Patents by Inventor Michael Thomas Hardy

Michael Thomas Hardy 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: 11615378
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Gerhard Dietrich Klassen
  • Patent number: 11023678
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Theodore Van Belle, Scotte Zinn, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Publication number: 20200073930
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventors: Theodore VAN BELLE, Scotte ZINN, Andrew Douglas BOCKING, Michael Thomas HARDY
  • Patent number: 10474754
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Theodore Van Belle, Scotte Zinn, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Publication number: 20180144306
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Applicant: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas HARDY, Ronald Scotte ZINN, Gerhard Dietrich KLASSEN
  • Publication number: 20180129644
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Publication date: May 10, 2018
    Inventors: Theodore VAN BELLE, Ronald Scotte ZINN, Andrew Douglas BOCKING, Michael Thomas HARDY
  • Patent number: 9892381
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, R. Scotte Zinn, Gerhard Klassen
  • Patent number: 9805341
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system, method, and user interface for searching for messages with attachments on mobile devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a messaging application is programmed such that, in operation, a user is presented with a search screen in which the user may define search parameters for a search. A search parameter associated with an option to search for messages of a specified type is provided, and more specifically, an option to search for messages (e.g. electronic mail messages) having one or more attachments is made available to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Andrew Douglas Bocking
  • Patent number: 9721234
    Abstract: An event providing apparatus includes a storage device in communicating with a date/time detector module. The detector module detects a condition that at least a portion of information stored on the storage device could be mapped to an event, identifies date and time entries in the information, and generates a hyperlink to open an application for creating an event for each entry, the date and time being provided to the application to generate the event directly from the information. The apparatus also includes a display for displaying the time and date in the form of the hyperlink; and a prompter module communicating with the detector module for automatically providing a prompt related to the event in response to selection of the hyperlink. In response to user interaction with the user prompt, the application is started and the event based on the hyperlinked date and time is created.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: David Noel Vanden Heuvel, Darrell Reginald May, Michael Thomas Hardy, Lap Luu
  • Patent number: 9594916
    Abstract: A method and devices for providing secure data backup from a mobile communication device to an external computing device is described. In one embodiment, there is provided a method of backing up data from a mobile communication device, the method comprising: receiving from an enterprise server an information technology (IT) policy message which includes an encryption key; storing the encryption key in a protected memory of the mobile communication device; receiving a request to backup data stored on the mobile communication device; encrypting the data using the encryption key stored in the protected memory; and transferring the encrypted data from the mobile communication device to an electronic device for storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Kenneth Brown, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Scott William Totzke, David Francis Tapuska, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Maxime Matton, Michael Thomas Hardy, George Dos Santos, Christopher James Runstedler
  • Patent number: 9471199
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for modifying notification settings on a mobile electronic device is provided, the mobile electronic device comprising a processing unit, a display, a memory, an input device, and at least one notification device. It is determined that the at least one notification device has been activated using a given notification setting. A menu list is responsively changed to include a notification setting change option, the menu list associated with the input device and stored in the memory, such that when the input device is activated, the display is controlled by the processing unit to provide a representation of the menu list such that the notification setting option can be selected and the given notification setting changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    Inventors: Raymond Paul Vander Veen, David Paul Yach, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Patent number: 9380167
    Abstract: A data transmission cap represents a maximum amount of data that can be transmitted to and/or from a communication device during a subscriber billing cycle without incurring a penalty under a subscriber rate plan. To limit data transmission to and/or from the communication device as the data transmission cap is approached, a graphical user interface (GUI) is displayed. The GUI includes one or more GUI controls for selecting a data transmission limiting tactic from a plurality of distinct data transmission limiting tactics and for specifying a data transmission threshold at which the selected tactic is to take effect, the threshold being below the operative cap. Upon user interaction with the GUI control(s), user input indicating the selected data transmission tactic and specified data transmission threshold is received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Christopher James Runstedler, Michael Thomas Hardy, Rohit Rocky Jain, Aaron David Scriver
  • Publication number: 20160148169
    Abstract: An event providing apparatus includes a storage device in communicating with a date/time detector module. The detector module detects a condition that at least a portion of information stored on the storage device could be mapped to an event, identifies date and time entries in the information, and generates a hyperlink to open an application for creating an event for each entry, the date and time being provided to the application to generate the event directly from the information. The apparatus also includes a display for displaying the time and date in the form of the hyperlink; and a prompter module communicating with the detector module for automatically providing a prompt related to the event in response to selection of the hyperlink. In response to user interaction with the user prompt, the application is started and the event based on the hyperlinked date and time is created.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Publication date: May 26, 2016
    Inventors: David Noel VANDEN HEUVEL, Darrell Reginald MAY, Michael Thomas HARDY, Lap LUU
  • Patent number: 9344394
    Abstract: To perform thread-based message prioritization, metadata may be extracted from a received electronic message. Based on the extracted message metadata and accumulated metadata extracted from previously received messages, a message thread to which the received electronic message belongs may be identified. Based on a set of thread priority assessment criteria, a priority level for the message thread may be determined. At least part of the message thread may be processed according to the priority level. The processing may be altering a notification behavior of an electronic messaging client for electronic messages of the message thread. Thread priority assessment may be based on user-configurable criteria that may be set via a graphical user interface. Message thread identification may also be based on user-configurable criteria that may be set via a graphical user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Piotr Konrad Tysowski, Atif Khan
  • Patent number: 9344388
    Abstract: This relates to a method for operating a mobile station. The method includes grouping two or more member addresses into a group. The group is presented as a group data in a transient data list. A selection of an option to open a messaging session with the group is selected. A messaging session is opened, with the member addresses of the selected group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Craig A. Dunk, Gerhard Dietrich Klassen
  • Publication number: 20160098974
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling a display of a portable electronic device are provided. The method comprises generating a screen comprising a list on the display. The list comprises one or more row elements, with each row element comprising one or more column sub-elements. At least a portion of one of the column sub-elements of at least one of the row elements is truncated. Upon selection of a row element, the screen is enabled for scrolling of that row element. Enabling scrolling comprises loading the truncated portion of the selected row element into a pre-buffer. The method further comprises receiving a scrolling input, and updating the screen on the display to scroll the row element, bringing the truncated portion into view. The selected row is scrolled while maintaining the series of column sub-elements in the row without reference to other rows.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Publication date: April 7, 2016
    Inventors: Brian GROUX, Aaron David SCRIVER, Michael Thomas HARDY
  • Publication number: 20150248562
    Abstract: A method and devices for providing secure data backup from a mobile communication device to an external computing device is described. In one embodiment, there is provided a method of backing up data from a mobile communication device, the method comprising: receiving from an enterprise server an information technology (IT) policy message which includes an encryption key; storing the encryption key in a protected memory of the mobile communication device; receiving a request to backup data stored on the mobile communication device; encrypting the data using the encryption key stored in the protected memory; and transferring the encrypted data from the mobile communication device to an electronic device for storage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Publication date: September 3, 2015
    Applicant: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Kenneth Brown, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Scott William Totzke, David Francis Tapuska, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Maxine Matton, Michael Thomas Hardy, George Dos Santos, Christopher James Runstedler
  • Patent number: 9088878
    Abstract: A technique for use in communicating data messages to a mobile device with use of a host service in a communication system is described. The host service connects with a service node for establishing and maintaining an IP connection between the host service and the service node. The host service receives a data message for the mobile device, and determines whether the mobile device is logged on. In response to determining that the mobile device is logged on, the host service sends the data message to the mobile device without aid of the service node. Otherwise, the host service creates an enable message which identifies the mobile device and includes a subset of the data message, and sends it to the service node over the IP connection for subsequent forwarding to the mobile device in a wireless network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Blackberry Limited
    Inventors: David P. Yach, Gary P. Mousseau, David Clark, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Michael Thomas Hardy, Nataliya Martsyna
  • Patent number: 9059947
    Abstract: A device and method for displaying received messages, such as email, SMS, IM, multimedia, and voicemail, are provided. Each of a plurality of received messages, initially unread, is associated with a value. The device concurrently displays a first message listing and a second message listing, the first message listing comprising entries for messages of the plurality of received messages associated with a value meeting a specified threshold, and the second message listing comprising entries for other messages of the plurality of received messages. When a message associated with a value meeting the specified threshold and having an entry in the first message listing is marked read, the displayed message listings are updated to remove the entry for the message from the first message listing and to include an entry for the message in the second message listing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Blackberry Limited
    Inventors: Piotr Konrad Tysowski, Michael Thomas Hardy, Atif Khan
  • Patent number: 9053330
    Abstract: A method and devices for providing secure data backup from a mobile communication device to an external computing device is described. In one embodiment, there is provided a method of backing up data from a mobile communication device to an external computing device, the mobile communication device being in communication with the external computing device, the method includes: receiving a request to backup one or more data items stored on the mobile communication device; encrypting a data item using an encryption key stored in a protected memory of the mobile communication device; and transferring the encrypted data item to the external computing device for storage by the external computing device. A method of restoring backup data to a mobile communication device from an external computing device is also provided, as are mobile communication devices and computing devices configured for implementing the backup and restore operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Kenneth Brown, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Scott William Totzke, David Francis Tapuska, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Maxime Matton, Michael Thomas Hardy, George Dos Santos, Christopher James Runstedler