Patents by Inventor Walter D. Pullen

Walter D. Pullen 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: 7894630
    Abstract: A tamper-resistant text stream watermarking system is provided. Content such as any text-based document including programming code is encoded with a watermarking mechanism. The mechanism modifies the text itself according to a preset repeating pattern without changing the substance. Examples include patterned use of white spaces, contractions, abbreviations, order of local variables in programming code, and the like. The pattern may include a binary fingerprint that can be used to trace the watermarked document to an assigned source or version of the original document. In analyzing a suspect text stream, patterns are generated based on instances of the mechanism and their corresponding bit values. Repeating patterns are combined into a bit stream along with separators between each pattern. The bit stream can then be analyzed to determine a source of the watermarked text stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Walter D. Pullen, Bradley D. Miller
  • Publication number: 20100278380
    Abstract: A tamper-resistant text stream watermarking system is provided. Content such as any text-based document including programming code is encoded with a watermarking mechanism. The mechanism modifies the text itself according to a preset repeating pattern without changing the substance. Examples include patterned use of white spaces, contractions, abbreviations, order of local variables in programming code, and the like. The pattern may include a binary fingerprint that can be used to trace the watermarked document to an assigned source or version of the original document. In analyzing a suspect text stream, patterns are generated based on instances of the mechanism and their corresponding bit values. Repeating patterns are combined into a bit stream along with separators between each pattern. The bit stream can then be analyzed to determine a source of the watermarked text stream.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Publication date: November 4, 2010
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Walter D. Pullen, Bradley D. Miller
  • Patent number: 7797742
    Abstract: Embodiments are described for blocking the opening of a file. Some embodiments include receiving a request to open a file. In response, a portion of the file's data is examined to determine a true file format for the file. A determination is then made as to whether the true file format of the file has been set as blocked. Based on the determination that the file format is blocked from opening, the file is prevented from being loaded into memory and from being accessed. A message is then displayed to a user indicating that the file has been blocked from opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Elizabeth Jeanne Sheldon, Ambrose T. Treacy, Maithili V. Dandige, Walter D. Pullen, Bikramjit S. Kalra, Jonathan B. Bailor
  • Patent number: 7760903
    Abstract: A tamper-resistant text stream watermarking system is provided. Content such as any text-based document including programming code is encoded with a watermarking mechanism. The mechanism modifies the text itself according to a preset repeating pattern without changing the substance. Examples include patterned use of white spaces, contractions, abbreviations, order of local variables in programming code, and the like. The pattern may include a binary fingerprint that can be used to trace the watermarked document to an assigned source or version of the original document. In analyzing a suspect text stream, patterns are generated based on instances of the mechanism and their corresponding bit values. Repeating patterns are combined into a bit stream along with separators between each pattern. The bit stream can then be analyzed to determine a source of the watermarked text stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Walter D. Pullen, Bradley D. Miller
  • Publication number: 20080209138
    Abstract: Embodiments are described for blocking the opening of a file. Some embodiments include receiving a request to open a file. In response, a portion of the file's data is examined to determine a true file format for the file. A determination is then made as to whether the true file format of the file has been set as blocked. Based on the determination that the file format is blocked from opening, the file is prevented from being loaded into memory and from being accessed. A message is then displayed to a user indicating that the file has been blocked from opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Publication date: August 28, 2008
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Elizabeth Jeanne Sheldon, Ambrose T. Treacy, Maithili V. Dandige, Walter D. Pullen, Bikramjit S. Kalra, Jonathan B. Bailor