Patents by Inventor Christopher A. Meek

Christopher A. Meek 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).

  • Publication number: 20240074539
    Abstract: A footwear article includes (a) an upper having a tongue opening at a front thereof; (b) a gusseted tongue including a tongue panel positioned over the tongue opening and a pair of gussets attaching laterally opposite sides of the tongue panel to the upper; (c) a pair of tongue fasteners configured to selectively fasten and unfasten corresponding sides of the tongue panel to and from the upper; (d) a first lacing system on the upper and arranged for guiding lacing over the gusseted tongue and tongue fasteners when the sides of the tongue are fastened to the upper; and (e) a second lacing system on the tongue panel and arranged for guiding the lacing across the tongue panel clear of the tongue fasteners when the sides of the tongue panel are unfastened from the upper.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Inventors: Christopher Anderson, Adam Meek, Oliver Saunders, Michael Edward Blackford
  • Patent number: 11921812
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed toward systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for providing a creativity web browser for content creation that integrates features of a content management system with internet browsing capabilities. Specifically, the disclosed systems provide a creativity web browser that includes specialized interface elements for restructuring web browsing to focus on content-related context, including a digital canvas, a content collection pane, an x-ray pane, and other elements. The disclosed systems can provide access to browsing across multiple systems or platforms, such as internet locations and/or locations within a content management system, within an integrated web browsing environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
    Inventors: Devin Mancuso, Christopher Meeks, Benjamin Joseph Calabrese
  • Publication number: 20230376557
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed toward systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for providing a creativity web browser for content creation that integrates features of a content management system with internet browsing capabilities. Specifically, the disclosed systems provide a creativity web browser that includes specialized interface elements for restructuring web browsing to focus on content-related context, including a digital canvas, a content collection pane, an x-ray pane, and other elements. The disclosed systems can provide access to browsing across multiple systems or platforms, such as internet locations and/or locations within a content management system, within an integrated web browsing environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2022
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Inventors: Devin Mancuso, Christopher Meeks, Benjamin Joseph Calabrese
  • Publication number: 20230092628
    Abstract: A system for allowing product managers and software engineers to search for existing software modules that meet desired parameters and to identify opportunities to develop new software modules is provided. When product developer creates a software component they assign combinations of tags to the software component in a predetermined format and structure that describes features of the component such as the entity that would use the component, actions that are performed by the component, objects used by the component, and desired outcomes of the component. These tags are associated with the software component in the system. Later, when a developer has a need or idea for a particular component, the developer uses the system to construct a sentence that describes the features of the component as described above. The system then identifies any existing components that match or are close matches to the described component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2021
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Inventors: Christopher Meeks, Richard Andrew Starbuck
  • Patent number: 10749280
    Abstract: The grounding clamp system is for use with an electrically insulated pole and for attachment to an electrical conductor in angled configurations. The grounding clamp system includes a clamping mechanism having an actuatable clamp and an associated ground conductor connector. An attachment coupler is configured to attach to the electrically insulated pole, and an angular adjustment mechanism is coupled between the clamping mechanism and the attachment coupler. The adjustment mechanism is configured to provide angular adjustment between the clamping mechanism and the attachment coupler in at least one axis while also transferring force to actuate the actuatable clamp when attaching the clamping mechanism to the electrical conductor at a selected angular position. The clamping mechanism is configured to create a path to pass ground fault current from the electrical conductor to a ground conductor coupled to the ground conductor connector without including the angular adjustment mechanism in the path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Inventors: Mark Oostdyk, Bradley Dunst, Christopher Meeks
  • Publication number: 20200106196
    Abstract: The grounding damp system is for use with an electrically insulated pole and for attachment to an electrical conductor in angled configurations. The grounding clamp system includes a damping mechanism having an actuatable damp and an associated ground conductor connector. An attachment coupler is configured to attach to the electrically insulated pole, and an angular adjustment mechanism is coupled between the clamping mechanism and the attachment coupler. The adjustment mechanism is configured to provide angular adjustment between the clamping mechanism and the attachment coupler in at least one axis while also transferring force to actuate the actuatable damp when attaching the clamping mechanism to the electrical conductor at a selected angular position. The damping mechanism is configured to create a path to pass ground fault current from the electrical conductor to a ground conductor coupled to the ground conductor connector without including the angular adjustment mechanism in the path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Publication date: April 2, 2020
    Applicant: KAM Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Oostdyk, Bradley Dunst, Christopher Meeks
  • Patent number: 10482482
    Abstract: A training system is described herein for generating a prediction model that relies on a feature space with reduced dimensionality. The training system performs this task by producing partitions, each of which corresponds to a subset of aspect values (where each aspect value, in turn, may correspond to one or more attribute values). The training system then produces instances of statistical information associated with the partitions. Each instance of statistical information therefore corresponds to feature information that applies to a plurality of aspect values, rather than a single aspect value. The training system then trains the prediction model based on the feature information. Also described herein is a prediction module that uses the prediction model to make predictions in various online contexts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Mikhail Bilenko, Ran Gilad-Bachrach, Christopher A. Meek, Mikhail Royzner
  • Patent number: 10262272
    Abstract: Technologies are described herein for active machine learning. An active machine learning method can include initiating active machine learning through an active machine learning system configured to train an auxiliary machine learning model to produce at least one new labeled observation, refining a capacity of a target machine learning model based on the active machine learning, and retraining the auxiliary machine learning model with the at least one new labeled observation subsequent to refining the capacity of the target machine learning model. Additionally, the target machine learning model is a limited-capacity machine learning model according to the description provided herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: David Maxwell Chickering, Christopher A. Meek, Patrice Y. Simard, Rishabh Krishnan Iyer
  • Patent number: 9652614
    Abstract: Technologies for an application reputation service to assist users with minimizing their computerized machines' exposure to and infection from malware, including an application reputation service that contains the reputations for elements (e.g., applications) that are known to be non-malicious as well as those known to be malicious. In one example, when a user attempts to install or execute a new application, the service is queried by the user's machine with a set of identities for the element. The service determines the reputation of the application by referencing a knowledge base of known reputations and returns an indication (e.g., an overall rating, or a flag) of how safe that application would be to install and run on the user's computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Geoff Hulten, Paul Steve Rehfuss, Ron Franczyk, Christopher A. Meek, John Scarrow, Andrew Newman
  • Patent number: 9539794
    Abstract: The present application concerns a coated film comprising a substantially biodegradable substrate having a biodegradable coating thereon at a coat weight of not more than 12 gsm, as well as useful articles sealed inside a package at least partly comprising such a film, and also a process for producing a coated film comprising providing a substantially biodegradable film substrate and applying a biodegradable coating to the substrate at a coat weight of less than 12 gsm by means of a hot melt coating step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: INNOVIA FILMS LIMITED
    Inventors: Stephen Moore, Leo Frohlich, Paul Barker, Florian Chapalain, Lucy Cowton, Christopher Meek, Jonathan Hewitt
  • Patent number: 9508040
    Abstract: Systems and methods of pre-launching applications in a computer system, said applications being likely to be activated by a user from a terminated and/or suspended process state, are disclosed. The pre-launching of an application may be based on the assessed probability of the application being activated—as well as the level of availability of system resources to affect such pre-launching. Applications may be pre-launched based on these and other conditions/considerations, designed to improve the user's experience of a quick launch of applications in the background. Several prediction models are presented to provide a good estimate of the likelihood of an application being activated by a user. Such prediction models may comprise an adaptive predictor (based on past application usage situations) and/or a switch rate predictor (based on historic data of an application being switched and, possibly, having a decay rate applied to such switch rate measure).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Ahmad Bilal, Mehmet Iyigun, Milos Kralj, Christopher Kleynhans, Hari Pulapaka, Arun Kishan, Asela Gunawardana, Paul Koch, Christopher Meek, Eric Horvitz, Rich Caruana, Michael Fortin
  • Patent number: 9396269
    Abstract: Architecture that monitors interaction data (e.g., search queries, query results and click-through rates), and provides users with links to other users that fall into similar categories with respect to the foregoing monitored activities (e.g., providing links to individuals and groups that share common interests and/or profiles). A search engine can be interactively coupled with one or more social networks, and that maps individuals and/or groups within respective social networks to subsets of categories associated with searches. A database stores mapped information which can be continuously updated and reorganized as links within the system mapping become stronger or weaker. The architecture can comprise a social network system that includes a database for mapping search-related information to an entity of a social network, and a search component for processing a search query for search results and returning a link to an entity of a social network based on the search query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher A. Meek, Eric J. Horvitz, Joshua T. Goodman, Gary W. Flake, Oliver Hurst-Hiller, Anoop Gupta, Ramez Naam, Kenneth A. Moss, William H. Gates, III, John C. Platt, Trenholme J. Griffin, Bradly A. Brunell
  • Publication number: 20160162802
    Abstract: Technologies are described herein for active machine learning. An active machine learning method can include initiating active machine learning through an active machine learning system configured to train an auxiliary machine learning model to produce at least one new labeled observation, refining a capacity of a target machine learning model based on the active machine learning, and retraining the auxiliary machine learning model with the at least one new labeled observation subsequent to refining the capacity of the target machine learning model. Additionally, the target machine learning model is a limited-capacity machine learning model according to the description provided herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2014
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: David Maxwell Chickering, Christopher A. Meek, Patrice Y. Simard, Rishabh Krishnan Iyer
  • Patent number: 9283476
    Abstract: Systems and methods allow an on-line game to extract information relevant to a specific need of a game platform or service platform. The specific need relates to management and use of digital content, and is addressed by designing and playing an on-line collaborative game. The rules of the game intend to solve a specific task dictated by the specific need. Players' responses to the game generate a wealth of information related to a specific task objective, such as ranking, sorting, and evaluating a set of digital content items. To compel participation in a game, players can be rewarded with monetary value rewards. As a game illustration, an image selection game (ISG) that exploits human contextual inference is described in detail. The information extracted from ISG is a list of key-image associations, relevant for the task of image sorting and ranking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Anton Mityagin, Aparna Lakshmiratan, Asela J. Gunawardana, Christopher A. Meek, David M. Chickering, Paul N. Bennett, Timothy S. Paek
  • Publication number: 20160014104
    Abstract: A system is described for allowing a user, operating a trusted device, to remotely log into a server via a potentially untrustworthy client. A first secure connection is established between the client and the server. A second secure connection is established between the device and the server through the client. The user then remotely logs into the server over the second secure connection using the device. The second secure connection is tunneled within the first secure connection, preventing the untrustworthy client from discovering personal information associated with the user. According to one feature, prior to forming the second secure connection, the user establishes a pairing relationship with the client by reading an address of the client using a reading mechanism. According to another feature, the device can receive marketing information in the course of a transaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2015
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Inventors: Carlos Garcia Jurado Suarez, Curtis N. von Veh, Darko Kirovski, Christopher A. Meek
  • Patent number: 9183173
    Abstract: Described is a technology for measuring the similarity between two objects (e.g., documents), via a framework that learns the term-weighting function from training data, e.g., labeled pairs of objects, to develop a learned model. A learning procedure tunes the model parameters by minimizing a defined loss function of the similarity score. Also described is using the learning procedure and learned model to detect near duplicate documents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Wen-tau Yih, Christopher A. Meek, Hannaneh Hajishirzi
  • Patent number: 9141704
    Abstract: Architecture that monitors interaction data (e.g., search queries, query results and click-through rates), and provides users with links to other users that fall into similar categories with respect to the foregoing monitored activities (e.g., providing links to individuals and groups that share common interests and/or profiles). A search engine can be interactively coupled with one or more social networks, and that maps individuals and/or groups within respective social networks to subsets of categories associated with searches. A database stores mapped information which can be continuously updated and reorganized as links within the system mapping become stronger or weaker. The architecture can comprise a social network system that includes a database for mapping search-related information to an entity of a social network, and a search component for processing a search query for search results and returning a link to an entity of a social network based on the search query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher A. Meek, Eric J. Horvitz, Joshua T. Goodman, Gary W. Flake, Oliver Hurst-Hiller, Anoop Gupta, Ramez Naam, Kenneth A. Moss, William H. Gates, III, John C. Platt, Trenholme J. Griffin, Bradly A. Brunell
  • Publication number: 20150161365
    Abstract: Human Interaction Proofs (“HIPs”, sometimes referred to as “captchas”), may be generated automatically. An captcha specification language may be defined, which allows a captcha scheme to be defined in terms of how symbols are to be chosen and drawn, and how those symbols are obscured. The language may provide mechanisms to specify the various ways in which to obscure symbols. New captcha schemes may be generated from existing specifications, by using genetic algorithms that combine features from existing captcha schemes that have been successful. Moreover, the likelihood that a captcha scheme has been broken by attackers may be estimated by collecting data on the time that it takes existing captcha schemes to be broken, and using regression to estimate the time to breakage as a function of either the captcha's features or its measured quality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2015
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Inventors: Geoffrey J. Hulten, Patrice Y. Simard, Darko Kirovski, Jesper B. Lind, Christopher A. Meek
  • Patent number: 9047560
    Abstract: A method of generating a decision graph from event stream data, wherein the event stream data includes a plurality of events, and each event includes an associated time stamp, includes generating decision nodes for the graph, wherein the decision nodes each comprise a question having a temporal element. The method includes generating leaf nodes for the graph, wherein the leaf nodes each comprise a rate parameter, and iteratively splitting and merging nodes in the graph in order to maximize a measure of purity of outcomes in resulting nodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Asela Jeevaka Ranaweera Gunawardana, Christopher A. Meek, Puyang Xu
  • Patent number: 8996515
    Abstract: Two methods for measuring keyword-document relevance are described. The methods receive a keyword and a document as input and output a probability value for the keyword. The first method is a similarity-based approach which uses techniques for measuring similarity between two short-text segments to measure relevance between the keyword and the document. The second method is a regression-based approach based on an assumption that if an out-of-document phrase (the keyword) is semantically similar to an in-document phrase, then relevance scores of the in and out-of document phrases should be close to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Wen-tau Yih, Christopher A. Meek