Patents by Inventor Brian L. Cairns

Brian L. Cairns 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).

  • Inferring that a message has been read
    Patent number: 8555156
    Abstract: A technique for inferring whether a message has been read includes the following: identifying at least part of a message that is in a viewport of a computing device, determining a value that is based on the at least part of the message, comparing the value to a threshold, tracking an amount of time that the at least part of the message is in the viewport if the value meets or exceeds the threshold, and inferring whether the message has been read based on the amount of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventor: Brian L. Cairns
  • INFERRING THAT A MESSAGE HAS BEEN READ
    Publication number: 20120042267
    Abstract: A technique for inferring whether a message has been read includes the following: identifying at least part of a message that is in a viewport of a computing device, determining a value that is based on the at least part of the message, comparing the value to a threshold, tracking an amount of time that the at least part of the message is in the viewport if the value meets or exceeds the threshold, and inferring whether the message has been read based on the amount of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2010
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Inventor: Brian L. Cairns