Patents by Inventor Thomas W. Lear

Thomas W. Lear 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).

  • Direct distance dialing (DDD) access to a communication services platform
    Patent number: 6493438
    Abstract: Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) access is provided for a communications services platform. A caller may dial a local DDD number or a long distance DDD number to access the communications services platform. A platform may provide a plurality of different communications services, including voicemail services, paging services, automatic routing services, and facsimile messaging services. Expenses associated with servicing the call are partitioned between a caller and a subscriber of the communications services platform in an intuitive and reasonable fashion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: WorldCom, Inc.
    Inventors: Karen A. Gross, Thomas W. Lear, Eddie L. Pickeral
  • Direct distance dialing (DDD) access to a communications services platform
    Patent number: 6018575
    Abstract: Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) access is provided for a communications services platform. A caller may dial a local DDD number or a long distance DDD number to access the communications services platform. A platform may provide a plurality of different communications services, including voicemail services, paging services, automatic routing services, and facsimile messaging services. Expenses associated with servicing the call are partitioned between a caller and a subscriber of the communications services platform in an intuitive and reasonable fashion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: MCI WorldCom
    Inventors: Karen A. Gross, Eddie L. Pickeral, Thomas W. Lear