato, Kunihiko Hakamazuka, Shigeki Enoki
  • Patent number: 6105002
    Abstract: A system for creating, dispensing, and redeeming electronic discount coupons in a store. The system includes a "smart card", product stations adjacent to selected products in the store, and a checkout station in the checkout area. To create an electronic coupon, the customer inserts the card into the product station adjacent to an product the customer wishes to purchase, and the product station then writes an electronic coupon onto the card. The customer thus shops throughout the store collecting electronic coupons for products of interest. Upon completion of shopping, the customer redeems the electronic coupons at the checkout area, by inserting the card into the checkout station. During checkout, when UPC data matches data stored on the card, the customer is credited with the value of the corresponding coupon. Periodically, the electronic coupon data is transferred to a remote clearing house.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: SoftCard Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Ken Powell
  • Patent number: 6086629
    Abstract: A method of computer aided design of coarse grain FPGA's by employing a library of selected primitive cells, defining the connection classes useful in the FPGA design, and assigning appropriate connection classes to the inputs and outputs of the respective primitive cells. The primitive cells and defined interconnections used therein have accurately established timing and power parameters thereby enabling more accurate assessments of static timing and power consumption for the entire FPGA design. Moreover, the method of the present invention results in placement directives which then serve as connection criteria in carrying out subsequent place and route algorithms. One such placement directive is implemented as a "local output" (LO) of some of the primitive cells which implies that that particular output must be connected to another primitive cell input within the local configurable logic block (CLB). Another such placement directive is obtained by using a plurality of virtual buffers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2000
    Assignee: Xilinx, Inc.
    Inventors: Edward S. McGettigan, Jennifer T. Tran, F. Erich Goetting
  • Patent number: 6076064
    Abstract: A uniform, centralized system for converting all existing systems into one unique, universal system which allows for tracking those titles for articles objects of value, such as motor vehicles, boats, land, antiques insurance files, etc., in a congruent and continual manner. The system provides a centralized computer data base(s) operating in a "client-server" computer environment for use in creating a title history file, and for assigning a singular registration number and identification number from the VIN (or other) identifying number with those numbers being coded, and creating a coded title and registration number and for storing relevant data on the item. The centralized data base is connected to various authorized agents such as insurance agents and car dealers, and to governmental agents such as department of motor vehicles and tax collecting entities. In this way, all relevant data on an item can now be is maintained on a centralized system which is accessible to all who need the information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2000
    Inventor: R. Edward Rose, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6063132
    Abstract: A method using a generate-and-verify computer program product to generate by repetitive passes a design rules checking computer program, wherein the design rules are described in a file called a runset. The design rules checking program is used for exhaustive testing of VLSI chips for compliance to the design rules of a given VLSI fabrication process. The runset is repeatedly iterated in loop fashion with respect to a testcase file containing groups of layout structures or shapes used for verifying the correctness of the runset. A general purpose shapes processing program creates an error shapes file for storing geometrical errors found in each said layout structure. Two additional shapes are used in the verification process: user boundary shapes for defining areas in which errors are not to be detected for a given design rule, and automated boundary shapes created to surround each said layout structure with a boundary that defines regions where error shapes can occur.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William Frantz DeCamp, Laurice Thorsen Earl, Jason Steven Minahan, James Robert Montstream, Daniel John Nickel, Joseph James Oler, Jr., Richard Quimby Williams
  • Patent number: 6052656
    Abstract: A natural language processing method, by which a sequence of natural language information is analyzed so as to derive a concept represented by the information. In this method, the input natural language information is sequentially processed as word by word. At that time, the kind of a subsequent word is expected from a currently processed word by using knowledge concerning the word order of words in the natural language information. Thus the processing is performed by eliminating ambiguity in the information on the basis of such an expectation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Aruna Rohra Suda, Suresh Jeyachandran
  • Patent number: 5991728
    Abstract: A method for tracking medical supply usage on a procedure level in a clinical setting. The method includes the steps of creating at least one procedural template comprising a list of anticipated supplies to be used during a given medical procedure, creating a recordation form from a given procedure based upon the procedural template, the form including at least a partial listing of the anticipated supplies to be used during the procedure based upon the procedural template, recording on the form actual usage of supplies during the procedure, and storing the procedural template and actual usage information in a retrievable manner for the purposes of analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1999
    Assignee: DeRoyal Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian C. DeBusk, Mark W. Shanks, Michael C. Cofer
  • Patent number: 5987432
    Abstract: A central ticker plant system for distributing financial market data that receives ticker feed data from many exchanges throughout the world, processes and formats the received data and then distributes or broadcasts the data to regional customers in the form of securities transactional data denoting the security identity and related transactional data. The central ticker plant system is fault-tolerant because of novel hardware redundancy and multi-thread software processing architecture and operates continuously during hardware and software maintenance and repair, ensuring that every financial market data message received from the exchanges is included within 500 milliseconds in broadcast output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Assignee: Reuters, Ltd.
    Inventors: Joseph Zusman, Jennifer L. Tang, Raymond S. Nakelsky, Stephen L. Verbeck, David Azizian
  • Patent number: 5987402
    Abstract: A document retrieval and display system for retrieving source documents in different languages from servers linked by a communication network, translating the retrieved source documents as necessary, storing the translated documents, and displaying the source documents and translated documents at a client device connected to the communication network. The translation process is activated automatically by a control module, and is carried out by a machine translation module. The control module decides when a translation is necessary, selects whether to display the source document or a translated document at the client device, and determines when the source document has been updated and must be retranslated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiki Murata, Hideki Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 5983197
    Abstract: Failure information and cash reserve information for each automatic transaction machine 5 are collected at a monitoring center 5. In a dispatch condition table, criteria for making decisions such as a dispatch standby being required when a specific number of automatic transaction machines are not operating at a given point in time are displayed. A dispatch decision making portion references the dispatch condition table to display the necessity for a dispatch, the necessity for a dispatch standby and the like on the display. Since the decision making criteria in regard to whether or not a service person should be placed on standby for dispatch or whether or not a request for dispatch should be issued are clearly defined in correspondence to the number of operating machines and the state of the cash reserve, suitable measures can be taken in correspondence to the state of each automatic transaction machine, thereby reducing the responsibility of the operator at the monitoring center.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masayuki Enta
  • Patent number: 5983169
    Abstract: A system for translating ambiguous expressions from one natural language to another is described. Electronic processing means are used in conjunction with stored grammatical rules to determine multiple parse structures for expressions in the input language and to create corresponding structures for candidate expressions in the output language. In one version of the invention, the possible structures for each candidate output expression are compared with those of the corresponding input expression to determine whether there is an output expression with a set of possible interpretations that matches that of the input expression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Assignee: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
    Inventor: John P. Kozma
  • Patent number: 5975746
    Abstract: The invention pertains to a process for monitoring bar cutoff on CNC-controlled automatic bar lathes having a main spindle (3), an auxiliary spindle (6) and a pull-away carriage (WS3). In cutting-off operations it is necessary to monitor whether the cutting-off operation has cleanly severed the workpiece from the unmachined part. This control prevents machine damage that could arise as a result of imperfectly severed workpieces. The invention provides that after the cutting-off operation is completed, the pull-away carriage is started in the direction of a predetermined control path. In the time the pull-away carriage moves along the control path, the contour variation is monitored and compared with a value for contour variation that was defined in no-load operation, i.e. without a workpiece. If upon comparison the contour variation exceeds a predetermine threshold of difference, i.e.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: Dr. Johannes Heidenhain GmbH
    Inventor: Dieter Lengsfeld
  • Patent number: 5974396
    Abstract: A method and system for gathering and analyzing customer and purchasing information permits a retailer or retail chain to process transactional information involving large numbers of consumers and consumer products. Product information is gathered that uniquely identifies a specific product by type and manufacturer and grouped into generic product clusters. Consumers are similarly grouped into consumer clusters based on common consumer demographics and other characteristics. Consumer retail transactions are analyzed in terms of product and/or consumer clusters to determine relationships between the consumers and the products. Product, consumer, and transactional data are maintained in a relational database. Targeting of specific consumers with marketing and other promotional literature is based on consumer buying habits, needs, demographics, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: Moore Business Forms, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael W. Anderson, David Hargreaves, Susan M. Hoellig, Drew S. Johnson, Blaine D. Mischel
  • Patent number: 5963912
    Abstract: A computer system includes hardware for interfacing with the public telephone network and for accepting incoming telephone calls. The computer system detects from the incoming telephone calls automatic number identification data (ANI data), such as Caller-ID data, which identifies the calling telephone and further accepts personal identification codes from the caller. The system generates reports of the incoming telephone calls in which reports the location of the calling telephone is correlated with the person who is making the telephone call. Preferably, the system is applied for recording remotely, through the telephone network, the arrival and departure times of field based employees at various work sites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventor: Penina Katz
  • Patent number: 5963456
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for displaying capillary electrophoresis data wherein absorbance with respect to time is related to graphic values within a graphic range or scale of values and selected graphic values are displayed with respect to time. The selected graphic values may comprise a range hues, color saturation and/or brightness or may represent a monochromatic scale. The resulting representation may be horizontally aligned with the corresponding electrophoretogram absorbance values to provide both a quantitative value (electrophoretogram absorbance values) and qualitative (graphic stripe) display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Beckman Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerald L. Klein, Steven P. Katzmann