[June 16, 2011] U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in California (June 16) Tweet (Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service Targeted News Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- The following federal patents were awarded to inventors in California. *** Hitachi Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Hitachi, Tokyo, has been assigned a patent (7,962,047) developed by Tomoo Murata, Fussa, Japan, for a "preamplifier and optical receiving apparatus using the same." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "When an optical signal that is a wide dynamic range and different in level depending on burst signals is input as in a GPON system, a preamplifier can stably control the gain within a short preamble. The gain changeover of the preamplifier is controlled by the aid of timing information that is extracted from a data signal as data count number, to change over the gain at a high speed and with high precision. A level detector, a preamble recovery, a counter, and a control circuit are disposed within the preamplifier in addition to a TIA main body. In order to suppress the band deterioration or the phase margin reduction which are attributable to the gain changeover, there is provided a bias terminal for conducting a current injection and a current drawing with respect to the signal amplification transistor of the TIA main body." The patent application was filed on Dec. 19, 2007 (11/960,689). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,047.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,047&RS=PN/7,962,047 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Finisar Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Finisar, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,045) developed by Kevin John McCallion, Charlestown, Mass., Yasuhiro Matsui, Woburn, Mass., and Daniel Mahgerefteh, Palo Alto, Calif., for an "optical transmitter having a widely tunable directly modulated laser and periodic optical spectrum reshaping element." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An optical transmitter is disclosed including a widely tunable laser coupled to a periodic optical spectrum reshaper (OSR) to convert frequency modulated pulses from the laser into amplitude modulated pulses. The laser is tuned to generate pulses corresponding to passbands of the OSR spanning a wide range of frequencies. The laser includes a gain section having an optical path length substantially shorter than the total optical path length of the laser. The laser may be a Y-branch laser having reverse-biased sampled gratings or ring resonator filters tuned by stripe heaters. The laser may also include a reflective external cavity section tunable by modulating the temperature of ring resonators or etalons. The OSR may be integrally formed with the external cavity of the ECL laser." The patent application was filed on Dec. 26, 2007 (11/964,315). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,045.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,045&RS=PN/7,962,045 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Applied Micro Circuits Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Applied Micro Circuits, San Diego, has been assigned a patent (7,962,043) developed by Keith Conroy, Perkasie, Pa., Omer Acikel, San Diego, and Francesco Caggioni, Winchester, Mass., for a "multichannel optical transport network skew control." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method are provided for controlling time delay in a multichannel optical transport network transmission device. The method accepts a pair of 2.sup.n-phase shift keying (2.sup.nPSK) modulated signals via Ix and Qx electrical signal paths, where n>1, and a pair of 2.sup.p-PSK modulated signals via Iy and Qy electrical signal paths where p>1. A voltage V1 on the Ix signal path is compared with a voltage V2 on the Qx signal path, and a VOx voltage in generated, which is minimized by adjusting time delay modules in the Ix and Qx signals paths. Likewise, a voltage V3 (Iy) is compared with a voltage V4 (Qy), and a VOy voltage is generated and minimized. Subsequent to minimizing VOx and VOy, the sum of V1 and V2 (V12) is compared with the sum of V3 and V4 (V34), and a VOxy voltage is generated and minimized." The patent application was filed on June 20, 2008 (12/143,541). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,043.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,043&RS=PN/7,962,043 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** IXYS Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- IXYS, Switzerland, has been assigned a patent (7,962,041) developed by Alan Grace, San Bruno, Calif., for a "IrDA transceiver module that also functions as remote control IR transmitter." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The infrared LED of an IrDA module transmits IR energy with a peak wavelength (for example, 875 nm) appropriate for IrDA communication. This peak wavelength is lower than is the wavelength (for example, 940 nm) used in ordinary IR remote controls (RC). The IrDA LED does, however, transmit some energy at the wavelength of the peak sensitivity of an RC receiver. When making an IrDA transmission, the IrDA LED is driven with a lower amount of current. When making an RC transmission, the IrDA LED is driven with an increased amount of current such that higher wavelength emissions received by the RC receiver are of adequate power to realize RC communication. A passive circuit is disclosed for automatically increasing IrDA LED current during RC transmissions. The circuit involves an inductor that shunts current around a current-limiting resistor used to limit LED drive current." The patent application was filed on April 9, 2010 (12/798,678). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,041.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,041&RS=PN/7,962,041 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Newport Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 - Newport, Irvine, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,046) developed by Dmitri A. Oulianov, Mountain View, Calif., Stefan Marzenell, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Richard Boggy, Sunnyvale, Calif., for an "automated dispersion compensation over a broad wavelength range for coherent optical pulses." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present application is directed to an apparatus and method for the automated compensation of dispersion over a broad wavelength range for coherent optical pulses. In one embodiment, the present application discloses an automatic dispersion compensating optical apparatus configured to change chirp introduced into an optical signal by an optical system in optical communication with the dispersion compensating optical apparatus and includes at least one wavelength-tunable source of coherent optical pulses configured to output at least one optical signal, at least one dispersion compensation device configured to receive the optical signal from the coherent source, and at least one controller in communication with the dispersion compensation device and configured to adjust chirp introduced into the optical signal by the dispersion compensation device as the wavelength of the optical signal is varied." The patent application was filed on Nov. 9, 2007 (11/983,583). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,046.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,046&RS=PN/7,962,046 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Google Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Google, Mountain View, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,281) developed by Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen, San Francisco, Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen, Farlight, Australia, and Stephen Ma, Kingsford, Australia, for a "generating and serving tiles in a digital mapping system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Digital tile-based mapping techniques are disclosed that enable efficient online serving of aesthetically pleasing maps. In one particular embodiment, an image tile-based digital mapping system is configured for generating map tiles during an offline session, and serving selected sets of those tiles to a client when requested. Also provided are solutions for handling map labels and other such features in a tile-based mapping system, such as when a map label crosses map tile boundaries. Various processing environments (e.g., servers or other computing devices) can be employed in the system." The patent application was filed on Oct. 5, 2009 (12/573,698). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,281.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,281&RS=PN/7,962,281 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Segway Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Segway, Bedford, N.H., has been assigned a patent (7,962,256) developed by Jon M. Stevens, Manchester, N.H., and David Robinson, Los Altos, Calif., for a "speed limiting in electric vehicles." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A controller and methods for controlling the speed of a vehicle having an electric motorized drive is provided. In one embodiment, a method involves determining a steady state average torque and a torque during acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle traveling over an underlying surface. Speed of the vehicle is controlled based on the steady state average torque, the torque during acceleration or deceleration the measured regeneration current generated by a motorized drive arrangement of the vehicle that applies torque to at least one ground-contacting element of the vehicle for traveling over the underlying surface, weight of the vehicle and payload, the torque applied to the ground-contacting element, acceleration of the vehicle and the speed of the vehicle." The patent application was filed on Aug. 13, 2007 (11/837,687). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,256.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,256&RS=PN/7,962,256 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Integrated Power Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 15 -- Integrated Power Technology, Lake Forest, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,251) developed by Andrew Roman Gizara, Lake Forest, Calif., and Michael Dominic Cicali, Galloway, N.J., for a "supervisory control and data acquisition system for energy extracting vessel navigation." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system guides navigation of a vessel enabled to extract energy from wind and/or water currents primarily in offshore marine environments. An exemplary SCADA system could embody server and client software applications running on microprocessor systems at a remote control central service logging and energy distribution facility, and the vessel itself. The remote control service facility runs Human Machine Interface (HMI) software in the form of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) allowing choices to maximize system performance. The central server accesses information to control vessel position based on transmitted Global Position Satellite (GPS) data from the vessel, and weather information from the Geographic Information System (GIS) provided by multiple spatial temporal data sources. A server-side optimization algorithm fed the parameters delivered from vessel aerodynamic/hydrodynamic performance simulation software models, the vessel onboard sensor data, and integrated real-time weather and environmental data determines an optimal navigation through weather systems and presents choices to the HMI." The patent application was filed on April 12, 2010 (12/758,733). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,251.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,251&RS=PN/7,962,251 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** National Semiconductor Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- National Semiconductor, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,249) developed by Jianhui Zhang, San Jose, Calif., Ali Djabbari, Saratoga, Calif., and Gianpaolo Lisi, Campbell, Calif., for a "method and system for providing central control in an energy generating system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A central array controller for an energy generating array is provided. The array includes a plurality of energy generating devices, and each energy generating device is coupled to a corresponding local converter. The central array controller includes a diagnostic module that is capable of receiving, from each local converter in the array, device data for the energy generating device corresponding to the local converter. In one embodiment, the diagnostic module is also capable of receiving, from each local converter in the array, local converter data for the local converter." The patent application was filed on May 14, 2008 (12/152,479). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,249.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,249&RS=PN/7,962,249 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Power-One Renewable Energy Solutions Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Power-One Renewable Energy Solutions, Camarillo, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,247) developed by Christiaan Willem Beekhuis, San Jose, Calif., for a "computer implemented systems and methods for start-up, calibration and troubleshooting of an installed renewable energy system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods are provided for collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data associated with the installation and deployment of systems. Energy systems, (500) specifically renewable energy generation systems, are used as examples. The aggregated data serve as the basis for a variety of services that improve the system performance, improve the installation, lower the cost, and provide monitoring and service to maintain optimum performance. Finally, services are provided that improve the start-up, calibration, and configuration of systems." The patent application was filed on April 28, 2006 (11/919,042). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,247.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,247&RS=PN/7,962,247 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** EMC Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- EMC, Hopkinton, Mass., has been assigned a patent (7,962,708) developed by five co-inventors for "resolving retention policy conflicts." The co-inventors are Roger W. Kilday, Livermore, Calif., John-David Dorman, Gloucester, Calif., David Humby, Richmond, Calif., Fiona Schrader, Ottawa, and Dan Bailey, Kanata, Canada. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Resolving retention policy conflicts is disclosed. An indication is received that two or more retention policies apply to an item of content. A merged retention policy that is based at least in part on the respective requirements of the two or more retention policies is generated automatically for the item of content." The patent application was filed on Aug. 7, 2009 (12/462,790). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,708&OS=7,962,708&RS=7,962,708 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Tabula Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Tabula, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,705) developed by five co-inventors for a "system and method for providing a virtual memory architecture narrower and deeper than a physical memory architecture." The co-inventors are Herman Schmit, Palo Alto, Calif., Andrew Caldwell, Santa Clara, Calif., Brad Hutchings, Fremont, Calif., Jason Redgrave, Mountain View, Calif., and Steven Teig, Menlo Park, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Some embodiments provide a method of presenting virtual memory as narrower and deeper than a physical memory. The method receives a memory address location including a set of real memory address bits and a set of virtual memory position bits. The method retrieves an original memory word from a physical memory using the real memory address bits. The method shifts the original memory word by an amount determined by the virtual memory position bits by using a barrel shifter, creating a shifted memory word. The method reads a part of the shifted memory word." The patent application was filed on March 22, 2010 (12/729,227). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,705&OS=7,962,705&RS=7,962,705 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** n&k Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- n&k Technology, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,242) developed by Marc T. Aho, Mountain View, Calif., Thaddeus J. Wilson, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Jeff Roberts, Port Hueneme, Calif., for an "automated spatial flipping apparatus and system for photomasks and photomasks with pellicles." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A spatial photomask flipper provides up to four access gates for an unloading of a clamped photomask after its reorientation along a single photomask transfer axis. The clamping frames holding the photomask are secured by a locking control cam that prevents their inadvertent opening in any other but the two main flip orientations. The flipper is part of an automated system including a digital camera and an image recognition algorithm that interpret an arbitrary initial photomask loading orientation from a circumferential photomask identification number. An eventual pellicle on the photomask may be also automatically detected via a pellicle detection sensor. Alternately, the digital camera may be employed for pellicle detection together with a pellicle detection algorithm that processes the digital image for well known components of the pellicle such as the pellicle frame." The patent application was filed on March 18, 2008 (12/050,387). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,242.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,242&RS=PN/7,962,242 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** California Inventor Develops Patent for Landscape Irrigation Time of Use Scheduling ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- George Alexanian, Fresno, Calif., has developed a patent (7,962,244) for a "landscape irrigation time of use scheduling." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A number of water related issues concern most communities. Among these are the availability of water, and the ability of the existing infrastructure to efficiently pump and deliver that water without wasting energy. The present invention addresses these issues with respect to landscape water use. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is an add-on module that may be programmed with local watering restrictions including time of use (TOU), and that is connected to the output of any existing landscape irrigation controller. The module is programmed to not allow watering during certain times of day or certain days of the week as established by a local water authority or municipality. Embodiments of the invention also provide methods and apparatus for updating the local watering restrictions, and integrating the present invention into existing controllers." The patent application was filed on Jan. 30, 2008 (12/011,801). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,244.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,244&RS=PN/7,962,244 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Envisiontec Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Envisiontec, Gladbeck, Germany, has been assigned a patent (7,962,238) developed by Alexandr Shkolnik, Los Angeles, Hendrik John, Hunxe, Germany, and Ali El-Siblani, Dearborn Heights, Mich.,for a "process for the production of a three-dimensional object with resolution improvement by pixel-shift." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The invention relates to a process or device for the production of a three-dimensional object by layer-wise solidification of a material which is solidifiable under the application of electromagnetic irradiation by means of mask illumination, wherein the mask is produced using an image forming unit having a prescribed resolution, which is formed from a constant number of image forming elements (pixels) being discrete and being arranged in a spatially mutually fixed manner. For the improvement of the resolution along the outer and inner contours of the sectional areas of the object to be generated layer-wise in the sub-pixel range, a multiple illumination per layer is performed, which consists of a series of multiple images that are mutually shifted in the sub-pixel range in the image/construction plane, wherein a separate mask/bitmap is produced for each shifted image." The patent application was filed on July 30, 2010 (12/847,556). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,238&OS=7,962,238&RS=7,962,238 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** California Inventor Develops Patent for Method and Apparatus for Manual-mode Shifting Using Voice Commands in Automobile Transmissions ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Samuel Seungmin Cho, Fremont, Calif., has developed a patent (7,962,268) for a "method and apparatus for manual-mode shifting using voice commands in automobile transmissions." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A shift-by-speech transmission system allows a driver or a motorcyclist to choose a desired gear by voice commands. Conventional sequential semi-manual shifting only allows the driver to shift one gear up or down from a current gear using a gearshift lever or a paddle shifter. The level of driver engagement in existing semi-manual shifters leaves much to be desired for many auto enthusiasts. An intuitive and engaging shift-by-speech technology disclosed in the present invention, called "VoiceShift", allows the driver or the motorcyclist to switch gears by voice commands. VoiceShift also allows the driver or the motorcyclist to skip gears to up-shift and down-shift as desired, as long as a desired gear does not result in mechanically-detrimental situations." The patent application was filed on May 20, 2008 (12/124,021). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,268.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,268&RS=PN/7,962,268 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Second Sight Medical Products Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Second Sight Medical Products, Sylmar, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,221) developed by Robert J. Greenberg, Los Angeles, and Richard Williamson, Saugus, Calif., for a "pixel re-mapping for visual prosthesis." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for adjusting a visual image provided to a patient. In one embodiment, an image may be presented to the patient to obtain the patient's subjective perception of the image, and the patient may either manipulate the image to obtain a desired adjustment, or guide a clinician performing the adjustment. In another embodiment, the clinician may make objective observations of, for example, the position of an electrode array on the patient's retina, and make adjustments accordingly. The adjustment may be a spatial adjustment comprising a re-mapping performed to decreases image distortion resulting from differences in the patient's perception of stimulation of different areas of the retina. Such distortion may result from differences between the patient's perception of stimulation falling within the macula, and stimulation falling within the periphery surrounding the macula. The adjustment may also compensate for translations or rotations of the electrode array on the retina." The patent application was filed on July 25, 2006 (11/493,471). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,221.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,221&RS=PN/7,962,221 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Assigned Patent for Methods and Systems for Stimulating a Motor Cortex of the Brain to Treat a Medical Condition ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Boston Scientific Neuromodulation, Valencia, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,219) developed by Kristen N. Jaax, Saugus, Calif., Todd K. Whitehurst, Santa Clarita, Calif., and Rafael Carbunaru, Studio City, Calif., for "methods and systems for stimulating a motor cortex of the brain to treat a medical condition." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods of treating a medical condition include applying at least one stimulus to a motor cortex within a brain of a patient with an implanted system control unit in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters. Systems for treating a medical condition include a system control unit implanted within the patient that is configured to apply at least one stimulus to a motor cortex within a brain of a patient in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters." The patent application was filed on Jan. 11, 2010 (12/685,161). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,219.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,219&RS=PN/7,962,219 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Ibis Software Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Ibis Software, Alameda, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,394) developed by Gerald C. Wagner, San Francisco, for "systems and methods for scheduling contributions to a retirement savings plan." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Computer-based systems and methods are described for generating personalized, automated contribution strategies for scheduling contributions to a retirement savings plan or other savings plan. Embodiments of the systems and methods provide visual and other educational displays to assist a client in choosing a suitable savings contribution strategy that may take into account at least one of the set consisting of: details of an employer-sponsored savings fund available to the client which may include opportunities for employer matching-funds, acceptable portion of standard-of-living increases derived from salary raises that the client is willing to contribute to a savings plan, client's current savings behavior and value of savings portfolio, effects of the stochastic nature of future investment portfolio value, and changing federal tax regulations. Clients may use the systems for educational and planning purposes and/or may authorize automated triggering of contributions with scheduled increases and/or decreases as specified by the selected plan." The patent application was filed on Dec. 14, 2009 (12/637,697). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,394.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,394&RS=PN/7,962,394 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Visa USA Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Visa USA, San Francisco, has been assigned a patent (7,962,390) developed by Brian Maw, Belmont, Calif., and Ayman Hammad, Pleasanton, Calif., for a "field 55 data relationships." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A data mining device, method, and apparatus configured to associate customer exclusive data from a payment card or device after a financial transaction. A financial transaction processing system comprises a report distribution management system, a data relationship manager, and a customer exclusive data association database. The report distribution management system receives financial transaction data. The data relationship manager determines an issuer associated with the financial transaction data, queries a subscription database for subscription data associated with the issuer and a core database for the issuer processing parameters. The processing parameters are applied to the financial transaction data and the subscription data. A customer exclusive data association database is updated with the financial transaction data once the processing parameters are applied." The patent application was filed on June 5, 2008 (12/156,923). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,390.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,390&RS=PN/7,962,390 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Boston Scientific Neuromodulation, Valencia, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,222) developed by Yuping He, Northridge, Calif., and David L. Peterson, Saugus, Calif., for a "battery protection and zero-volt battery recovery system for an implantable medical device." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Circuitry useable to protect and reliably charge a rechargeable battery, even from a zero-volt state, is disclosed, and is particularly useful when employed in an implantable medical device. The circuit includes two charging paths, a first path for trickle charging the battery at a relatively low current when the battery voltage is below a threshold, and a second path for charging the battery at relatively higher currents that the battery voltage is above a certain threshold. A passive diode is used in the first trickle-charging path which allows trickle charging even when the battery voltage is too low for reliable gating, while a gateable switch (preferably a PMOS transistor) is used in the second higher-current charging path when the voltage is higher and the switch can therefore be gated more reliably. A second diode between the two paths ensures no leakage to the substrate through the gateable switch during trickle charging. The load couples to the battery through the switch, and preferably through a second switch specifically used for decoupling the load." The patent application was filed on Oct. 19, 2006 (11/550,872). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,222.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,222&RS=PN/7,962,222 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Cameron Health Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Cameron Health, San Clemente, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,212) developed by David M. Signoff, San Clemente, Calif., and Marcus F. Julian, Dana Point, Calif., for a "multiple battery configurations in an implantable medical device." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Implantable medical device power circuits are disclosed. Multiple batteries may be provided, along with a number of switches, enabling a plurality of battery and power circuit configurations to be defined. Configurations of the power circuit may be changed in response to changes in battery status as the batteries are used and/or near end-of-life. Configurations of the power circuit may also be performed in response to changes in device operation. Methods associated with operating such circuits and implantable medical devices are also disclosed." The patent application was filed on Aug. 2, 2007 (11/833,163). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,212.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,212&RS=PN/7,962,212 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Endovx Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Endovx, Napa, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,225) developed by William N. Aldrich, Napa, Calif., and David Miller, Palo Alto, Calif., for "methods and apparatus for testing disruption of a vagal nerve." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Method and apparatus for disrupting a gastric vagal nerve in the gastroesophageal region and testing the function and disruption of the vagal nerve. In one example embodiment, a treatment device applies ultrasound at a high energy level, such as high intensity focused ultrasound, to a vagal nerve to disrupt it and then ultrasound at a lower energy level to another portion of the vagal nerve, preferably further from the stomach, so as to stimulate the vagal nerve. Alternative ways to test the function or disruption of the vagal nerve involve using PCP-GABA, a pancreatic polypeptide, pressure changes inside the stomach, the gastric mucusol pH, a dye agent in the stomach, and other tests." The patent application was filed on Aug. 20, 2008 (12/195,197). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,225.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,225&RS=PN/7,962,225 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Siebel Systems Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Siebel Systems, San Mateo, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,372) developed by four co-inventors for a product common object. The co-inventors are Maria Theresa Barnes Leon, Fremont, Calif., Nardo B. Catahan Jr., S. San Francisco, Calif., Shailendra Garg, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Shekhar P. Kale, Foster City, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Stored product management information in a first format for use by a first computerized system is transformed to readily make the stored product management information available for use in a second computerized system that utilizes a second format in a cost-efficient and time-efficient manner." The patent application was filed on May 26, 2006 (11/441,499). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,372.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,372&RS=PN/7,962,372 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Yahoo! Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Yahoo!, Sunnyvale, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,363) developed by Dorab Patel, Santa Monica, Calif., Scott D. Kalter, Malibu, Calif., and Uzi Eliahou, Topanga, Calif., for an online media exchange. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A data processing system enables a network of interconnected public access computers (250) to act as a continuous transactional exchange for electronic advertising. The system customizes paid advertising, enabling dynamic pricing and price discovery. The system provides extensive real-time tracking which supports a hybrid pay for performance model as well as a process for multi-stage optimization." The patent application was filed on Nov. 22, 2002 (November 22, 2002). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,363.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,363&RS=PN/7,962,363 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Novitaz Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Novitaz, Fremont, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,361) developed by Jayant Ramchandani, Fremont, Calif., and Asif Ghias, San Francisco, for a "customer relationship management system for physical locations." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for outputting information about a person includes identifying the person utilizing a wireless system upon entry into a physical location, and also includes locating the person within the physical structure. An engagement plan is retrieved based on the identification of the person and output. The engagement plan has information useful for interacting with the person. The engagement plan is created based at least in part on personal information of the person, the preferences of the person, and the past transactions of the person. A system for outputting information about a person, such as a customer, includes an object carried by the person, which is capable of being identified by a wireless system. A wireless interface communicates with the object. A computing device correlates the identification of the object with the person. An output device outputs information relating to the person." The patent application was filed on Nov. 7, 2002 (10/290,008). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,361.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,361&RS=PN/7,962,361 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** PriceLock Finance Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- PriceLock Finance, Omaha, Neb., has been assigned a patent (7,962,353) developed by Steven M. Menzies, Omaha, Neb., Jeffrey A. Silver, Omaha, Neb., and Christopher W. Overton, Alameda, Calif., for a "home resale price protection plan." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A Home Resale Price Protection Plan provides a payment to a homeowner should the homeowner have to sell his or her house at a loss. In exchange for an upfront fee, the homeowner would receive a payment for the lesser of their actual loss or the loss calculated by multiplying their original purchase price by the proportional drop in an appropriate housing price index." The patent application was filed on Sept. 17, 2010 (12/884,523). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,353.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,353&RS=PN/7,962,353 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Rearden Commerce Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Rearden Commerce, Foster City, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,381) developed by six co-inventors for a service designer solution. The co-inventors are Sean Handel, Moss Beach, Calif., Sriram Chakravarthy, San Jose, Calif., Santam Alag, Santa Clara, Calif., Mark Orttung, Menlo Park, Calif., Matt Mihic, San Francisco, and Brenton D. Pennock, San Jose, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "In one embodiment, a system and method are provided that allows easy integration of an existing third-party information or services management system into a services platform such as a Platform without requiring actual compiled code to be written. In addition, in one embodiment, the system and method allow developers to create new applications without requiring actual code to be written, which applications run on a services platform such as a Platform and are easily billable, upgradeable and supportable." The patent application was filed on Dec. 1, 2005 (11/292,503). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,381.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,381&RS=PN/7,962,381 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Fair Isaac Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Fair Isaac, Minneapolis, has been assigned a patent (7,962,368) developed by six co-inventors for a purchase sequence browser. The co-inventors are Shailesh Kumar, San Diego, Megan Thorsen, Sunnyvale, Calif., Ashutosh Joshi, San Diego, Sergei Tolmanov, Walnut Creek, Calif., Helen Geraldine E. Rosario, Austin, Texas, and Colin E. Little, Emeryville, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The invention provides a purchase sequence browser (PuSB), i.e. a graphical user interface (GUI) that facilitates insight discovery and exploration of product affinities across time, generated by a purchase sequence analysis of a retailer's transaction data. A purchase sequence browser allows the user to browse the most significant product phrases discovered by an exhaustive search of the product affinities across time; explore the retail grammar to create both forward and backward phrase trees or alternate purchase paths starting from, or ending in, a product; generate consistent purchase sequences given some constraints on the products and their order; and profile the value of a product across time with regard to other products fixed in time." The patent application was filed on Oct. 20, 2006 (11/551,683). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,368.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,368&RS=PN/7,962,368 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Luxtera Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Luxtera, Carlsbad, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,961,992) developed by four co-inventors for an "integrated transceiver with lightpipe coupler." The co-inventors are Peter De Dobbelaere, San Diego, Thierry Pinguet, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., Mark Peterson, San Diego, and Mark Harrison, Mark, Escondido, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A transceiver on a CMOS chip including optical and optoelectronic devices, and electronic circuitry may be operable to communicate optical signals between the CMOS chip and optical fibers coupled to the CMOS chip via a semiconductor laser and one or more photodetectors. The optical and optoelectronic devices may include waveguides, modulators, multiplexers, switches, and couplers. The photodetector may be integrated in the CMOS chip. The photodetector and the semiconductor laser may be mounted on the CMOS chip. The optical signals may be communicated out of and in to a top surface of the CMOS chip. A transceiver on a CMOS chip including optical and optoelectronic devices, and electronic circuitry, may be operable to communicate optical signals between the CMOS chip and optical fibers coupled to the CMOS chip via grating couplers. The optical signals may be communicated out of and in to a top surface of the CMOS chip." The patent application was filed on June 12, 2009 (12/483,699). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,992.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,992&RS=PN/79,61,992 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Adobe Systems Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Adobe Systems, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,961,970) developed by Todor G. Georgiev, Sunnyvale, Calif., for a "method and apparatus for using a virtual camera to dynamically refocus a digital image." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that dynamically refocuses an image to simulate a focus plane and a depth-of-field of a virtual camera. During operation, the system receives an input image, wherein the input image includes depth information for pixels in the input image. The system also obtains parameters that specify the depth-of-field d and the location of the focus plane for the virtual camera. Next, the system uses the depth information and the parameters for the virtual camera to refocus the image. During this process, for each pixel in the input image, the system uses the depth information and the parameters for the virtual camera to determine a blur radius B for the pixel. The system then uses the blur radius B for the pixel to determine whether the pixel contributes to neighboring pixels in the refocused image." The patent application was filed on Oct. 22, 2009 (12/604,271). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,970.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,970&RS=PN/79,61,970 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Oracle America Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Oracle America, Redwood Shores, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,961,990) developed by four co-inventors for a "multi-chip system including capacitively coupled and optical communication." The co-inventors are Ashok V. Krishnamoorthy, San Diego, James G. Mitchell, Palo Alto, Calif., John E. Cunningham, San Diego, and Brian W. O'Krafka, Austin, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Embodiments of a system are described. This system includes an array of chip modules (CMs) and a baseplate, where the baseplate is configured to communicate data signals via optical communication. Moreover, the array includes first CMs mechanically coupled to first alignment features on the baseplate, and adjacent second CMs mechanically coupled to second alignment features on the baseplate. In this array, a given first CM is electrically coupled to a given set of electrical proximity connectors. Additionally, the array includes bridge components, wherein a given bridge component is electrically coupled to the second SCM and another set of electrical proximity connectors, which is electrically coupled to the set of electrical proximity connectors, thereby facilitating communication of other data signals between adjacent first CMs and second CMs via electrical proximity communication. Moreover, the given bridge component is optically coupled to the baseplate, thereby facilitating optical communication of the data signals between CMs via the baseplate." The patent application was filed on Dec. 21, 2007 (11/962,419). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,990.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,990&RS=PN/79,61,990 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Dell Products Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Dell Products, Round Rock, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,961,960) developed by four co-inventors for "methods and apparatus for reducing storage size." The co-inventors are Murali Bashyam, Fremont, Calif., Goutham Rao, San Jose, Calif., Carter George, Portland, Ore., and Eric Brueggemann, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Prediction-based compression engines are spoon-fed with sequentially efficiently compressible (SEC) streams of input data that make it possible for the compression engines to more efficiently compress or otherwise compact the incoming data than would be possible with streams of input data accepted on a TV-raster scan basis. Various techniques are disclosed for intentionally forming SEC input data streams. Among these are the tight packing of alike files or fragments into concatenation suitcases and the decomposition of files into substantially predictably consistent (SPC) fragments or segments that are routed to different suitcases according to their type. In a graphics-directed embodiment, image frames are partitioned into segment areas that are internally SPC and multidirectional walks (i.e., U-turning walks) are defined in the segment areas where these defined walks are traced during compression and also during decompression. A variety of pre-compression data transformation methods are disclosed for causing apparently random data sequences to appear more compressibly alike to each other. The methods are usable in systems that permit substantially longer times for data compaction operations than for data decompaction operations." The patent application was filed on July 6, 2007 (11/774,272). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,960.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,960&RS=PN/79,61,960 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** QUALCOMM Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- QUALCOMM, San Diego, has been assigned a patent (7,961,973) developed by Szepo Hung (Bob), Carlsbad, Calif., for "lens roll-off correction method and apparatus." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Brightness and color tone shift distortion of captured images by a non-ideal lens can be compensated by applying an inverse transfer function to the captured image. An estimate of the lens transfer function can be measured based on a radius from a center of the lens. The lens transfer function can be measured by capturing a flat field image. The center of the lens can be determined based on a relative brightness maximum. The relative brightness of the captured flat field image can then be measured as a function of radius to generate a lens response curve. Separate response curves can be measured for each color component. A correction curve can be determined as the inverse of the response curve. The correction curve can be applied to subsequent captured images to compensate for lens degradation." The patent application was filed on Feb. 8, 2005 (11/054,079). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,973.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,973&RS=PN/79,61,973 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Google Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Google, Mountain View, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,961,986) developed by Yushi Jing, Mountain View, Calif., and Shumeet Baluja, Leesburg, Va., for "ranking of images and image labels." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes determining a score for an image of a plurality of images with respect to each of one or more terms, identifying one or more of the terms for each of which the score for the image with respect to the respective identified term satisfies a criterion, and associating the identified terms with the image. Determining the score for the image with respect to a respective term includes determining probabilities of navigating between images in the plurality of images and determining the score for the image with respect to the respective term based on the probabilities." The patent application was filed on June 30, 2008 (12/164,808). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,986.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,986&RS=PN/79,61,986 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Aerospace Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Aerospace, El Segundo, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,961,995) developed by Josh A. Conway, Redondo Beach, Calif., and Andrew D. Stapleton, South Pasadena, Calif., for an "electrically tunable plasmon light tunneling junction." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An electrically modulated plasmonic junction generates surface plasmons from an electrical signal from an electrical source, with the tunnel junction having a contact with a tapered end forming the junction in a gap between the contact and a substrate, with the gap serving to translate electrical signals into surface plasmons that are in turn translated into emitted photons communicated externally through a transmissive oxide, so that the junction can function as an electrically controlled light emitter preferably built as a nano-scale broadband optical emitter whose output wavelength can be electrically tuned over hundreds of nanometers, can be directly modulated at high speeds, and can have improved efficiencies compared to standard silicon optical sources, and the junction can also operate in a reserve mode for light detection. The patent application was filed on Sept. 16, 2008 (12/283,802). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,995.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,995&RS=PN/79,61,995 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Boeing Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Boeing, Chicago, has been assigned a patent (7,961,988) developed by seven co-inventors for "rapidly tunable wavelength selective ring resonator." The co-inventors are William P. Krug, Bellevue, Wash., Jocelyn Y. Takayesu, Tacoma, Wash., Michael Hochberg, Pasadena, Calif., Thomas W. Baehr-Jones, Pasadena, Calif., Eric Y. Chan, Mercer Island, Wash., Larry Dalton, Silverdale, Wash., and Axel Scherer, Laguna Beach, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method are disclosed for a rapidly tunable wavelength selective ring resonator. An embodiment of a voltage-tunable wavelength selective ring resonator includes a ring-shaped waveguide formed on a semiconductor substrate, an electro-optic cladding layer formed over the ring-shaped waveguide, and voltage applying means for applying a voltage across the electro-optic cladding layer. The ring-shaped waveguide is configured to propagate optical signals having predetermined resonant wavelengths, the electro-optic cladding layer has a voltage-controlled variable refractive index, and the means for applying is configured to apply a wavelength-specific control voltage to the electro-optic cladding layer. The wavelength-specific control voltage will shift or tune the predetermined resonant wavelengths for the ring-shaped waveguide." The patent application was filed on Sept. 4, 2007 (11/849,981). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,988.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,988&RS=PN/79,61,988 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Onmobile Global Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Onmobile Global, Bangalore, India, has been assigned a patent (7,962,333) developed by four co-inventors for a "method for high quality audio transcoding." The co-inventors are Marwan A. Jabri, Tiburon, Calif., Jianwei Wang, Larkspur, Calif., Nicola Chong-White, Chatswood, Australia, and Michael Ibrahim, Ryde, Australia. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for a voice transcoder that converts a bitstream representing frames of data encoded according to a first voice compression standard to a bitstream representing frames of data according to a second voice compression standard using perceptual weighting that uses tuned weighting factors, such that the bitstream of a second voice compression standard to produce a higher quality decoded voice signal than a comparable tandem transcoding solution. The method includes pre-computing weighting factors for a perceptual weighting filter optimized to a specific source and destination codec pair, pre-configuring the transcoding strategies, mapping CELP parameters in the CELP parameter space according to the selected coding strategy, performing Linear Prediction analysis if specified by the transcoding strategy, perceptually weighting the speech using with tuned weighting factors, and searching for adaptive codebook and fixed-codebook parameters to obtain a quantized set of destination codec parameters." The patent application was filed on Aug. 2, 2007 (11/890,283). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,333.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,333&RS=PN/7,962,333 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Sony Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Sony, Tokyo, and Sony Electronics, Park Ridge, N.J., have been assigned a patent (7,961,978) developed by five co-inventors for masking tool. The co-inventors are Eric Edwards, Captain Cook, Hawaii, Clay Harvey Fisher, San Diego, Kurt Jonach, San Jose, Calif., Neal Jacob Manowitz, Montebello, N.Y., and John Tree, London. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system for controlling effects performed on an image includes a digital camera having a display that displays the image. A masking tool positions a graphical representation on the display, the graphical representation defining a portion of the image that is altered when the effects are applied to the image. The masking tool is positioned over a masked portion of an image and an effect is applied. The effect is applied on the image inside the masked portion." The patent application was filed on Aug. 25, 2009 (12/547,393). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,978.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,978&RS=PN/79,61,978 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Dell Products Assigned Patent for Methods and Apparatus for Reducing Storage Size ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Dell Products, Round Rock, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,961,959) developed by four co-inventors for "methods and apparatus for reducing storage size." The co-inventors are Murali Bashyam, Fremont, Calif., Goutham Rao, San Jose, Calif., Carter George, Portland, Ore., and Eric Brueggemann, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Prediction-based compression engines are spoon-fed with sequentially efficiently compressible (SEC) streams of input data that make it possible for the compression engines to more efficiently compress or otherwise compact the incoming data than would be possible with streams of input data accepted on a TV-raster scan basis. Various techniques are disclosed for intentionally forming SEC input data streams. Among these are the tight packing of alike files or fragments into concatenation suitcases and the decomposition of files into substantially predictably consistent (SPC) fragments or segments that are routed to different suitcases according to their type. In a graphics-directed embodiment, image frames are partitioned into segment areas that are internally SPC and multidirectional walks (i.e., U-turning walks) are defined in the segment areas where these defined walks are traced during compression and also during decompression. A variety of pre-compression data transformation methods are disclosed for causing apparently random data sequences to appear more compressibly alike to each other. The methods are usable in systems that permit substantially longer times for data compaction operations than for data decompaction operations." The patent application was filed on July 6, 2007 (11/774,267). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=79,61,959.PN.&OS=PN/79,61,959&RS=PN/79,61,959 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Lumenvox Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Lumenvox, San Diego, has been assigned a patent (7,962,331) developed by six co-inventors for a "system and method for tuning and testing in a speech recognition system." The co-inventors are Edward S. Miller, San Diego, James F. Blake II, San Diego, Keith C. Herold, San Diego, Michael D. Bergman, Poway, Calif., Kyle N. Danielson, San Diego, and Alexandra L. Auckland, El Cajon, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods for improving the performance of a speech recognition system. In some embodiments a tuner module and/or a tester module are configured to cooperate with a speech recognition system. The tester and tuner modules can be configured to cooperate with each other. In one embodiment, the tuner module may include a module for playing back a selected portion of a digital data audio file, a module for creating and/or editing a transcript of the selected portion, and/or a module for displaying information associated with a decoding of the selected portion, the decoding generated by a speech recognition engine. In other embodiments, the tester module can include an editor for creating and/or modifying a grammar, a module for receiving a selected portion of a digital audio file and its corresponding transcript, and a scoring module for producing scoring statistics of the decoding based at least in part on the transcript." The patent application was filed on Oct. 21, 2008 (12/255,564). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7,962,331.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,331&RS=PN/7,962,331 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Apple Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Apple, Cupertino, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,962,031) developed by Richard Tsai, Cupertino, Calif., for a "pulsed control of camera flash." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Input from a user is received, to take a picture. A camera flash is signaled to produce multiple flash pulses during a single shutter cycle of the picture. The amplitudes of at least two of the flash pulses are different relative to each other. The picture is stored, including in its metadata information that describes the variable amplitude of the flash pulses that illuminated the scene when taking the picture. The information describing the variable amplitude of the flash pulses is used to deblur the picture. Other embodiments are also described and claimed." The patent application was filed on Oct. 6, 2009 (12/574,605). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,962,031.PN.&OS=PN/7,962,031&RS=PN/7,962,031 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Virgin Mobile USA Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- Virgin Mobile USA, Warren, N.J., has been assigned a patent (7,962,152) developed by four co-inventors for a "location determination for wireless mobile devices." The co-inventors are Christian A. Buerger, Woodland Hills, Calif., Gregory Paul Hayes, Santa Monica, Calif., Eugene Koh, Los Angeles, and Seung June Oh, For more information about Targeted News Service products and services, please contact: Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service LLC, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; [email protected]; http://targetednews.com. -1051301 (c) 2011 Targeted News Service [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]