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U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in Washington (March 29)(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service Targeted News Service ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- The following federal patents were awarded to inventors in Washington. *** Occam Portfolio Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Occam Portfolio, Cupertino, Calif., has been assigned a patent (8,404,977) developed by Joseph C. Fjelstad, Maple Valley, Wash., for a "flexible circuit assembly without solder." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Provided is a flexible electronic assembly that uses no solder. Components or component packages are mounted on a flexible substrate. Vias connect through the substrate to the components' leads. Circuits are formed on the opposite side of the substrate interconnecting the component through the vias. The assembly is made flexible by removing encapsulent material between components." The patent application was filed on April 27, 2012 (13/458,167). 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=84,04,977.PN.&OS=PN/84,04,977&RS=PN/84,04,977 Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand. *** Eden Rock Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Eden Rock Communications, Bothell, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,136) developed by Eamonn Gormley, Redmond, Wash., for "systems and methods for hybrid rate limiting based on data bit count and data packet count." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A networked computing system employing a hybrid rate-limiting scheme, including one or more service provider device(s) (SPD) and one or more subscriber computing device(s) (SCD), and a data communications network facilitating data communications amongst the networked SPD and SCD devices. A SPD may apply the hybrid rate-limiting scheme to data communications provided to a SCD, based on both data bit count and data packet count information. The rate-limiting scheme may include a dual token bucket algorithm that facilitates rate-limiting PDUs in a data transfer queue utilizing one token bucket for metering data bits and another token bucket for metering data packets. The hybrid rate-limiting scheme may also employ a triple token bucket algorithm that includes one token bucket for metering data bits related to payload only data, a separate token bucket for metering data bits related to total PDU data, and another token bucket for metering data packets." The patent application was filed on April 7, 2010 (12/756,154). 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=8,406,136&OS=8,406,136&RS=8,406,136 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Eden Rock Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Eden Rock Communications, Bothell, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,759) developed by David J. Ryan, Seattle, and David B. Gibbons, Redmond, Wash., for "systems and methods for managing radio resources unsing extended management information bases in wireless networks." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A networked computing system, including multiple radio access nodes (RANs), multiple radio communications controllers (RCCs), and a data communications network facilitating communications amongst the RANs and the RCCs of the system. A regional RAN receives a default eMIB associated with a first type of RAN (e.g., a macrocell, microcell, picocells, or femtocell RAN types) from a RCC, in response to a registration event of a RAN initialization process. The regional RAN maintains a dynamic eMIB comprising network operating parameters determined by various self-optimization processes. The network operating parameters of the dynamic eMIB are selected to fall within a range designated by the default eMIB. During a network failure condition, the regional RAN is configured to use a temporary eMIB comprising failure level operating parameters in order to mitigate network deficiencies caused by the network failure condition." The patent application was filed on Feb. 22, 2010 (12/709,521). 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=8,406,759.PN.&OS=PN/8,406,759&RS=PN/8,406,759 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** AT&T Mobility II Assigned Patent for Mediation Router ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- AT&T Mobility II, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (8,406,739) developed by Matthew Hull, Atlanta, and Goshtasb Foroutan, Sammamish, Wash., for a mediation router. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system and methodology that can dynamically select advertisement vendors in response to a request from a wireless communication device is provided. The system employ a mediation router to receive an ad request from a portal interfaced with a wireless device. Specifically, the mediation router analyzes the request and dynamically selects an ad vendor to service the request, based in part on the analysis. The selected ad vendor supplies the ad and the mediation router ensures that the portal receives the ad. The mediation router selects an ad vendor in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, business decision rules or artificial intelligence and/or a combination thereof. The mediation router further employs customer profiles that help vendors target advertisements to specific consumers and wireless devices." The patent application was filed on Nov. 19, 2008 (12/273,898). 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=8,406,739.PN.&OS=PN/8,406,739&RS=PN/8,406,739 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** AT&T Mobility II Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- AT&T Mobility II, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (8,406,778) developed by Todd W. Allen, Duvall, Wash., and Kevin W. Jones, Saint Louis Park, Minn., for "systems and methods for dynamic aggregation of bandwidth." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods are presented for the dynamic aggregation of communications network bandwidth. Communication devices are bonded in a community in which the communication resources of a bonded device can be used to transfer data on behalf of another bonded device. In an exemplary embodiment, communication devices are bonded wirelessly to share wireless wide area network communication channels. Bandwidth aggregation is performed dynamically based on user communication requirements and the current states of the bonded communication devices. Methods are presented by which communication devices can be automatically bonded when a predetermined bonding condition is satisfied. The methods and systems of the invention optimize utilization of communication resources in a cost-effective manner that provides a user high quality service as well as location mobility." The patent application was filed on Aug. 24, 2010 (12/862,093). 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=8,406,778.PN.&OS=PN/8,406,778&RS=PN/8,406,778 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Visual Feedback for Natural Head Positioning ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,405,706) developed by Zhengyou Zhang, Bellevue, Wash., Christian Huitema, Clyde Hill, Wash., and Alejandro Acero, Bellevue, Wash., for a "visual feedback for natural head positioning." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A videoconferencing conferee may be provided with feedback on his or her location relative a local video camera by altering how remote videoconference video is displayed on a local videoconference display viewed by the conferee. The conferee's location may be tracked and the displayed remote video may be altered in accordance to the changing location of the conferee. The remote video may appear to move in directions mirroring movement of the conferee. This effect may be achieved by modeling the remote video as offset and behind a virtual portal corresponding to the display. The remote video may be displayed according to a view of the remote video through the virtual portal. As the conferee's position changes, the view through the portal changes, and the remote video changes accordingly." The patent application was filed on Dec. 17, 2008 (12/336,534). 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=8,405,706.PN.&OS=PN/8,405,706&RS=PN/8,405,706 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Amazon Technologies Assigned Patent for Efficient Highly Connected Data Centers ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Amazon Technologies, Reno, Nev., has been assigned a patent (8,406,128) developed by five co-inventors for "efficient highly connected data centers." The co-inventors are Jagwinder Singh Brar, Bellevue, Wash., Michael David Marr, Monroe, Wash., Tyson J. Lamoreaux, Seattle, Mark N. Kelly, Dublin, Ireland, and Justin O. Pietsch, Bothell, Wash. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Efficient and highly-scalable network solutions are provided that each utilize deployment units based on Clos networks, but in an environment such as a data center of Internet Protocol-based network. Each of the deployment units can include multiple stages of devices, where connections between devices are only made between stages and the deployment units are highly connected. In some embodiments, the level of connectivity between two stages can be reduced, providing available connections to add edge switches and additional host connections while keeping the same number of between-tier connections. In some embodiments, where deployment units (or other network groups) can be used at different levels to connect other deployment units, the edges of the deployment units can be fused to reduce the number of devices per host connection." The patent application was filed on June 29, 2010 (12/826,586). 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=8,406,128&OS=8,406,128&RS=8,406,128 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Sharp Laboratories of America Assigned Patent for Systems and Methods for Minimizing Re-imaging Procedures for an Imaging Device ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Sharp Laboratories of America, Camas, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,405,840) developed by Andrew Rodney Ferlitsch, Camas, Wash., for "systems and methods for minimizing re-imaging procedures for an imaging device." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for minimizing re-imaging procedures for an imaging device is disclosed. A first set of imaging instructions for a hard copy of a document is received at an imaging device. The hard copy of the document is scanned in accordance with the first set of imaging instructions to create image data. The image data is retained in memory at an identified location until a purging event occurs. A second set of imaging instructions is received at the imaging device. It is then determined whether the hard copy of the document has been removed from the processing path of the imaging device since the scanning occurred using at least one sensor. If the hard copy of the document has not been removed, imaging output is produced in accordance with the second set of instructions using the image data without rescanning a hard copy of the document." The patent application was filed on Dec. 18, 2008 (12/338,729). 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=8,405,840&OS=8,405,840&RS=8,405,840 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** AT&T Mobility II Assigned Patent for Client Management of Visual Voicemail Data Communications ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- AT&T Mobility II, Atlanta, has been assigned a patent (8,406,744) developed by four co-inventors for a "client management of visual voicemail data communications." The co-inventors are Venson M. Shaw, Kirkland, Wash., Arthur Brisebois, Cumming, Ga., Gholam-Reza Rahsaz, Sammamish, Wash., and William Sigmund, Cumming, Ga. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Data communications sessions for visual voicemail data communications are terminated under the control of a wireless device's visual voicemail client. In one embodiment, a visual voicemail client can be configured to transmit a request or command to terminate a data communications session immediately upon sending an acknowledgement of receiving voicemail data from a voicemail server. In another embodiment, a visual voicemail client can be configured to transmit a request or command to terminate a data communications session following the expiration of a timer set by the visual voicemail client. Alternatively, a visual voicemail client can be configured to wait for a termination request for command from a voicemail server." The patent application was filed on Nov. 19, 2009 (12/621,828). 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=8,406,744.PN.&OS=PN/8,406,744&RS=PN/8,406,744 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Dell Products Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Dell Products, Round Rock, Texas, has been assigned a patent (8,405,966) developed by seven co-inventors for a "memory carrier and IHS coupling system." The co-inventors are Corey D. Hartman, Hutto, Texas, Brian T. Whitman, University Place, Wash., Glen Patrick Gordon, Graham, Wash., Jeffory L. Smalley, Olympia, Wash., Michael Schrempp, Bainbridge Island, Wash., Pete Ross, Olympia, Wash., and Russell Smith, Taylor, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A memory carrier system includes a carrier chassis that includes a board having a board connector. The board is operable to couple to a plurality of memory modules. A pair of pinion cams are rotatably mounted to the carrier chassis. A handle is moveably coupled to the carrier chassis and includes a pair of rack arms. Each rack arm engages a respective pinion cam. The carrier chassis is operable to be positioned in an information handling system (IHS) chassis that includes an IHS connector, and the handle is operable to be moved relative to the carrier chassis in order to rotate the pinion cams into an engagement with the IHS chassis that provides a cam force that mates the board connector to the IHS connector." The patent application was filed on Nov. 23, 2010 (12/953,035). 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=8,405,966&OS=8,405,966&RS=8,405,966 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Pullman, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,405,944) developed by Marcos A. Donolo, Pullman, Wash., Armando Guzman-Casillas, Pullman, Wash., and Edmund O. Schweitzer III, Pullman, Wash., for a "distributed bus differential protection using time-stamped data." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A distributed busbar protection system using time-stamped data gathered from measurement devices in an electrical power system bus arrangement by respective intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). The IEDs may derive the timestamp information from a clock or other time source, which may be synchronized to a common time source and/or an absolute time. The time-stamped measurement data may be used by a protection device to monitor and/or protect the electrical power system. The protection device may include a real-time vector processor, which may time-align the time-stamped data, determine one or more bus differential protection zones, and implement a differential protection function within each of the protection zones. One or more protective control signals may be transmitted to the IEDs to trip the corresponding breakers and clear the bus fault." The patent application was filed on Sept. 18, 2009 (12/562,861). 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=8,405,944&OS=8,405,944&RS=8,405,944 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Pullman, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,405,940) developed by five co-inventors for "systems and methods for generator ground fault protection." The co-inventors are Edmund O. Schweitzer III, Pullman, Wash., Veselin Skendzic, Pullman, Wash., Gabriel Benmouyal, Boucherville, Canada, Bruce A. Hall, Pullman, Wash., and Rogerio Scharlach, San Ramon, Calif. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A generator winding-to-ground fault detection system is disclosed that includes a signal injection source in electrical communication with a winding of an electric power generator via an injection transformer. The winding may be coupled to ground via a winding-to-ground path and the signal generation source may generate an injection signal capable of being injected to the winding using the injection transformer. The disclosed system may further include a protection module in communication with the signal injection source and the electric power generator configured to receive the injection signal and a signal relating to the current through the winding-to-ground path, and to determine the occurrence of a winding-to-ground fault condition based at least in part on the injection signal and the signal relating to the current through the winding-to-ground path." The patent application was filed on Oct. 12, 2010 (12/903,104). 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=8,405,940&OS=8,405,940&RS=8,405,940 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Hewlett-Packard Development Assigned Patent for Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Flexibly Connected to a Device Chassis ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Hewlett-Packard Development, Houston, has been assigned a patent (8,406,009) developed by four co-inventors for a "printed circuit board (PCB) flexibly connected to a device chassis." The co-inventors are Jeffrey A. Lev, Tomball, Texas, Steven S. Homer, Tomball, Texas, Earl W. Moore, Cypress, Texas, and Mark H. Ruch, The Woodlands, Texas. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An electronic device is provided, the electronic device includes a printed circuit board (PCB) having a mounting point. The computer system also includes a chassis having a mounting post. The mounting point and the mounting post are flexibly connected." The patent application was filed on Jan. 30, 2008 (12/863,479). 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=8,406,009&OS=8,406,009&RS=8,406,009 Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi. *** Eden Rock Communications Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Eden Rock Communications, Bothell, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,777) developed by Elliott Hoole, Sammamish, Wash., for "systems and methods of dynamic segregation of managed wireless resources by traffic type." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods are described for segregating airlink resources in a wireless communication network by traffic type. When voice data and traffic data are sent simultaneously in a wireless network using a limited set of frequency resources, the data traffic can cause unacceptable interference in the voice traffic. Accordingly, transceivers share their voice traffic and data traffic demands and may allocate portions of an airlink resource into resource zones for exclusive use by voice traffic and data traffic. Within each resource zone, the transmission can be optimally managed for each traffic type, and interference between voice traffic and data traffic is reduced." The patent application was filed on Feb. 23, 2010 (12/711,150). 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=8,406,777.PN.&OS=PN/8,406,777&RS=PN/8,406,777 Written by Kusum Sangma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** TeleCommunication Systems Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- TeleCommunication Systems, Annapolis, Md., has been assigned a patent (8,406,728) developed by Richard Dickinson, Auburn, Wash., John Gordon Hines, Kirkland, Wash., and Jonathan Croy, Seattle, for an "enhanced E911 network access for call centers." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "An emergency call (e.g., a 911 call, an alarm company call) forwarded by a telematics call center is routed over the switched PSTN to a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call server, where the switched call is converted to a session initiating protocol (SIP) packetized IP call for presentation to an emergency services gateway, which reconverts the call to TDM and connects to a selective router via dedicated circuits, gaining full access to the Enhanced 911 network. This provides a PSAP receiving a call from a telematics call center or other call center with all features available in an Enhanced 911 network, e.g., callback number of the 911 caller, and location of the 911 caller. Location of the caller is provided using a VoIP positioning center (VPC)." The patent application was filed on April 2, 2012 (13/437,213). 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=8,406,728&OS=8,406,728&RS=8,406,728 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Microsoft Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,694) developed by four co-inventors for a channel discovery protocol. The co-inventors are Eyal Lubetzky, Seattle, Ori Gurel-Gurevich, Redmond, Wash., Thomas Moscibroda, Redmond, Wash., and Joseph Yossi Azar, Ramat Hasharon, Israel. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A computing device configured to select a channel that is open in a local environment of the computing device and to attempt to communicate with another computing device on the selected available channel is described herein. The computing device selects the available channel based on selection probabilities for a plurality of available channels, the selection probabilities defined by an exponentially decaying distribution curve." The patent application was filed on June 11, 2010 (12/814,394). 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=8,406,694&OS=8,406,694&RS=8,406,694 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Invariant Visual Scene and Object Recognition ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,535) developed by Georgios Chrysanthakopoulos, Seattle, for an "invariant visual scene and object recognition." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for performing image recognition is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a collection of pixels and grouping at least some of the pixels into a set of cluster features based on gradient magnitude. For each cluster feature in the set, statistical variables are generated. The statistical variables represent a collective property of the pixels in the cluster feature. The statistical variables are utilized as a basis for comparing the collection of pixels to a different collection of pixels." The patent application was filed on Aug. 19, 2011 (13/213,321). 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=8,406,535&OS=8,406,535&RS=8,406,535 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Alderbio Holdings Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Alderbio Holdings, Las Vegas, has been assigned a patent (8,404,235) developed by Jeffrey T.L. Smith, Redmond, Wash., for "antagonists of IL-6 to raise albumin and/or lower CRP." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present invention is directed to therapeutic methods using IL-6 antagonists such as antibodies and fragments thereof having binding specificity for IL-6 to improve survivability or quality of life of a patient in need thereof. In preferred embodiments these patients will comprise those exhibiting (or at risk of developing) an elevated serum C-reactive protein level or a reduced serum albumin level prior to treatment. In another preferred embodiment, the patient's Glasgow Prognostic Score will be increased and survivability will preferably be improved." The patent application was filed on Nov. 25, 2008 (12/323,066). 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=8,404,235&OS=8,404,235&RS=8,404,235 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Sharp Laboratories of America Assigned Patent for Methods and Systems for Detecting Numerals in a Digital Image ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Sharp Laboratories of America, Camas, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,530) developed by Ahmet Mufit Ferman, Vancouver, Wash., and Richard John Campbell, Camas, Wash., for "methods and systems for detecting numerals in a digital image." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Aspects of the present invention are related to systems and methods for determining the location of numerals in an electronic document image." The patent application was filed on Aug. 18, 2011 (13/212,241). 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=8,406,530&OS=8,406,530&RS=8,406,530 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Washington State University Research Foundation, Idaho Research Foundation Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Washington State University Research Foundation, Pullman, Wash., and Idaho Research Foundation, Moscow, Idaho, have been assigned a patent (8,404,212) developed by Grant Norton, Pullman, Wash., and David McIlroy, Moscow, Idaho, for an "apparatus with high surface area nanostructures for hydrogen storage, and methods of storing hydrogen." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Method and apparatus for storing hydrogen. One embodiment of such a method comprises providing a storage apparatus having a substrate and a nanostructure mat on at least a portion of a side of the substrate. The nanostructure mat comprises a plurality of nanostructures having a surface ionization state which causes more than one layer of hydrogen to adsorb onto the nanostructures. The method can also include exposing the nanostructure mat to hydrogen such that more than one layer of hydrogen adsorbs onto the nanostructures." The patent application was filed on July 15, 2010 (12/836,728). 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=8,404,212&OS=8,404,212&RS=8,404,212 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Sharp Laboratories of America Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Sharp Laboratories of America, Camas, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,569) developed by Christopher A. Segall, Camas, Wash., Jie Zhao, Camas, Wash., and Ron Rubinstein, Haifa, Israel, for "methods and systems for enhanced dynamic range images and video from multiple exposures." The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Aspects of the present invention relate to systems and methods for video coding and decoding. Some aspects relate to coding and decoding of enhanced dynamic range video sequences based on a series of low-dynamic-range (LDR) frames, captured at a first exposure configuration, that are multi-plexed with a series of enhancement frames that are captured at a second exposure configuration." The patent application was filed on Jan. 19, 2009 (12/356,074). 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=8,406,569&OS=8,406,569&RS=8,406,569 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Microsoft Assigned Patent for Light Transport Reconstruction from Sparsely Captured Images ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,406,556) developed by five co-inventors for a "light transport reconstruction from sparsely captured images." The co-inventors are Jiaping Wang, Beijing, Yue Dong, Beijing, Xin Tong, Beijing, Zhouchen Lin, Beijing, and Baining Guo, Redmond, Wash. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A "Scene Re-Lighter" provides various techniques for using an automatically reconstructed light transport matrix derived from a sparse sampling of images to provide various combinations of complex light transport effects in images, including caustics, complex occlusions, inter-reflections, subsurface scattering, etc. More specifically, the Scene Re-Lighter reconstructs the light transport matrix from a relatively small number of acquired images using a "Kernel Nystrom" based technique adapted for low rank matrices constructed from sparsely sampled images. A "light transport kernel" is incorporated into the Nystrom method to exploit nonlinear coherence in the light transport matrix. Further, an adaptive process is used to efficiently capture the sparsely sampled images from a scene. The Scene Re-Lighter is capable of achieving good reconstruction of the light transport matrix with only few hundred images to produce high quality relighting results. Further, the Scene Re-Lighter is also effective for modeling scenes with complex lighting effects and occlusions." The patent application was filed on June 10, 2010 (12/797,859). 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=8,406,556&OS=8,406,556&RS=8,406,556 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** University of Washington Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- The University of Washington, Seattle, has been assigned a patent (8,404,224) developed by six co-inventors for a "cationic betaine precursors to zwitterionic betaines having controlled biological properties." The co-inventors are Shaoyi Jiang, Redmond, Wash., Shengfu Chen, Hangzhou, China, Zheng Zhang, Cambridge, Mass., Gang Cheng, Akron, Ohio, Hong Xue, Pleasanton, Calif., and Louisa R. Carr, Seattle. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Cationic polymers hydrolyzable to zwitterionic polymers, monomers for making the cationic polymers, surfaces that include the polymers, therapeutic agent delivery systems that include the cationic polymers, methods for administering a therapeutic agent using the delivery systems, and methods for making and using the cationic polymers, monomers, surfaces, and therapeutic agent delivery systems." The patent application was filed on Sept. 14, 2012 (13/619,589). 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=8,404,224&OS=8,404,224&RS=8,404,224 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. *** Globe-Tek Assigned Patent ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 29 -- Globe-Tek, Spokane, Wash., has been assigned a patent (8,404,191) developed by Donald L. Sampson, Spokane, Wash., for a biowaste sterilizer. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Biowaste sterilizers are described. In one implementation an exemplary system has waste transport vessels that can be intermittently heated and pressurized, for example, with steam, and are interconnected to provide multiple sterilization pathways for waste as the waste is transported. Selected sterilization pathways may depend on attributes of the waste. Sterilization factors, such as mechanical shredding, application of steam, application of pressure, maintenance of temperature, separation of liquid, etc., are integrated into the waste transport features of the system, which can be made compact to save space while processing relatively large bulk amounts of materials, such as medical wastes. The system maintains safe isolation of bio-hazardous components in the waste from the external environment. A system controller provides parameters management, smart sterilization cycle control, quality assurance, safety management, diagnostics, and reporting over a network." The patent application was filed on Sept. 7, 2012 (13/606,137). 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=8,404,191&OS=8,404,191&RS=8,404,191 Written by Arpi Sharma; edited by Anand Kumar. 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