Patents Examined by Stephen Alvesteffer
  • Collaborative information sharing system
    Patent number: 8887071
    Abstract: Enables a collaborative information sharing system configured to enable distally located users to quickly, conveniently and simultaneously share information such as images of websites, applications or any other information with each other in real-time, for example to enable multiple distally located users to shop, teach, learn or otherwise view shared information and communicate in a secure and coordinated fashion that is not possible with existing co-browsing or screen sharing technologies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Inventor: Eric Yang
  • Video storage and retrieval system and method
    Patent number: 8881012
    Abstract: A video image storage and retrieval system providing computer displays of timelines for video sequences, in which a first timeline shows time divisions for segments for the longer sequences, and the other timelines each provide for locating images within the segments. Timecodes in the other timelines are aligned with those in the first timeline so that searching for images in the other timelines is facilitated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: LHS Productions, Inc.
    Inventor: Louis H. Siracusano, Jr.
  • System and method for enhancing socialization in virtual worlds
    Patent number: 8881030
    Abstract: There is provided a system and method for inducing a reply from a first client connected to a virtual world to facilitate a social interaction using a second client connected to the virtual world. There is provided a method for inducing a reply from a first client connected to a virtual world to facilitate a social interaction using a second client connected to the virtual world, the method comprising locating, in the virtual world, an avatar of the second client in a proximity of an avatar of the first client, executing a social action using the avatar of the second client such that the social action is observable by the first client but not observable by the second client, receiving the reply from the first client in response to the social action, and rendering the reply from first client using the avatar of the first client.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Allan Jones, Steve Parkis
  • Anchoring for content synchronization
    Patent number: 8875038
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes receiving from a web browser, by a server system via a network, an indication of dragging, by a user of the web browser, of an element displayed on a webpage displayed by the web browser, and dropping, by the user, of the element into a content area displayed on the webpage, the element selected from the group consisting of: a first content item displayed at a location on the webpage other than in the content area, and a graphical element displayed in association with the first content item. Responsively to the indication, the server system causes the web browser to display, in the content area, at least a portion of a set of one or more second content items related to the first content item. Other embodiments are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Collarity, Inc.
    Inventor: Emil Ismalon
  • Web browser audio controls
    Patent number: 8850317
    Abstract: One or more audio controls are presented in a browser application to allow a user to adjust one or more audio signals (e.g., mute, adjust volume) provided by one or more audio sources (e.g., websites). In some aspects, the browser application remembers the user's audio control settings for audio sources and automatically applies those settings to the audio controls when audio signals from the audio sources are detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Imran A. Chaudhri
  • Method and apparatus for initiating and managing chat sessions
    Patent number: 8843834
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for initiating and managing a chat session are described herein. According to one embodiment, user activities with respect to the data processing system are monitored, including user activities that are unrelated to chat services. In response to a request to initiate a chat session between a local user and a remote user, a first chat service account is selected from a list of chat service accounts associated with the remote user based on the monitored user activities. A chat session is initiated using the selected first chat service account of the remote user and a second chat service account selected for the local user. Certain information is displayed within a chat window indicating that the chat session is conducted between the first and second chat service accounts. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Justin Wood, Peter T. Westen, Pierre de Filippis
  • Distributed clipboard
    Patent number: 8839119
    Abstract: Techniques for providing a shared clipboard to participants in a conversation are provided. The shared clipboard is specific to the conversation to which it is associated in that the shared clipboard does not “spill over” from one conversation to another. When a conversation between two or more participants is established, a shared clipboard becomes available to the participants of the conversation. The shared clipboard facilitates the sharing of data between the participants in the conversation. During the conversation, each participant in the conversation is provided access to the shared clipboard, including its contents. When a participant joins or is added to the conversation, the added participant is also provided access to the shared clipboard and its contents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Gurdeep S. Pall, Paul W. Haverstock
  • Method of controlling virtual object or view point on two dimensional interactive display
    Patent number: 8839136
    Abstract: A method of controlling a viewpoint of a user or a virtual object on a two-dimensional (2D) interactive display is provided. The method may convert a user input to at least 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) structured data according to a number of touch points, a movement direction thereof, and a rotation direction thereof. Any one of the virtual object and the viewpoint of the user may be determined as a manipulation target based on a location of the touch point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Byung In Yoo, Chang Kyu Choi
  • Tracking device movement and captured images
    Patent number: 8839131
    Abstract: A computing device includes a memory configured to store position data and images. The computing device also includes a processor configured to execute instructions to perform a method that includes receiving position data that represents the positions of a position tracking device over a period of time. The position data includes a group of position coordinates that represent a location. The method also includes receiving images that include a group of images associated with the location. The method also includes aligning the group of position coordinates that represent the location and the group of images associated with the location. The method also includes presenting a representation of the alignment of the group of position coordinates and the group of images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander David Wallace, Nikhil Bhatt, Tim Cherna, Eric Hanson, Mark Lee Kawano
  • Displaying social networking system user information via a historical newsfeed
    Patent number: 8832560
    Abstract: The invention provides a display interface in a social networking system that enables the presentation of information related to a user in a timeline or map view. The system accesses information about a user of a social networking system, including both data about the user and social network activities related to the user. The system then selects one or more of these pieces of data and/or activities from a certain time period and gathers them into timeline units based on their relatedness and their relevance to users. These timeline units are ranked by relevance to the user, and are used to generate a timeline or map view for the user containing visual representations of the timeline units organized by location or time. The timeline or map view is then provided to other users of the social networking system that wish to view information about the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Raylene Kay Yung, Ryan Case, Jeff Huang, Samuel Lessin, Ryan David Mack, Paul M. McDonald, Serkan Piantino, Arun Vijayvergiya, Josh Wiseman, Steven Young, Mark E. Zuckerberg
  • Finding and consuming web subscriptions in a web browser
    Patent number: 8832571
    Abstract: A content syndication platform, such as a web content syndication platform, manages, organizes and makes available for consumption content that is acquired from the Internet. In at least some embodiments, the platform can acquire and organize web content, and make such content available for consumption by many different types of applications. These applications may or may not necessarily understand the particular syndication format. An application program interface (API) exposes an object model which allows applications and users to easily accomplish many different tasks such as creating, reading, updating, deleting feeds and the like. Further, in at least some embodiments, a user can subscribe to a particular web feed, be provided with a user interface that contains distinct indicia to identify new feeds, and can efficiently consume or read RSS feeds using both an RSS reader and a web browser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Amar S. Gandhi, Jane T. Kim, John H. Lueders, Sean O. Lyndersay, Warren G. Stevens, Wayne WY. Choi, William Gould, Bruce A. Morgan
  • System for creation and management of industrial automation and information solutions and services
    Patent number: 8832579
    Abstract: The innovation relates to a system and/or methodology for the creation and management of industrial automation services and design templates. In addition, it allows for users to view processes, applications, protocols, data types, and so forth as semantically intuitive graphical objects that can be dragged, dropped, and tagged to allow for combining functionalities and/or integrating disparate applications or systems through a services model. Additionally, the innovation provides a library for user management of the services and templates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: N. Andrew Weatherhead
  • Methods and systems for navigating content on a portable device
    Patent number: 8826132
    Abstract: Media players and associated methods are described that may allow a user to navigate content or other media assets. A media player or portable media device, can include features for generating and utilizing navigation information for navigating content, such as audio books. An audio book may be analyzed to determine one or more locations within the audio book that represent chapters, paragraphs, sentences, or the like. Navigation information may be generated indicative of the one or more locations that may be used by a media player or portable media device to play content in the audio book. The navigation information may include audio clips extracted from the audio book to represent the chapters and the like. In addition, a user may navigate content in response to predetermined user motions. A media player may scroll through content based on the predetermined user motions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: William Bull, Ben Rottler
  • Using visual landmarks to organize diagrams
    Patent number: 8826174
    Abstract: The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for using visual landmarks to organize diagrams. Embodiments of the invention facilitate using visual landmarks to organize elements within a diagram. Elements of a diagram can be arranged in accordance with configurable defined properties of visual landmarks to provide some degree of layout structure within the diagram. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a user experience that provides some structure but retains the flexibility of free form editing. Users can customize visual landmarks to cause the visual landmarks to exhibit desired behavior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen M. Danton, Scott Roberts, Laurent Mollicone, Jordan Sehn, Tad D. Price, David K. Peck, Yuri Rychikhin
  • Method and apparatus that display items according to a user gesture
    Patent number: 8819575
    Abstract: An item display method and apparatus that provides an easier and faster way to locate a desired item on a display. The method and apparatus receive a user gesture on display screen, and display one or both of items of a first category and items of a second category according to the user gesture. Items of the first category and items of the second category are displayed in various ways according to associated user gestures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jin Yong Kim
  • Methods and systems for displaying format properties of crop areas
    Patent number: 8819556
    Abstract: A method for cropping portions of a document comprises displaying an interactive document workspace with a cropping tool on a sub-area thereof, and rendering one or more formatting indicators spatially associated with the sub-area, the indicators indicating formatting properties of the sub-area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventor: Dimcho Balev
  • Configurable workflow editor for multimedia editing systems and methods therefor
    Patent number: 8806346
    Abstract: A distributed system and methods for web-based multimedia content (MMC) including a global media hub (GMH) server computer (500) and a multiplicity of remote media asset node (MAN) server computers (510, 520, 530, 540, 550) and client terminals (515, 525, 535, 536, 537, 545, 555) for network-based coupling to the MAN for editing the MMC; the GMH includes a processing component, memory for storage of all metadata, and includes software operable thereon for orchestrating the processes that act on the MMC and metadata, and further includes a configurable workflow editor module having a messaging events function for notifying the user of the occurrence of user-predetermined at least one trigger event(s) within workflows through the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: ITXC IP Holdings S.a.r.l.
    Inventor: Carl Hedges
  • System for use in editorial review of stored information
    Patent number: 8799791
    Abstract: A system for use in editorial review of stored information includes a web interface adapted to provide a graphical user interface to a user. A first application component is adapted to run in the web interface. The first application component includes a first user interface component adapted to present information to a user and receive editorial content related to the information from the user. A first database communication component is adapted to communicate with a database containing the stored information and editorialize the stored information in the database in response to the editorial content received from the user. A first communication component is adapted to communicate within the web interface in response to the editorial content received from the user. A second application component is adapted to run in the web interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Thomson Reuters Global Resources
    Inventors: Scott Harvey Wiemann, Timothy Matthew Dean, Richard Nicholas Dauk
  • Tool for creating customized user interface definitions for a generic utility supporting on-demand creation of field device editor graphical user interfaces
    Patent number: 8799793
    Abstract: A customization tool is described in association with a universal device type manager (DTM) utility. The customization tool includes a set of user interfaces and associated functionality that facilitates creating a set of customized templates for a particular device type. The customized templates define access to device data via graphical user interfaces supported by the universal DTM utility and/or universal BTM utility for instances of the device type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Invensys Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Scott S. Bump, Nestor J. Camino, Jr., Vladimir Kostadinov, Charles W. Piper, Richard L. Linscott, Johan I. Tegnell
  • Systems and methods for generating autoflow of content based on image and user analysis as well as use case data for a media-based printable product
    Patent number: 8799756
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a server for creating photo-based projects is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Interactive Memories, Inc.
    Inventors: Aryk Erwin Grosz, Anthony Jan Fung Lai, Dan Schultz, Denys Barushev, Anton Vladimirovich Astashov