Patents by Inventor J. Robert Ure

J. Robert Ure 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).

  • Apparatus and method to allow a user a trial period before licensing a software program product
    Patent number: 5771347
    Abstract: A method is provided to permit copies of software products to be installed on systems, with a predetermined delay before commencement of a designated test period. The predetermined delay provides for a cumulative elapsed time, beginning with the installation of the software product to be evaluated during the designated test period, to allow for miscellaneous starts of the computer system prior to productive use for the purpose of evaluation during the user trial period. The miscellaneous starts may be associated with software product installation procedures during preload activities, attachment of devices and/or adapters to tailor the system to a particular user configuration, or to otherwise "boot" or check the system prior to productive use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corp.
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Grantz, J. Robert Ure
  • Method and apparatus for providing a trial period for a software license product using a date stamp and designated test period
    Patent number: 5564038
    Abstract: A method is provided to permit copies of software products to be installed on systems, with a predetermined delay before commencement of a designated test period. The predetermined delay provides for a cumulative elapsed time, beginning with the installation of the software product to be evaluated during the designated test period, to allow for miscellaneous starts of the computer system prior to productive use for the purpose of evaluation during the user trial period. The miscellaneous starts may be associated with software product installation procedures during preload activities, attachment of devices and/or adapters to tailor the system to a particular user configuration, or to otherwise "boot" or check the system prior to productive use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1996
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Grantz, J. Robert Ure
  • Fail-safe computer boot apparatus and method
    Patent number: 5564054
    Abstract: Login files necessary to successfully boot a computer and corresponding to a preselected, minimal system configuration are stored in a predetermined location in a selected non-volatile mass storage device attached to the computer. These latter login files are not configurable by the user. During a boot process, the boot program first attempts to boot the system using the conventional user-configured login files. However, after a predetermined number of attempts to boot the system using the user-configured files, the boot process switches to the minimal system files and boots the system using these files.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1996
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Arnold H. Bramnick, Douglas G. Elkins, J. Robert Ure