Patents by Inventor Brendan D. Elliott

Brendan D. Elliott has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10372412
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to enabling force-based interactions with an intelligent personal assistant (IPA). A computing device capable of sensing the force exerted to input touch inputs is configured with a pressure-based filter that checks pressures of touch inputs to determine which touch inputs are to be diverted to the IPA or which are to be passed on to underlying user interface that is not related to the IPA. Touch inputs designated for the IPA based on their pressure characteristics can become part of the context of the IPA. Some IPA uses of the touch inputs include selecting graphic objects on the display, resolving exophoric phrases (e.g., “that”, “those”) as referring to such selected graphic objects, displaying transient user interface to provide information about (or actions for) the selected object, incorporating a selected object into the current context of the IPA, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christian Klein, Callil R. Capuozzo, Brendan D. Elliott, Christopher M. Barth, Otso Joona Casimir Tuomi, Shuo Shen
  • Patent number: 10346478
    Abstract: A search term suggestion engine of a computing device receives characters of user data as the characters are input. The user data is at least part of a search term to be provided to one of multiple applications to search for the search term. An indication of multiple suggestion sources is received from the one application, and one or more suggested search terms are obtained, from the multiple suggestion sources, based on the received characters. One or more suggested search terms can also be obtained from the multiple suggestion sources based on one or more linguistic alternatives for the received characters. The one or more suggested search terms are combined into a combined set of suggested search terms, and the combined set of suggested search terms is returned to a search user interface for presentation to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Derek S. Gebhard, Marc Wautier, Manav Mishra, Edward Boyle Averett, Brendan D. Elliott, David J. G. Wood, Philip P. Fortier, Andrei T. Aron, Vivekanandan Elangovan, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan, Octavio Alfredo Cruz Sanchez, Priya Vaidyanathan
  • Publication number: 20180113672
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to enabling force-based interactions with an intelligent personal assistant (IPA). A computing device capable of sensing the force exerted to input touch inputs is configured with a pressure-based filter that checks pressures of touch inputs to determine which touch inputs are to be diverted to the IPA or which are to be passed on to underlying user interface that is not related to the IPA. Touch inputs designated for the IPA based on their pressure characteristics can become part of the context of the IPA. Some IPA uses of the touch inputs include selecting graphic objects on the display, resolving exophoric phrases (e.g., “that”, “those”) as referring to such selected graphic objects, displaying transient user interface to provide information about (or actions for) the selected object, incorporating a selected object into the current context of the IPA, etc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2016
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Inventors: Christian Klein, Callil R. Capuozzo, Brendan D. Elliott, Christopher M. Barth, Otso Joona Casimir Tuomi, Shuo Shen
  • Patent number: 9563675
    Abstract: In embodiments of identifying search matches and altered search results, a query is received from a device application, and a data search is initiated based on the query that specifies search terms. A search result set of search result items is then received, and properties of a search result item are correlated with the search result item, where the properties indicate why the search result item was returned as part of the search result set. Search terms of the query are also associated with respective properties of the search result item to indicate a correspondence of a search term with a property of the search result item. The search result set of the search result items can then be returned to the device application along with the properties of each search result item and the associated search terms of the query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Roger H. Wynn, Brendan D. Elliott, Wenjun Wang, Yadriel Gonzalez Perez, Sivaramakrishna Mopati, Jonathan Gordner
  • Patent number: 9557909
    Abstract: Semantic zoom techniques are described. In one or more implementations, techniques are described that may be utilized by a user to navigate to content of interest. These techniques may also include a variety of different features, such as to support semantic swaps and zooming “in” and “out.” These techniques may also include a variety of different input features, such as to support gestures, cursor-control device, and keyboard inputs. A variety of other features are also supported as further described in the detailed description and figures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Brendan D. Elliott, Marc Wautier, Michael S. Kaplan, Kwong K. Leung
  • Patent number: 9037565
    Abstract: A system level search user interface that includes both a data entry portion and an application identification portion is displayed. User data input as a search term is displayed in the data entry portion, and identifiers of each of one or more applications of multiple applications on the computing device that can be searched using the search term are displayed in the application identification portion. The search term is provided to one application of the multiple applications for that one application to generate and display search results based on the search term while the display of at least the data entry portion of the system level search user interface is maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Priya Vaidyanathan, Stephanie M. Monk, Brandon H. Paddock, Richard Jacob White, Edward Boyle Averett, Rolf A. Ebeling, Michael J. Gilmore, Manav Mishra, Jesse Clay Satterfield, Marc Wautier, Dona Sarkar, Brendan D. Elliott, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan
  • Publication number: 20130304757
    Abstract: A search term suggestion engine of a computing device receives characters of user data as the characters are input. The user data is at least part of a search term to be provided to one of multiple applications to search for the search term. An indication of multiple suggestion sources is received from the one application, and one or more suggested search terms are obtained, from the multiple suggestion sources, based on the received characters. One or more suggested search terms can also be obtained from the multiple suggestion sources based on one or more linguistic alternatives for the received characters. The one or more suggested search terms are combined into a combined set of suggested search terms, and the combined set of suggested search terms is returned to a search user interface for presentation to the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2013
    Publication date: November 14, 2013
    Inventors: Derek S. Gebhard, Marc Wautier, Manav Mishra, Edward Boyle Averett, Brendan D. Elliott, David J. G. Wood, Philip P. Fortier, Andrei T. Aron, Vivekanandan Elangovan, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan, Octavio Alfredo Cruz Sanchez, Priya Vaidyanathan
  • Patent number: 8515984
    Abstract: A search term suggestion engine of a computing device receives characters of user data as the characters are input. The user data is at least part of a search term to be provided to one of multiple applications to search for the search term. An indication of multiple suggestion sources is received from the one application, and one or more suggested search terms are obtained, from the multiple suggestion sources, based on the received characters. One or more suggested search terms can also be obtained from the multiple suggestion sources based on one or more linguistic alternatives for the received characters. The one or more suggested search terms are combined into a combined set of suggested search terms, and the combined set of suggested search terms is returned to a search user interface for presentation to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Derek S. Gebhard, Marc Wautier, Manav Mishra, Edward Boyle Averett, Brendan D. Elliott, David J. G. Wood, Philip P. Fortier, Andrei T. Aron, Vivekanandan Elangovan, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan, Octavio Alfredo Cruz Sanchez, Priya Vaidyanathan
  • Publication number: 20130067399
    Abstract: Semantic zoom techniques are described. In one or more implementations, techniques are described that may be utilized by a user to navigate to content of interest. These techniques may also include a variety of different features, such as to support semantic swaps and zooming “in” and “out.” These techniques may also include a variety of different input features, such as to support gestures, cursor-control device, and keyboard inputs. A variety of other features are also supported as further described in the detailed description and figures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2011
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Inventors: Brendan D. Elliott, Marc Wautier, Michael S. Kaplan, Kwong K. Leung
  • Publication number: 20120124072
    Abstract: A system level search user interface that includes both a data entry portion and an application identification portion is displayed. User data input as a search term is displayed in the data entry portion, and identifiers of each of one or more applications of multiple applications on the computing device that can be searched using the search term are displayed in the application identification portion. The search term is provided to one application of the multiple applications for that one application to generate and display search results based on the search term while the display of at least the data entry portion of the system level search user interface is maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2010
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Priya Vaidyanathan, Stephanie M. Monk, Brandon H. Paddock, Richard Jacob White, Edward Boyle Averett, Rolf A. Ebeling, Michael J. Gilmore, Manav Mishra, Jesse Clay Satterfield, Marc Wautier, Dona Sarkar, Brendan D. Elliott, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan
  • Publication number: 20120124071
    Abstract: A search term suggestion engine of a computing device receives characters of user data as the characters are input. The user data is at least part of a search term to be provided to one of multiple applications to search for the search term. An indication of multiple suggestion sources is received from the one application, and one or more suggested search terms are obtained, from the multiple suggestion sources, based on the received characters. One or more suggested search terms can also be obtained from the multiple suggestion sources based on one or more linguistic alternatives for the received characters. The one or more suggested search terms are combined into a combined set of suggested search terms, and the combined set of suggested search terms is returned to a search user interface for presentation to the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2010
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Derek S. Gebhard, Marc Wautier, Manav Mishra, Edward Boyle Averett, Brendan D. Elliott, David J. G. Wood, Philip P. Fortier, Andrei T. Aron, Vivekanandan Elangovan, Kwong K. Leung, Arun Gurunathan, Octavio Alfredo Cruz Sanchez, Priya Vaidyanathan