Patents by Inventor Eric Wels

Eric Wels 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: 8311737
    Abstract: Automatic map generation is enabled by assigning priorities to each city in a list of cities under consideration for display on a map. A mapping engine determines a reference count for each city, indicating how frequently the city appears in one or more corpora of documents. Based on the reference count, and optionally upon other data such as population and political importance, a priority score is assigned to each city. Each city is then assigned to one of a plurality of categories according to the city's priority score. A map is then generated including cities from a specified highest number of categories. In one embodiment, cities from a higher-scored category are presented in a more significant way, e.g., in capital letters, bold type, etc., than are those in the next-highest scored category.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: deCarta Inc.
    Inventors: Richard F. Poppen, Eric Wels, David Hunkins
  • Publication number: 20060229802
    Abstract: A user interface for use in a vehicle navigation and traffic information device. Various adaptable menu commands and intuitive UI elements are provided to ease user navigation of the interface and to minimize driver distraction while providing information in an optimized manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2005
    Publication date: October 12, 2006
    Inventors: Laurie Vertelney, Daniel Kohn, Steve Wollenberg, Brian Smartt, Paul Lima, Eric Wels
  • Publication number: 20060041376
    Abstract: Automatic map generation is enabled by assigning priorities to each city in a list of cities under consideration for display on a map. A mapping engine determines a reference count for each city, indicating how frequently the city appears in one or more corpora of documents. Based on the reference count, and optionally upon other data such as population and political importance, a priority score is assigned to each city. Each city is then assigned to one of a plurality of categories according to the city's priority score. A map is then generated including cities from a specified highest number of categories. In one embodiment, cities from a higher-scored category are presented in a more significant way, e.g., in capital letters, bold type, etc., than are those in the next-highest scored category.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2005
    Publication date: February 23, 2006
    Inventors: Richard Poppen, Eric Wels, David Hunkins