TMCnet News
U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in Texas (June 30)(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service Targeted News Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- The following federal patents were awarded to inventors in Texas. *** Baker Hughes Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- Baker Hughes, Houston, has been assigned a patent (7,970,544) developed by Xiao Ming Tang, Sugar Land, Texas, and Douglas J. Patterson, Spring, Texas, for a "method and apparatus for characterizing and estimating permeability using LWD Stoneley-wave data." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Stoneley-wave data acquired in the LWD environment are used to characterize/estimate formation permeability. Real-time Stoneley-wave time-delay/slowness and center-frequency/attenuation data are used to indicate/characterize formation permeability even during drilling. The use of stabilizers mounted at the tool ends helps maintain the tool position from severe decentralization, reducing ambiguities in the permeability characterization/estimation." The patent application was filed on June 26, 2007 (11/768,807). 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=7,970,544.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,544&RS=PN/7,970,544 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** WesternGeco Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- WesternGeco, Houston, has been assigned a patent (7,970,546) developed by Chengbin Peng, Sugar Land, Texas, for a "diplet-based imaging of seismic data in shot or receiver records." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods, systems, and software for representing seismic shot or receiver data as a superposition of a plurality of diplets are disclosed. The method includes decomposing one or more prestack shot or receiver records into a set of diplets, migrating the diplets using one or more velocity models, and synthesizing one or more migrated diplets into a migrated seismic volume, wherein each diplet comprises information about spatial location, orientation, amplitude, an associated wavelet, acquisition configuration, and coherency." The patent application was filed on June 17, 2008 (12/140,349). 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=7,970,546.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,546&RS=PN/7,970,546 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Advantest Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- Advantest, Tokyo, has been assigned a patent (7,970,565) developed by Harry Hou, Santa Clara, Calif., and Takahiro Yamaguchi, Tokyo, for a "measuring device, test device, electronic device, program, and recording medium." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A measurement apparatus that measures a signal under measurement, including a strobe timing generator that sequentially generates strobes arranged at substantially even time intervals, a level comparing section that detects a signal level of the signal under measurement at a timing of each sequentially provided strobe, a capture memory that stores therein a data sequence of the signal levels sequentially detected by the level comparing section, a frequency domain converting section that converts the data sequence into a spectrum in the frequency domain, and a jitter calculating section that calculates jitter of the signal under measurement based on a value obtained by integrating levels of frequency components in a predetermined frequency range of the spectrum." The patent application was filed on Aug. 25, 2008 (12/198,096). 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=7,970,565.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,565&RS=PN/7,970,565 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Coltec Industrial Products Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- Coltec Industrial Products, Charlotte, N.C., has been assigned a patent (7,970,558) developed by Curtis Roys, Midland, Texas, for a "fluid flow monitor and control system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for monitoring a signal from a cycle switch mounted to a lubrication divider block system. The method comprises receiving a signal from a remotely located cycle switch that is mounted to a divider block, wherein the cycle switch is responsive to the motion of a piston in the divider block. The number of cycles of the cycle switch are counted based on the signal from the cycle switch. The number of cycles is stored in a computer readable medium and the amount of lubricant used is calculated based on the number of cycles. The amount of lubricant used is then stored in the computer readable storage medium." The patent application was filed on April 13, 2010 (12/759,468). 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=7,970,558.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,558&RS=PN/7,970,558 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Landmark Graphics Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- Landmark Graphics, Houston, has been assigned a patent (7,970,545) developed by William C. Sanstrom, Cypress, Texas, for an "attaching drilling information to three-dimensional visualizations of earth models." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for perceiving drilling learning through visualization is provided. In one embodiment using three-dimensional visualization of the earth model as a foundation, a new IT development strategy focuses on perceiving "Drilling Learning" by an intuitive method. Symbols, known as "Knowledge Attachments" are attached to each wellbore trajectory displayed in the three-dimensional environment, with each symbol indicating a specific event--such as one related to drilling operations or problems. A Knowledge Attachment system proves particularly useful to represent disparate data at once, in such a manner that the interdependencies between the earth model and drilling operational data are evident and correlated. Operational issues and lessons learned from prior wells are easily accessed and perceived in the context of the earth model. By understanding this information at the beginning of the well planning process, operational efficiencies may be improved." The patent application was filed on Dec. 11, 2007 (11/954,023). 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=7,970,545.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,545&RS=PN/7,970,545 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** United Technologies Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- United Technologies, Hartford, Conn., has been assigned a patent (7,970,555) developed by Garrett Kernozicky, Mansfield, Conn., Ephraim C. Davis, No Richland Hills, Texas, and Thomas P. Cap, Simsbury, Conn., for a "method for developing a repair process to correct a deformed gas turbine engine component." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method of developing a repair process for a gas turbine engine component deformed during engine operation includes determining peak stress locations in a model of the component, applying loads to sample components based on the model to produce geometrical correction values in the samples, generating data from the samples including the loads applied and the geometrical correction values produced, destructively analyzing the samples at the peak stress locations for structural imperfections, and correlating the loads applied to the geometrical correction values produced to determine allowable loads necessary to produce target geometrical correction values in a used component substantially free of structural imperfections." The patent application was filed on April 15, 2008 (12/082,865). 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=7,970,555.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,555&RS=PN/7,970,555 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Texas Inventors Develop Patent for Relieving Urban Traffic Congestion ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 29 -- Shitalkumar V. Desai, Plano, Texas, and Vipinchandra M. Desai, Plano, Texas, have developed a patent (7,970,530) for a "relieving urban traffic congestion." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system for reducing congestion on a roadway is provided. Selected lengths of selected normal lanes of a roadway are divided into two commuter lanes, distinctive lane markings identify the commuter lanes, and selected lengths of selected lanes are dynamically designated as either normal lanes or pairs of commuter lanes. In order to dynamically change lane configurations, a set of indicators can be provided as lane markers together with a control system to alter particular lane configurations between normal lanes and commuting lanes both cyclically according to a preprogrammed schedule and dynamically in response to sensed vehicle traffic volume, unusual events such as accidents, weather, and so on. A commuter vehicle is required for use on commuter lanes. A typical commuter vehicle weighs less than 650 lbs., has at least three wheels, an enclosed seating compartment, and a low center of gravity with at least one occupant. Occupants sit in a near-kneeling or recumbent position to provide a low center of gravity. Occupants can be positioned in-line, one behind the other." The patent application was filed on June 14, 2010 (12/815,202). 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=7,970,530.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,530&RS=PN/7,970,530 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Jaya Anand. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Mark Page-out Pages as Critical for Cooperative Memory Over-commitment ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,971,027) developed by Matthew D. Fleming, Austin, Texas, and David A. Hepkin, Austin, Texas, for "mark page-out pages as critical for cooperative memory over-commitment." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Disclosed is a computer implemented method and apparatus for marking as critical a virtual memory page in a data processing system. An operating system indicates to a virtual memory manager a virtual memory page selected for paging-out to disk. The operating system determines that the data processing system is using a cooperative memory over-commitment. The operating system, responsive to a determination that the data processing system is using cooperative memory over-commitment, marks the virtual memory page as critical, such that the virtual memory page remains in physical memory. The operating system, responsive to marking the virtual memory page as critical, sets the virtual memory page to a page-out state." The patent application was filed on June 9, 2008 (12/135,286). 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=7,971,027.PN.&OS=PN/7,971,027&RS=PN/7,971,027 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Silicon Laboratories Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Silicon Laboratories, Austin, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,125) developed by Russell J. Apfel, Austin, Texas, and Richard B. Webb, Austin, Texas, for an "output stacking architecture for an amplifier." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "In one embodiment, the present invention includes an operational amplifier having a first input to receive a first current formed of an input current and an offset current. A first MOSFET device having a gate terminal may be coupled to an output of the operational amplifier. An output stack including one or more cascoded devices to provide an output current corresponding to a gain of the operational amplifier may be coupled to a first terminal of the first MOSFET device. The operational amplifier may be used in various circuitry, such as a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC)." The patent application was filed on June 15, 2006 (11/453,418). 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=79,70,125.PN.&OS=PN/79,70,125&RS=PN/79,70,125 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** LifeSize Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- LifeSize Communications, Austin, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,151) developed by William V. Oxford, Austin, Texas, and Vijay Varadarajan, Austin, Texas, for a hybrid beamforming. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system such as a speakerphone may include a processor, memory and an array of microphones. The processor may be configured (via program instructions stored in the memory) to perform automatic echo cancellation, self calibration and beam forming. In particular, the processor may receive input signals from the microphone array and operate on the input signals with a highly directed virtual beam which is a composite of two or more beams which are restricted to respective frequency ranges. The two or more beams may include beams of different kinds, e.g., superdirective beams and delay-and-sum beams." The patent application was filed on April 11, 2006 (11/402,290). 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=79,70,151.PN.&OS=PN/79,70,151&RS=PN/79,70,151 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** LifeSize Communications Assigned Patent for Tracking Talkers Using Virtual Broadside Scan and Directed Beams ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- LifeSize Communications, Austin, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,150) developed by William V. Oxford, Austin, Texas, for "tracking talkers using virtual broadside scan and directed beams." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A communication system (e.g., a speakerphone) includes an array of microphones, a speaker, memory and a processor. The processor may be configured to perform acoustic echo cancellation, to track multiple talkers with highly directed beams, to design beams with nulls pointed at noise sources, to generate a 3D model of the physical environment, to compensate for the proximity effect, and to perform dereverberation of a talker's voice signal. The processor may also be configured to use a standard codec in non-standard ways. The processor may perform a virtual broadside scan on the microphone array, analyze the resulting amplitude envelope for acoustic source angles, examine each of the source angles with a directed beam, combine the beam outputs that show the characteristics of intelligence or speech." The patent application was filed on April 11, 2006 (11/402,197). 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=79,70,150.PN.&OS=PN/79,70,150&RS=PN/79,70,150 Written by Ruby Maibam; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Fujitsu Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Fujitsu, Kawasaki, Japan, has been assigned a patent (7,970,278) developed by four co-inventors for a "flexible open ring optical network and method." The co-inventors are Susumu Kinoshita, Plano, Texas, Koji Takeguchi, Richardson, Texas, Satoru Odate, Richardson, Texas, and Cechan Tian, Plano, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A flexible open ring optical network includes a plurality of nodes connected by twin or other suitable optical rings. Each node is operable to passively add and passively drop traffic from the rings. The nodes may include a transport element for each ring. The transport elements include an optical splitter element and an optical combiner element. The optical splitter element is operable to passively combine an add signal including local add traffic and a first transport signal including ingress traffic from a coupled optical ring to generate a second transport signal including egress traffic for transmission on the coupled optical ring. The optical combiner element is coupled to the optical splitter element and is operable to passively split a third transport signal including the ingress traffic to generate a drop signal including local drop traffic and a fourth transport signal including the ingress traffic. Protection switching may be provided by selectively openable switches disposed in and distributed around the rings." The patent application was filed on May 8, 2007 (11/745,946). 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=79,70,278&OS=79,70,278&RS=79,70,278 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Texas Instruments Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Texas Instruments, Dallas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,230) developed by Jeffrey Kempf, Allen, Texas, Arnold P. Skoog, Frisco, Texas, and Roger M. Ikeda, Plano, Texas, for an "image processing with minimization of ringing artifacts and noise." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method of reducing ringing artifacts in image data that has been filtered with a high frequency emphasis filter. For each filtered data value, a local variance is calculated from data values at neighboring filter taps. This variance is compared to a threshold, and if the threshold is exceeded, the filtered data value is limited between local minimum and maximum values. A method of reducing noise, also using the local variance, is also descri?." The patent application was filed on Aug. 1, 2007 (11/832,279). 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=7,970,230.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,230&RS=PN/7,970,230 Written by Shabnam Sheikh; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Fujitsu Assigned Patent for System and Method for Managing Different Transmission Architectures in a Passive Optical Network ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Fujitsu, Kawasaki, Japan, has been assigned a patent (7,970,281) developed by Martin Bouda, Plano, Texas, for a "system and method for managing different transmission architectures in a passive optical network." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a system and method for managing different transmission architectures in a passive optical network (PON) is provided. In a particular embodiment, a method for managing different transmission architectures in a PON includes transmitting traffic in an upstream or downstream direction in a first time-slot in a PON at each channel of a first set of one or more channels. The method also includes transmitting traffic in the same upstream or downstream direction in a second time-slot in the PON at each channel of a second set of one or more channels that provide greater bandwidth than the first set of one or more channels, wherein at least one channel of the first set at least partially overlaps at least one channel of the second set but is not identical to the at least one channel of the second set." The patent application was filed on Jan. 26, 2007 (11/627,809). 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=79,70,281&OS=79,70,281&RS=79,70,281 Written by Rajat Puri; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Nokia Assigned Patent for Mobile Communications Matching System ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Nokia, Espoo, Finland, has been assigned a patent (7,970,390) developed by Federico Fraccaroli, Irving, Texas, for a "mobile communications matching system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A wireless communications network comprises a server in a central location storing matching profiles for a plurality of users of the network. The matching profile for each user is stored in the server through the user's mobile unit or a secure page on the Internet. Each matching profile is corresponded with a respective mobile unit using the same identification information (ID) of the respective mobile unit utilized for carrying out phone calls. The server has a customizable variable matching algorithm and probes the matching profiles corresponding to the respective mobile units in a cell or group of cells for a match every time a new mobile unit subscribes into the cell or group of cells. When there is a match of matching profiles, the two persons are put in contact or advised of each other through a phone call or other communications method." The patent application was filed on Oct. 5, 2007 (11/868,004). 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=7,970,390.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,390&RS=PN/7,970,390 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Cisco Technology Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Cisco Technology, San Jose, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,970,401) developed by Steven R. Donovan, Plano, Texas, and David A. Ladd, Lisle, Ill., for an "associating a handoff address to a communication session." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for associating a handoff address to a communication session includes determining one or more communication sessions are established in a first network. Each of one or more handoff addresses is associated with each of the one or more communication sessions. Associating each of the one or more handoff addresses is according to a temporal order of establishment of the one or more communication sessions." The patent application was filed on July 5, 2006 (11/428,671). 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=7,970,401.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,401&RS=PN/7,970,401 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Affinity Labs of Texas Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Affinity Labs of Texas, Austin, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,379) developed by Russell W. White, Austin, Texas, and Kevin R. Imes, Austin, Texas, for a providing broadcast content. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for providing broadcast content is disclosed. The method maintains a system to deliver regionally broadcasted content to an electronic device located outside a region of the regionally broadcasted content, provides an application for the electronic device that allows the electronic device to request a streaming media signal representing the regionally broadcasted content even if the electronic device is located outside of the region, and communicates the streaming media signal to the electronic device responsive to a user request." The patent application was filed on June 30, 2009 (12/495,115). 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=7,970,379.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,379&RS=PN/7,970,379 Written by Anjali Jha; edited by Jaya Anand. *** AT&T Intellectual Property I Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- AT&T Intellectual Property I, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (7,970,110) developed by Douglas F. Reynolds, Austin, Texas, for a "voice over IP method for developing interactive voice response system." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A personal Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system includes a plurality of IVR servers communicating personal IVR service node information in a network and a plurality of personal IVR service node clients coupled to the plurality of IVR servers communicating the personal IVR service node information. The plurality of personal IVR service node clients have a client-server relationship with the plurality of IVR servers. The personal IVR system further includes facilities for managing transmission of the personal IVR service node information using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology." The patent application was filed on July 14, 2009 (12/502,882). 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=7970110.PN.&OS=PN/7970110&RS=PN/7970110 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** AT&T Intellectual Property I Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- AT&T Intellectual Property I, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (7,970,116) developed by Edward Walter, Boerne, Texas, and Larry B. Pearson, San Antonio, for a "method and apparatus for notifying an end user of a messaging event in a multi-user setting." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for notifying an end user of a messaging event in a multi-user setting is disclosed. An apparatus that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a terminal device having a User Interface (UI) element that selectively identifies one or more parties to whom a messaging event is directed according to one or more matches between a caller identifier associated with the messaging event and one or more entries in a plurality of contact books corresponding to a plurality of users of the terminal device. Additional embodiments are disclosed." The patent application was filed on Oct. 13, 2006 (11/549,382). 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=7970116.PN.&OS=PN/7970116&RS=PN/7970116 Written by Ankresh Ranjan; edited by Jaya Anand. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Web Services Response Templates ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,862) developed by Michael H. Connor, Austin, Texas, and Eoin Lane, Littleton, Mass., for "web services response templates." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Provided is a Web Services Response Template (WSRT) that addresses the problems of efficiency and robustness to change in Web Services response by allowing a requestor to explicitly specify, in a response template what information is to be returned by the request. A requestor of a web service gets just the information it needs; different requestors of the same operation may get different information; and a responder sends the requestor only what is asked for so there is no problem when new information becomes available. WSRTs are specifically designed to allow the type of control needed in program-to-program (P2P) communication, while being very efficiently and simply processed by a web service. Thus, WSRTs address difficulties that arise in typical distributed, P2P communication without adding much overhead or complexity to either a service requestor or a service provider. The efficiency and flexibility afforded by WSRTs is essential to emerging enterprise architectures based on SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)." The patent application was filed on Dec. 10, 2009 (12/635,460). 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=7,970,862&OS=7,970,862&RS=7,970,862 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Detecting Outbound Nagling on a TCP Network Connection ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,864) developed by Rajiv Arora, Austin, Texas, and Jesse M. Gordon, Austin, Texas, for a "detecting outbound nagling on a TCP network connection." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and media for detecting outbound Nagling on a TCP network connection are disclosed. Embodiments may include creating by a sender computer one or more segments to be transmitted to a receiver computer and determining by the sender computer whether any of the one or more segments to be transmitted are small segments and determining whether a previously transmitted small segment is unacknowledged by the receiver computer. If the previously transmitted small segment is unacknowledged by the receiver computer and at least one of the segments to be transmitted is a small segment, embodiments may also include detecting by the sender computer a Nagling condition on the network connection. Further embodiments may include modifying a Nagle algorithm configuration of the network connection in response to the detected Nagling condition by turning off the Nagle algorithm or reducing a delayed acknowledgement timer for the network connection." The patent application was filed on April 2, 2009 (12/417,194). 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=7,970,864&OS=7,970,864&RS=7,970,864 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Dell Products Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Dell Products, Round Rock, Texas, has been assigned a patent (7,970,873) developed by four co-inventors for a "system and method for assigning addresses to information handling systems." The co-inventors are Cuong Nguyen, Austin, Texas, Michael A. Brundridge, Georgetown, Texas, Bruce Holmes, Austin, Texas, and Michael Roberts, Austin, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Information handling system network addresses are managed to support a consistent MAC address for iSCSI and fiber channel host bus adapter. For example, a management controller retrieves a MAC address from persistent memory, such as a network location, and assigns the MAC address to a non-persistent memory of a predetermined information handling system network component so that the MAC address remains consistent even if the network component is replaced. For example, an offload engine that supports network communications with iSCSI receives a MAC address from a network location and applies the MAC address for use by a host bus adapter. Alternatively, an offload engine supports Fiber Channel with World Wide Name or World Wide Identifier address assignments." The patent application was filed on Dec. 2, 2008 (12/326,500). 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=7,970,873&OS=7,970,873&RS=7,970,873 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Tagging and Tracking Non-hypertext Markup Language Based E-mail ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,842) developed by Karl Cama, Roanoke, Texas, for a "tagging and tracking non-hypertext markup language based E-mail." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for tagging and tracking non-hypertext markup language based e-mail. An e-mail is converted from a non-hypertext markup language format to an encoded format. An item is identified in the e-mail. A tag is added to the item in the e-mail. The e-mail is converted from the encoded format back to the non-hypertext markup language format." The patent application was filed on June 4, 2009 (12/478,604). 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=7,970,842&OS=7,970,842&RS=7,970,842 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Method for Moving Operating Systems Between Computer Electronic Complexes Without Loss of Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,852) developed by four co-inventors for a "method for moving operating systems between computer electronic complexes without loss of service." The co-inventors are James P. Allen, Austin, Texas, Michael Paul Cyr, Georgetown, Texas, James A. Pafumi, Leander, Texas, and Vasu Vallabhaneni, Austin, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method for migrating a client partition between computer electronic complexes (CECs) while maintaining access to a Storage Area Network. An active and inactive world wide port name are generated for a client virtual channel adapter. A query is sent to a name server from the VIOS on the source CEC. The name server creates a list of small computer system interface (SCSI) targets that are available. The list is used by the VIOS on the destination CEC to verify whether any physical ports in the destination CEC have access to the same SCSI target. The client partition may be migrated between a source CEC and a destination CEC and the access to the Storage Area Network access may be maintained." The patent application was filed on June 9, 2008 (12/136,036). 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=7,970,852&OS=7,970,852&RS=7,970,852 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Data Retrieval Method and System ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,865) developed by six co-inventors for a "data retrieval method and system." The co-inventors are Donna DeCesare, Charlotte, N.C., Daniel Joseph Gatins, Atlanta, Richard Hennessy, Austin, Julian I. Kamil, Gaithersburg, Md., Gerald McLoughlin, Southbury, Conn., and William Philip Shaouy, Atlanta. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A data retrieval method and system. The method includes transmitting, by a computing device to data source organizations in response to a request for data, a request for populating online forms. The computing device receives input data associated with the online forms. The computing device transmits notification data requesting analysis of the input data and an input form for uploading results of the analysis. The computing device receives analysis data files. The computing device transmits the analysis data files and data transformation requirements to an IT service organization. The computing device receives clarification inquiries data. The computing device transmits the clarification inquiries data to the data source organizations. The computing device receives response data from the data source organizations. The computing device receives modified analysis data files from the IT service organization. The computing device transmits notification data indicating results of the modified analysis data files to an entity." The patent application was filed on April 30, 2009 (12/432,853). 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=7,970,865&OS=7,970,865&RS=7,970,865 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Method and System for Automatic Skill-gap Evaluation ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,869) developed by Ori Pomerantz, Austin, Texas, for a "method and system for automatic skill-gap evaluation." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system for automatic user skill-gap evaluation using a proxy server or a proxy application. The proxy server or application receives a user input from a user and analyzes the user input to determine whether the user input falls below an acceptable user skill threshold level. The user input consists of user activity within an application and the user activity is recorded in a user action log. To determine whether the user input falls below the acceptable user skill threshold level, the proxy server or application compares the user activity recorded in the user action log with user skill-gap behavior patterns created by a subject matter expert. In response to determining that the user activity recorded in the user action log falls below the acceptable user skill threshold level, the proxy server or application sends a specific training module to the user based on an identified user skill-gap." The patent application was filed on May 29, 2008 (12/129,460). 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=7,970,869&OS=7,970,869&RS=7,970,869 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for System and Method for Deriving a Hierarchical Event Based Database Optimized for Pharmaceutical Analysis ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,759) developed by Robert R. Friedlander, Southbury, Conn., Richard A. Hennessy, Austin, Texas, and James R. Kraemer, Santa Fe, N.M., for a "system and method for deriving a hierarchical event based database optimized for pharmaceutical analysis." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for inferring a probability of a first inference absent from a database at which a query regarding the inference is received. Each datum of the database is conformed to the dimensions of the database. Each datum of the plurality of data has associated metadata and an associated key. The associated metadata includes data regarding cohorts associated with the corresponding datum, data regarding hierarchies associated with the corresponding datum, data regarding a corresponding source of the datum, and data regarding probabilities associated with integrity, reliability, and importance of each associated datum. The query is used as a frame of reference for the search. The database returns a probability of the correctness of the first inference based on the query and on the data." The patent application was filed on Feb. 26, 2007 (11/678,957). 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=7,970,759&OS=7,970,759&RS=7,970,759 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Curen Software Enterprises Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Curen Software Enterprises, Wilmington, Del., has been assigned a patent (7,970,724) developed by Robert R. Hauser, Frisco, Texas, for an "execution of a canonical rules based agent." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for executing an agent utilizing a rule engine and a set of canonical rules in an execution environment comprising collecting an initial set of data, asserting the initial data into a working memory, executing the rule engine utilizing the working memory and the set of canonical rules and firing an applicable rule by the rule engine." The patent application was filed on Dec. 22, 2006 (11/645,301). 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=7,970,724&OS=7,970,724&RS=7,970,724 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for System and Method for Enhancing Keyword Relevance by User's Interest on the Search Result Documents ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,753) developed by four co-inventors for a "system and method for enhancing keyword relevance by user's interest on the search result documents." The co-inventors are Tolga Oral, Arlington, Mass., David L. Newbold, West Roxbury, Mass., Michael Bolin, East Brunswick, N.J., and Raudel S. Rodriguez, Austin, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and method are provided for enabling a user to search for documents that the user has previously viewed on its local machine. The system includes three main components: the desktop integration module, the index module, and the graphical user interface module. The desktop integration module is an application which monitors documents with which the user interacts for predetermined events, and obtains content data and metadata from the monitored documents. The index module indexes the content data and metadata received from the desktop integration module. The graphical user interface module then permits a user to utilize the desktop integration module and index module by allowing a user to search for a document." The patent application was filed on Sept. 25, 2009 (12/567,557). 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=7,970,753&OS=7,970,753&RS=7,970,753 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Combining Revision Based and Time Based File Data Protection ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,741) developed by Christopher V. Lazzaro, Austin, Texas, Thomas E. O'Brien, Round Rock, Texas, and Borna Safabakhsh, Austin, Texas, for a "combining revision based and time based file data protection." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method and apparatus for protecting file data is provided that combines or merges revision based backup with backup based on time intervals. One embodiment is directed to a method for protecting data contained in a file of a computer system, wherein the computer system is useable to create multiple successive file versions. The method comprises the steps of specifying a maximum number of file versions that can be stored collectively at first and second storage locations, and apportioning the maximum number into a first number of file versions and a second number of file versions. The method further comprises storing the most recent of the multiple file versions, up to a number equal to the first number, at the first storage location. A number of file versions respectively created before the stored most recent versions, up to a number equal to the second number, are stored at the second storage location, over a pre-specified time period and in accordance with a pre-specified strategy." The patent application was filed on Dec. 30, 2009 (12/649,792). 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=7,970,741&OS=7,970,741&RS=7,970,741 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** JPMorgan Chase Bank Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- JPMorgan Chase Bank, New York, has been assigned a patent (7,970,706) developed by Alexandra Keene, Plano, Texas, for a "system and method for check exception item notification." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system mainframe receives a payee check file and a payor check file and produces an exception file including at least one exception item. A server receives the exception file and generates a Web file including information relating to the exception item and generates an address for the Web file. The server further sends an exception client an e-mail which notifies the exception client of the exception item and provides the exception client with the address for the Web file." The patent application was filed on March 15, 2001 (09/809,494). 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=7,970,706&OS=7,970,706&RS=7,970,706 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Siemens Medical Solutions USA Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Malvern, Pa., has been assigned a patent (7,970,191) developed by five co-inventors for a "system and method for simultaneously subsampling fluoroscopic images and enhancing guidewire visibility." The co-inventors are Bogdan Georgescu, Plainsboro, N.J., Peter Durlak, Erlangen, Germany, Vassilis Athitsos, Arlington, Texas, Adrian Barbu, Tallahassee, Fla., and Dorin Comaniciu, Princeton Junction, N.J. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for downsampling fluoroscopic images and enhancing guidewire visibility during coronary angioplasty includes providing a first digitized image, filtering the image with one or more steerable filters of different angular orientations, assigning a weight W and orientation O for each pixel based on the filter response for each pixel, wherein each pixel weight is assigned to a function of a maximum filter response magnitude and the pixel orientation is calculated from the angle producing the maximum filter response if the magnitude is greater than zero, wherein guidewire pixels have a higher weight than non-guidewire pixels, and downsampling the orientation and weights to calculate a second image of half the resolution of the first image, wherein the downsampling accounts for the orientation and higher weight assigned to the guidewire pixels." The patent application was filed on Sept. 25, 2007 (11/860,591). 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=7,970,191.PN.&OS=PN/7,970,191&RS=PN/7,970,191 Written by Ankita Das; edited by Jaya Anand. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent for Automatically Persisting Data from a Model to a Database ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,778) developed by Raphael P. Chancey, Leander, Texas, and Eduardo T. Kahan, Longwood, Fla., for an "automatically persisting data from a model to a database." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Projects often involve multiple teams of developers in different locations. The different teams make updates to a central or shared database(s) that can store information about the project, such as progress. Each team or even different members of the different teams can check out instances of a representation of a model for the project. The different teams/members can independently modify their instance with data specific to that member and/or team. Database operations embedded in the individual instances are then executed on the database(s) to persist the data from their individual instances to the database(s). Database mechanisms can handle locking and/or conflicts that may arise from performance of the database operations. A manager can then request a report from the database(s), and the report with data from the different members and/or teams can be generated from the database(s)." The patent application was filed on Jan. 14, 2008 (12/013,865). 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=7,970,778&OS=7,970,778&RS=7,970,778 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** International Business Machines Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent (7,970,661) developed by four co-inventors for a "method, medium, and system for allocating a transaction discount during a collaborative shopping session." The co-inventors are Subil M. Abraham, Plano, Texas, Rajaraman Hariharan, Chennai, India, Ramakrishnan Kannan, Bangalore, India, and Mathews Thomas, Flower Mound, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A collaborative shopping group can be established within a social networking web site. This initially established group can consist of individuals with whom the establishing user has a social networking affiliation. After an initial establishment of the collaborative shopping group, each individual within the group is able to add additional individuals to the collaborative shopping group. A shared shopping cart can be established for the collaborative shopping group. A set of different members of the collaborative shopping group can individually and independently add items from a set of different e-commerce sites to the shared shopping cart. An e-commerce purchase of items in the shared shopping cart can be completed. The completed e-commerce purchase can receive a transaction discount greater than or equal to a sum of discounts that would have resulted from discrete purchases of the items of the shared shopping cart by the individuals of the collaborative shopping group." The patent application was filed on Jan. 20, 2010 (12/690,553). 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=7970661.PN.&OS=PN/7970661&RS=PN/7970661 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Charles Schwab Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Charles Schwab, San Francisco, has been assigned a patent (7,970,694) developed by seven co-inventors for a "method and system for executing trades in a user preferred security." The co-inventors are Bradley J. Swearingen, Round Rock, Texas, David S. Harding, Austin, Texas, Brant C. Lewis, Austin, Texas, Richard Munoz Jr., Cedar Park, Texas, Gregory Scott Mogonye, Austin, Texas, Gregory Ferris, Austin, Texas, and Philip R. Berber, Austin, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Disclosed are methods and systems of executing securities trades. An exemplary system comprises a server system that is in communication with a client system, a security data source, and a trade execution location. The security data source provides security data relating to a plurality of securities to the server system. The client system provides user specific criteria to the server system. The server system then analyzes the security data based upon the criteria, identifies user preferred securities from the plurality of securities, and provides the client system with data relating to the user preferred securities. The client system uses N user specific parameters to generate and display an N dimensional graph that is populated with icons representing the user preferred securities. After a user preferred securities is selected from the graph and an order is requested, the client system sends the order to the server system." The patent application was filed on Feb. 4, 2009 (12/365,338). 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=7970694.PN.&OS=PN/7970694&RS=PN/7970694 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Metareward Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Metareward, San Carlos, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,970,672) developed by Michael S. Mendelovich, Menlo Park, Calif., Richard Rodenbusch, Allen, Texas, and Jb G. Orecchia, Pleasanton, Calif., for a "real-time marketing of credit-based goods or services." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods are described that determine which offers for credit-based transactions (if any) to market to a person. Each offer is associated with a set of third party demographic information criteria, a set of lender demographic information criteria, and a set of lender credit data criteria. The set of third party demographic information criteria is applied to a set of offers to determine a first subset of offers. The set of lender demographic information criteria is applied to the first subset of offers to determine a second subset of offers. The set of lender credit data criteria is applied to the second subset of offers to determine a third subset of offers." The patent application was filed on Sept. 1, 2005 (11/219,142). 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=7970672.PN.&OS=PN/7970672&RS=PN/7970672 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** United Services Automobile Association (USAA) Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- United Services Automobile Association (USAA), San Antonio, has been assigned a patent (7,970,677) developed by four co-inventors for "systems and methods for financial deposits by electronic message." The co-inventors are Charles Lee Oakes III, Boerne, Texas, Michael Frank Morris, San Antonio, Bharat Prasad, San Antonio, and Reynaldo Medina III, San Antonio. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An image of a negotiable instrument may be communicated from a user to a financial institution using a messaging application so that funds associated with the negotiable instrument may be deposited into a user's bank account. A user may launch an instant messaging application and establish a communications session with a predetermined account at the financial institution to communicate the image. The image may be stored in a file or created by a capture device under control of the instant messaging application. The image file may be processed and verified by the financial institution, where it may be deposited in an account associated with the user." Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. The patent application was filed on Oct. 24, 2008 (12/257,477). 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=7970677.PN.&OS=PN/7970677&RS=PN/7970677 *** Int. Property Consulting Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Int. Property Consulting, Wilmington, Del., has been assigned a patent (7,970,662) developed by Cynthia Calonge, San Antonio, for a "method for providing online submission of requests for proposals for forwarding to identified vendors." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An online system and method for allowing a prospective buyer to complete an electronic RFP document and to have the RFP document transmitted to one or more appropriate prospective sellers of goods and services. The system and method provide the prospective buyer with the option of automatically identifying potentially appropriate sellers by means of key word searches in a compiled database of vendor information and product and services descriptions. The prospective buyer may also elect to review the database contents "manually" by means of selecting specific subject matter areas or incrementally reviewing a list of database vendors one at a time. The system directs the buyer's RFP to the selected vendors for review and consideration. This transmission is made electronically, typically by email protocols, for review by appropriate personnel at the selected vendor's business. Such review is carried out by an individual or automatically by the vendor's own system which identifies the appropriateness of the match with its range of offered goods and services. A proposal or price quote is then transmitted electronically back through the system to the prospective buyer for consideration, again typically by email protocols. The buyer may then review the various proposals and price quotes it receives back for consideration and may select an appropriate vendor with which to carry out the commercial transaction." The patent application was filed on July 3, 2006 (11/480,792). 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=7970662.PN.&OS=PN/7970662&RS=PN/7970662 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Applied Materials Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Applied Materials, Santa Clara, Calif., has been assigned a patent (7,970,588) developed by eight co-inventors for a "mthod, system and medium for controlling manufacturing process using adaptive models based on empirical data." The co-inventors are Yuri Kokotov, Maaleh Adumim, Israel, Alexander T. Schwarm, Austin, Texas, Efim Entin, Jerusalem, Israel, Jacques Seror, Jerusalem, Israel, Jehuda Hartman, Rehovot, Israel, Yossi Fisher, Jerusalem, Israel, Arulkumar P. Shanmugasundram, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Moshe Sarfaty, Cupertino, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method, system, and medium of modeling and/or for controlling a manufacturing process is disclosed. The method includes the steps of identifying one or more input parameters that cause a change in output characteristics, defining global nodes using estimated maximum and minimum values of the input parameters, and defining a mathematical equation that calculates a predicted output characteristic for each node. The method also includes the steps of receiving at least one empirical data point having one or more input parameter values and at least one empirical output value and adjusting the predicted output values at the nodes based on a difference between the at least one empirical output value and the predicted output characteristic calculated using the mathematical equation based on the one or more input parameter values." The patent application was filed on Dec. 20, 2007 (12/004,675). 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=7970588.PN.&OS=PN/7970588&RS=PN/7970588 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Clyde Holmes Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Clyde Holmes, San Antonio, has been assigned a patent (7,970,607) developed by Clyde Holmes, San Antonio, for a "method and system for low bit rate voice encoding and decoding applicable for any reduced bandwidth requirements including wireless." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An implementation of the present invention comprises a voice encoder and decoder method and system that uses voice excitation, eliminating the voice/unvoiced pitch tracking, and the first formant up to 2400 Hertz for synchronous and up to 1600 Hertz for asynchronous, does not use pulse code modulation encoding, but uses the zero crossings only of the first formant, frequency dividing by two and sampling at the formant frequency. The resulting combination uses half or less of the bit rate for excitation and the remainder for short-term spectrum analysis. The spectrum could be updated each 20 milliseconds using 49 bits for the spectrum frame and 49 bits for excitation and one frame bit for synchronous Asynchronous operation could be update at 21.25 milliseconds using 49 bits for the spectrum information and 34 bits for excitation with one bit for frame synchronization. The decoder extracts the excitation, multiplies it by two and uses a Hanning modified sawtooth and spectral flattening to excite the spectrum generator. This waveform produces both even and odd harmonics for both periodic (voiced) and aperiodic (unvoiced) frequencies and gives naturalness to all languages and speakers." The patent application was filed on Feb. 15, 2008 (12/070,090). 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=7970607.PN.&OS=PN/7970607&RS=PN/7970607 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Ethicon Endo-Surgery Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, has been assigned a patent (7,970,631) developed by thirteen co-inventors for a medical effector system. The co-inventors are Paul J. Bruggeman, Loveland, Ohio, Mark A. Burdorff, Loveland, Ohio, William L. Collins Jr., Cincinnati, William T. Donofrio, Andover, Minn., Curt R. Eyster, West Chester, Ohio, Hal H. Katz, Jupiter, Fla., James F. Martin, Lebanon, Ohio, Anil K. Nalagatla, Mason, Ohio, Paul J. Niklewski, Cincinnati, Salvatore Privitera, Mason, Ohio, Fred B. Stevens III, Cincinnati, Jeffery J. Wuennemann, Liberty Township, Ohio, and Randall S. Hickle, Lubbock, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A medical effector system comprised of a bedside unit and a procedure unit. The bedside unit contains a series of connection points for receiving inputs from a series of patient monitors. The procedure unit contains a patient monitoring and medical effector program, and a drug delivery pump or magnetic flux generator capable of delivering therapeutic energy to a patient. The medical effector system contains the capability to issue and receive a request from a non-sedated patient, issue and receive a request from a sedated patient and then to calculate a time difference. The medical effector program operates the pump or magnetic flux generator based upon at least some of the patient outputs and program inputs including a calculated time difference. A removable umbilical cable connects the two units and allows the output of the patient monitors as well as other information to travel between the two units." The patent application was filed on June 21, 2005 (11/158,161). 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=7970631.PN.&OS=PN/7970631&RS=PN/7970631 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Texas Inventors Develop Patent for Controlled Substance Tracking System and Method ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30 -- Ralph B. Lilly, Houston, Jesse J. Bornfreund, Houston, and Jeffrey A. Anon, Houston, have developed a patent (7,970,622) for a "controlled substance tracking system and method." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for tracking prescriptive medications is provided whereby a complete prescriptive medication history including active and inactive prescriptive medications is stored for a plurality of patients utilizing a plurality of pharmacies wherein the pharmacies may be affiliated or unaffiliated. The information may be selectively retrieved th 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. -1052776 (c) 2011 Targeted News Service |