Patents by Inventor John C. Lidington

John C. Lidington 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).

  • Enhanced apparatus and methods for retrieving and selecting profiled textural information records from a database of defined category structures
    Patent number: 5537586
    Abstract: A method for extracting a preferred set of textual records from a database includes the following features. Priority values are assigned to each of a plurality of predefined category structures. Textual records are assigned a relevance value with respect to each category structure. If a record's relevance value exceeds a predetermined threshold value, that record is associated with the category structure. Each category has a list of associated textual records which are retrieved. Textual records are selected from the set of retrieved textual records and assembled into a set. Information on how the subscriber uses the set is gathered, and new rankings for the category structure are computed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 16, 1996
    Assignee: Individual, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph A. Amram, Jacques Bouvard, James E. Leightheiser, John C. Lidington, Majed G. Tomeh, Harry C. Wu