Patents by Inventor Colin J. Needham

Colin J. Needham 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).

  • Flexible rule-based infrastructure for discussion board maintenance
    Patent number: 7840576
    Abstract: Generally described, a method and system for providing a flexible rule-based infrastructure for a self-policing discussion board is provided. More specifically, a method and system is provided for processing reports for messages posted in a discussion board and determining whether each report is accurate based on predetermined criteria. The predetermined criteria are defined by a set of report handling rules which evolve over time by learning from previously processed activity reports. The set of report handling rules also defines an appropriate action to take with regards to an accused message as response to the report when the predetermined criteria are satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: IMDb.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Hilliard B. Siegel, Colin J. Needham
  • Flexible rule-based infrastructure for discussion board maintenance
    Patent number: 7720853
    Abstract: Generally described, a method and system for providing a flexible rule-based infrastructure for a self-policing discussion board is provided. More specifically, a method and system is provided for processing reports for messages posted in a discussion board and determining whether each report is accurate based on predetermined criteria. The predetermined criteria are defined by a set of report handling rules which evolve over time by learning from previously processed activity reports. The set of report handling rules also defines an appropriate action to take with regards to an accused message as response to the report when the predetermined criteria are satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: IMDb.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Hilliard B. Siegel, Colin J. Needham