11th week of 2012 patent applcation highlights part 58 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120065957 | INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE AND METHOD - Device for converting a source language message into a target language message is disclosed. An embodiment of the device includes an input, a controller, and an output. The input receives separately entered source language phrases as the source language message for a user. The controller obtains, for each entered source language phrase, a stored source language phrase having a correlation with a respective entered source language phrase, each stored source language phrase having a predefined association with an object encoding a target language phrase. The output outputs the target language message as a signal communicating a sequential arrangement of the target language phrases encoded by the objects associated with the obtained stored source language phrases. A method of converting a source language message into a target language message is also disclosed. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065958 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING ANONYMOUS AND TRACEABLE EXTERNAL ACCESS TO INTERNAL LINGUISTIC ASSETS - The present application is directed towards methods and systems for providing anonymous and traceable external access to internal linguistic assets. The methods and systems described allow users the freedom to use a linguistic resource with the security that their identities and interactions with the resource are shielded from other users. Simultaneously, the system maintains a mechanism to trace all user's interactions with a resource to ensure the integrity of the asset is not jeopardized and to easily identify a problem with a user's access without broadcasting their identity or actions. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065959 | WORD GRAPH - One example embodiment includes a method for constructing a word graph. The method includes obtaining a subject text and dividing the subject text into one or more units. The method also includes dividing the units into one or more sub-units and recording each of the one or more sub-units. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065960 | GENERATING PARSER COMBINATION BY COMBINING LANGUAGE PROCESSING PARSERS - A computer implemented method, a computer system, and a program for generating a parser combination. The method includes: generating a parser combination by combining parsers each associated with at least one grammar description, where the step is carried out using (i) at least one grammar description means and (ii) a computer device. The computer system includes: a processor, a memory connected to the processor, and a parser generator for generating a parser combination in the memory by combining parsers each associated with at least one grammar description, and at least one grammar description type means. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065961 | SPEECH MODEL GENERATING APPARATUS, SPEECH SYNTHESIS APPARATUS, SPEECH MODEL GENERATING PROGRAM PRODUCT, SPEECH SYNTHESIS PROGRAM PRODUCT, SPEECH MODEL GENERATING METHOD, AND SPEECH SYNTHESIS METHOD - According to one embodiment, a speech model generating apparatus includes a spectrum analyzer, a chunker, a parameterizer, a clustering unit, and a model training unit. The spectrum analyzer acquires a speech signal corresponding to text information and calculates a set of spectral coefficients. The chunker acquires boundary information indicating a beginning and an end of linguistic units and chunks the speech signal into linguistic units. The parameterizer calculates a set of spectral trajectory parameters for a trajectory of the spectral trajectory parameters of the linguistic unit on the basis of the spectral coefficients. The clustering unit clusters the spectral trajectory parameters calculated for each of the linguistic units into clusters on the basis of linguistic information. The model training unit obtains a trained spectral trajectory model indicating a characteristic of a cluster based on the spectral trajectory parameters belonging to the same cluster. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065962 | Systems and Methods of Building and Using Custom Word Lists - Standard word lists that are often used for such operations as predictive text, spell checking, and word completion are based on general linguistic data that might not accurately reflect actual text usage patterns of particular users. Systems and methods of building and using a custom word list for use in text operations on an electronic device are provided. A collection of text items associated with a user of the electronic device is scanned to identify words in the text items. A weighting is then assigned to each identified word, and the words and corresponding weightings are stored. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065963 | System And Method Of Generating Responses To Text-Based Messages - In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an automated method of and system for generating a response to a text-based natural language message is disclosed. The method includes identifying a first selected input clause in a sentence in the text-based natural language message. Also, assigning a semantic tag to the first selected input clause and matching the semantic tag to a historical input tag. The historical input tag associated with a first previously generated response clause. Further; generating an output response message based on the historical response clause, the output response message derived from the historical input tag and a second previously generated response clause. The system includes means for performing the method steps. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065964 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTRODUCING INFORMATION INTO A DATA STREAM AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING AN AUDIO SIGNAL - Techniques for introducing information into a data stream first obtains the spectral values of the short-term spectrum of the audio signal. Separately, information to be introduced are combined with a spread sequence obtaining a spread information signal, whereupon a spectral representation of the spread information is generated, then weighted with an established psychoacoustic maskable noise energy to generate a weighted information signal, wherein energy of the introduced information is substantially equal to or below the psychoacoustic masking threshold. The weighted information signal and the spectral values of the short-term spectrum of the audio signal are then summed and afterwards processed again to obtain a processed data stream including audio information and information to be introduced. Because the information to be introduced are introduced without changing to the time domain, the block rastering underlying the short-term spectrum are not touched, thus introducing a watermark will not lead to tandem encoding effects. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065965 | Apparatus and method for encoding and decoding signal for high frequency bandwidth extension - An apparatus and method for encoding and decoding a signal for high frequency bandwidth extension are provided. An encoding apparatus may down-sample a time domain input signal, may core-encode the down-sampled time domain input signal, may transform the core-encoded time domain input signal to a frequency domain input signal, and may perform bandwidth extension encoding using a basic signal of the frequency domain input signal. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065966 | Voice Activity Detection Method and Apparatus, and Electronic Device - A voice activity detection method and apparatus, and an electronic device are provided. The method includes: obtaining a time domain parameter and a frequency domain parameter from an audio frame; obtaining a first distance between the time domain parameter and a long-term slip mean of the time domain parameter in a history background noise frame, and obtaining a second distance between the frequency domain parameter and a long-term slip mean of the frequency domain parameter in the history background noise frame; and judging whether the audio frame is a foreground voice frame or a background noise frame according to the first distance, the second distance and a set of decision inequalities based on the first distance and the second distance. The above technical solutions enable the judgment criterion to have an adaptive adjustment capability, thus improving the performance of the voice activity detection. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065967 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD - Provided is a communication device which can easily provide a function to enable signal cross-reference among a plurality of voice signals having different frequency ranges and to enhance the quality of voice communications, at a low cost. In the communication device, a band expansion unit ( | 2012-03-15 |
20120065968 | SPEECH RECOGNITION METHOD - In a speech recognition method, a number of audio signals are obtained from a voice input of a number of utterances of at least one speaker into a pickup system. The audio signals are examined using a speech recognition algorithm and a recognition result is obtained for each audio signal. For a reliable recognition of keywords in a conversation, it is proposed that a recognition result for at least one other audio signal is included in the examination of one of the audio signals by the speech recognition algorithm. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065969 | System and Method for Contextual Social Network Communications During Phone Conversation - An embodiment of the invention includes methods and systems for contextual social network communications during a phone conversation. A telephone conversation between a first user and at least one second user is monitored. More specifically, a monitor identifies terms spoken by the first user and the second user during the telephone conversation. The terms spoken are translated into textual keywords by a translating module. One or more of the second user's web applications are searched by a processor for portion(s) of the second user's web applications that include at least one of the keywords. The processor also searches one or more of the first user's web applications for portion(s) of the first user's web applications that include at least one of the keywords. The portion(s) of the second user's web applications and the portion(s) of the first user's web applications are displayed to the first user during the telephone conversation. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065970 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING GROUP DISCUSSIONS - A system and method for providing a discussion, including receiving by a processor text related to a discussion; converting by the processor the text to voice; storing by the processor in a memory the converted voice; receiving by the processor voice related to the discussion; storing by the processor in the memory the received voice; receiving by the processor a request to play voice related to at least part of the discussion; and transmitting by the processor audio containing the voice identified by the request related to the at least part of the discussion. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065971 | VOICE CONTROL OF MULTIMEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES - A method for operating a communications device can include receiving a plurality of spoken commands uttered by a user, the plurality of spoken commands comprising a custom written communication message to be displayed. The method can also include executing a speech recognition engine to recognize and convert each of the spoken commands into corresponding electronic signals that selectively enable and operatively control each of a plurality of multimedia units and at least one light array, wherein the electronic signals are configured to cause multiple light units of the light array to be selectively activated and display the custom written communication message. The method can further include transmitting audio signals received from different ones of the plurality of multimedia units to a radio via a preset open radio channel for broadcasting the audio signals through at least one speaker connected to the radio. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065972 | WIRELESS VOICE RECOGNITION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A WELDER POWER SUPPLY BY VOICE COMMANDS - A wireless voice recognition control system for controlling the operation of an electric welder power supply by operator voice commands is disclosed. The system includes a remote module carried by the welder and a host module interfaced with the electric welder power supply. The remote module compares voice commands by the welder to preprogrammed voice command templates and operates to generate and broadcast a wireless signal when a spoken voice command matches a voice command template. The host module operates to receive the wireless signal and is configure to operate the electric welder power supply accordingly. In other embodiments, the host module and remote module operate to provide an audible feedback or acknowledgement to the welder. Other embodiments are also disclosed. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065973 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING MICROPHONE BEAMFORMING - A method and apparatus for performing microphone beamforming. The method includes recognizing a speech of a speaker, searching for a previously stored image associated with the speaker, searching for the speaker through a camera based on the image, recognizing a position of the speaker, and performing microphone beamforming according to the position of the speaker. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065974 | JOINT FACTOR ANALYSIS SCORING FOR SPEECH PROCESSING SYSTEMS - Method, system, and computer program product are provided for Joint Factor Analysis (JFA) scoring in speech processing systems. The method includes: carrying out an enrolment session offline to enrol a speaker model in a speech processing system using JFA, including: extracting speaker factors from the enrolment session; estimating first components of channel factors from the enrolment session. The method further includes: carrying out a test session including: calculating second components of channel factors strongly dependent on the test session; and generating a score based on speaker factors, channel factors, and test session Gaussian mixture model sufficient statistics to provide a log-likelihood ratio for a test session. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065975 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRONUNCIATION MODELING - Systems, computer-implemented methods, and tangible computer-readable media for generating a pronunciation model. The method includes identifying a generic model of speech composed of phonemes, identifying a family of interchangeable phonemic alternatives for a phoneme in the generic model of speech, labeling the family of interchangeable phonemic alternatives as referring to the same phoneme, and generating a pronunciation model which substitutes each family for each respective phoneme. In one aspect, the generic model of speech is a vocal tract length normalized acoustic model. Interchangeable phonemic alternatives can represent a same phoneme for different dialectal classes. An interchangeable phonemic alternative can include a string of phonemes. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065976 | DEEP BELIEF NETWORK FOR LARGE VOCABULARY CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION - A method is disclosed herein that includes an act of causing a processor to receive a sample, wherein the sample is one of spoken utterance, an online handwriting sample, or a moving image sample. The method also comprises the act of causing the processor to decode the sample based at least in part upon an output of a combination of a deep structure and a context-dependent Hidden Markov Model (HMM), wherein the deep structure is configured to output a posterior probability of a context-dependent unit. The deep structure is a Deep Belief Network consisting of many layers of nonlinear units with connecting weights between layers trained by a pretraining step followed by a fine-tuning step. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065977 | System and Method for Teaching Non-Lexical Speech Effects - Herein, a method is disclosed, which may include delexicalizing a first speech segment to provide a first prosodic speech signal; storing data indicative of the first prosodic speech signal in a computer memory; audibly playing the first speech segment to a language student; prompting the student to recite the speech segment; and recording audible speech uttered by the student in response to the prompt. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065978 | VOICE PROCESSING DEVICE - In voice processing, a first distribution generation unit approximates a distribution of feature information representative of voice of a first speaker per a unit interval thereof as a mixed probability distribution which is a mixture of a plurality of first probability distributions corresponding to a plurality of different phones. A second distribution generation unit also approximates a distribution of feature information representative of voice of a second speaker as a mixed probability distribution which is a mixture of a plurality of second probability distributions. A function generation unit generates, for each phone, a conversion function for converting the feature information of voice of the first speaker to that of the second speaker based on respective statistics of the first and second probability distributions that correspond to the phone. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065979 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TEXT TO SPEECH CONVERSION - A system and method for text to speech conversion. The method of performing text to speech conversion on a portable device includes: identifying a portion of text for conversion to speech format, wherein the identifying includes performing a prediction based on information associated with a user. While the portable device is connected to a power source, a text to speech conversion is performed on the portion of text to produce converted speech. The converted speech is stored into a memory device of the portable device. A reader application is executed, wherein a user request is received for narration of the portion of text. During the executing, the converted speech is accessed from the memory device and rendered to the user, responsive to the user request | 2012-03-15 |
20120065980 | CODING AND DECODING A TRANSIENT FRAME - An electronic device for coding a transient frame is described. The electronic device includes a processor and executable instructions stored in memory that is in electronic communication with the processor. The electronic device obtains a current transient frame. The electronic device also obtains a residual signal based on the current transient frame. Additionally, the electronic device determines a set of peak locations based on the residual signal. The electronic device further determines whether to use a first coding mode or a second coding mode for coding the current transient frame based on at least the set of peak locations. The electronic device also synthesizes an excitation based on the first coding mode if the first coding mode is determined. The electronic device also synthesizes an excitation based on the second coding mode if the second coding mode is determined. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065981 | TEXT PRESENTATION APPARATUS, TEXT PRESENTATION METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - According to an embodiment, a text presentation apparatus presenting text for a speaker to read aloud for voice recording includes: a text storing unit for storing first text; a presenting unit for presenting the first text; a determination unit for determining whether or not the first text needs to be replaced, on the basis of a speaker's input for the first text presented; a preliminary text storing unit for storing preliminary text; a select unit configured to select, if it is determined that the first text needs to be replaced, second text to replace the first text from among the preliminary text, the selecting being performed on the basis of attribute information describing an attribute of the first text and on the basis of at least one of attribute information describing pronunciation of the first text and attribute information describing a stress type of the first text; and a control unit configured to control the presenting unit so that the presenting unit presents the second text. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065982 | DYNAMICALLY GENERATING A VOCAL HELP PROMPT IN A MULTIMODAL APPLICATION - Dynamically generating a vocal help prompt in a multimodal application that include detecting a help-triggering event for an input element of a VoiceXML dialog, where the detecting is implemented with a multimodal application operating on a multimodal device supporting multiple modes of interaction including a voice mode and one or more non-voice modes, the multimodal application is operatively coupled to a VoiceXML interpreter, and the multimodal application has no static help text. Dynamically generating a vocal help prompt in a multimodal application according to embodiments of the present invention typically also includes retrieving, by the VoiceXML interpreter from a source of help text, help text for an element of a speech recognition grammar, forming by the VoiceXML interpreter the help text into a vocal help prompt, and presenting by the multimodal application the vocal help prompt through a computer user interface to a user. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065983 | Efficient Combined Harmonic Transposition - The present document relates to audio coding systems which make use of a harmonic transposition method for high frequency reconstruction (HFR), and to digital effect processors, e.g. so-called exciters, where generation of harmonic distortion adds brightness to the processed signal. In particular; a system configured to generate a high frequency component of a signal from a low frequency component of the signal is described, The system may comprise an analysis filter bank ( | 2012-03-15 |
20120065984 | DECODING DEVICE AND DECODING METHOD - Provided is a decoding device that can reduce abrupt changes in the number of channels in a decoded signal when transmission errors occur as a result of lost frames in an encoding/decoding system for multichannel signals. Said decoding device is also capable of per-sample smoothing and can reduce degradation of audio quality. In the provided device, a demultiplexer ( | 2012-03-15 |
20120065985 | DENTAL IMPLANT SYSTEM AND METHOD - Provided is a method that includes providing a listing of a plurality of user selectable dental implant treatment plan options, wherein the listing is to be displayed on a graphical user interface of a computer system, providing a cost associated with a set of the dental implant treatment plan options selected for inclusion in the dental implant plan, wherein the cost is configured to be displayed in a cost display region of the graphical user interface, receiving, at computer device, an input indicative of a user selection of one or more of the user selectable dental implant treatment plan options for inclusion in the dental implant treatment plan, and providing, in response to receiving the input, an updated cost associated with the with the set of dental implant treatment plan options selected and the user selected one or more dental implant treatment plan options, wherein the updated cost is to be displayed in the cost display region in place of the cost associated with the set of selected dental implant treatment plan options. Further provided is a method that includes receiving, at a computer device, a request from a user for at least a portion of dental implant treatment plan application, wherein the dental implant treatment plan application is to be displayed on a graphical user interface of a computer system, retrieving, in response to receiving the request, one or more dental implant treatment plan application preferences associated with the user, and providing the dental implant treatment plan application in accordance with one or more of the preferences associated with the user, wherein the dental implant treatment plan application is to be displayed on a graphical user interface of the computer system. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065986 | HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, COMPUTER-READABLE NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM, AND COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR COMPILING A GUIDELINE MODEL INTO A RULE SET - A healthcare management system comprising:
| 2012-03-15 |
20120065987 | Computer-Based Patient Management for Healthcare - Computer-based patient management is provided for healthcare. Patient data is used to determine a severity, assign a patient to a corresponding diagnosis-related group, and provide a timeline for care at a medical facility. Reminders or alerts are sent to maintain the timeline for more cost effective care. Reminders, suggestions, transitions between care givers, scheduling and other risk management actions are performed. As more data becomes available as part of the care, the care and timeline may be adjusted automatically for more efficient utilization of resources. Accountable care optimization is provided as part of case management. Automated care before any injury or illness and automated care after discharge is provided to optimize the health and costs for a patient. The patient is assigned to the cohort based on the patient data. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065988 | METHODS FOR MAKING COMPLEX THERAPEUTIC CLINICAL DECISIONS - Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods of making therapeutic decisions in the course of medical treatment. Some embodiments include using mathematical methods such as analytic geometric methods to determine the relationship of a patient's initial and/or current health state to a desired health state and/or an undesired health state. Furthermore, some embodiments include defining a health feature space including a plurality of health parameters and time, and representing the time evolution of the patient health state as a space curve trajectory in a multidimensional space. Still further some embodiments include calculating a target trajectory and/or a complication trajectory and determining which health parameters to adjust in order to produce a desired time evolution result. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065989 | PATIENT VERIFICATION FOR BOOKING OF HEALTHCARE APPOINTMENTS ACROSS PRACTICE GROUPS - Systems and methods for aggregating available healthcare appointment times across multiple unaffiliated practitioner groups, including search and display algorithms. A centralized marketplace is provided for real time booking of healthcare appointments which does not require the patient to have a preexisting relationship with the practitioner. The aggregated booking system enhances the number of available near term and conveniently located appointment options while the search and display algorithms reduce the complexity of the patient and practitioner information required to maintain accurate and synchronized database booking records. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065990 | SYSTEM FOR MAINTAINING DRUG INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATING WITH MEDICATION DELIVERY DEVICES - A system for maintaining drug information and communicating with medication delivery devices includes software designed for use in a hospital, pharmacy or biomedical technical service environments. The software may be provided on a computer readable medium. The software allows a facility to customize a drug library with both hard and soft drug limits and other parameters for use with an infuser having a plug and play module removably inserted into a slot within a housing, or for use with an infuser having a connectivity engine enclosed within the housing. The system supports data transfer to one or more infusers connected to one or more computers. The connection between the computer and the pump can be hard wired or wireless. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065991 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR PHARMACY MANAGEMENT OF DRUGS - Described herein is a computer program product for pharmacy management and its application for using drugs that are P-glycoprotein or CYP3A4 inhibitors. Also included is a method of using a first drug in a patient receiving a prescription for the first drug. The computer program performs a method including issuing a drug-drug interaction alert when a patient is receiving a first drug and a concomitantly administered second drug. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065992 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR PHARMACY MANAGEMENT OF DRUGS - Described herein is a computer program product for pharmacy management and its application for using drugs that are P-glycoprotein or CYP3A4 inhibitors. Also included is a method of using a first drug in a patient receiving a prescription for the first drug. The computer program performs a method including issuing a drug-drug interaction alert when a patient is receiving a first drug and a concomitantly administered second drug. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065993 | BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DEVICE, HEALTH CARE SYSTEM USING BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND METHOD OF READING HEALTH CARE INFORMATION THEREIN, AND BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - Provided is a system which enables more fulfilled health care closely tied with user's daily life and enables a user to execute health care without noticing and whose facility in use is improved. A health care system | 2012-03-15 |
20120065994 | Methods and systems for utilizing electronic medical records to track and manage radiation doses - Methods and systems for utilizing electronic medical records are operative to track and manage radiation doses provided to patients through various different types of radiation-emitting medical procedures. According to an exemplary embodiment, one such method includes receiving an electronic medical record for a patient, the electronic medical record comprising data indicating a cumulative past amount of radiation exposure for the patient; detecting if the cumulative past amount of radiation exposure for the patient is above a threshold before performing a radiation-emitting medical procedure on the patient; and providing a pre-defined output message in response to detecting that the cumulative past amount of radiation exposure for the patient is above the threshold. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065995 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ELECTRONIC RECORDS - Provided is a system and method for storing by an originating server database an originating electronic medical record of at least one patient; extracting by an originating server processor the originating electronic medical record of the at least one patient from the database; transmitting by the originating server processor the originating electronic medical record of the at least one patient; receiving by a health records server processor the originating electronic medical record of the at least one patient; consolidating by the health records server processor the originating electronic medical record of the at least one patient with an existing electronic medical record of the at least one patient, said existing electronic medical record of the at least one patient being a consolidation of a plurality of originating electronic medical records of the at least one patient from a plurality of originating servers; storing by the health records server processor in a health records server database the merged electronic medical record in the health records server database; and providing by the health records server processor to a user access to an electronic medical record of a patient via at least one wireless network. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065996 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COORDINATING THE COMMUNICATION OF HEALTH RELATED INFORMATION AND PRODUCTS TO A REGISTERED USER OF A PHARMACY - A coordination server for facilitating the presentation of health related information over an electronic communication network to a plurality of users, such that each of the plurality of users is registered with a particular pharmacy store, the coordination server comprising: a registration module configured for receiving electronic registration information of a user including user identification data and pharmacy store identification data of the particular pharmacy store at which the user is registered; a user module configured for receiving electronic personal health information of the user including current user medication information and associated user condition information; a confirmation module configured for confirming the accuracy of the electronic personal health information with at least one of a health care professional of the pharmacy store or the user; a generation module configured for generating customized health related information for the user based on the confirmed electronic personal health information; and a communication module configured for receiving an electronic request from the user for health related information and for sending an electronic response including the customized health related information. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065997 | Automatic Processing of Handwritten Physician Orders - Physician orders are automatically processed. Rather than requiring entry with a user interface in a computerized order entry system, physician orders may be handwritten on a piece of paper or entered on another handwriting device. The orders are scanned or transmitted. Using a lexicon limited to the vocabulary of possible orders, handwriting recognition is applied to the scanned order. By limiting the lexicon, the accuracy of the optical character recognition may be increased. The lexicon may be further limited by determining a diagnosis and/or treatment or imaging modality for the patient and selecting a lexicon limited to orders associated with the diagnosis or modality. The recognized order is then implemented by the computerized order entry system. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065998 | Health Quality Measures Systems and Methods - Systems and methods of exchanging Healthcare Quality Measures (HQM) are disclosed. Healthcare providers can define one or more HQMs by constructing expressions using an expression builder according to a funding organization's requirements. The expression builder advantageously allows the Healthcare provider to build measure expressions without the need to know a complex programming language. Once a measure is derived, it can be converted to a common HQM data format and exchanged with the organization via an intermediary HQM service. The HQM data can then be converted into the organization's proprietary format. Thus, HQM data exchanges among providers and organizations are simplified. | 2012-03-15 |
20120065999 | Device for Delivering a Drug to a Patient While Restricting Access to the Drug by Patients for Whom the Drug May Be Contraindicated and Methods for Use Thereof - A prescription filling assistance device useful for monitoring the filling of and distribution of drugs to patients in need of the drug, while restricting access to the drug by patients for whom the drug may be contraindicated are disclosed. Also disclosed is a drug information and management system for use with the prescription filling assistance device. Methods for delivering a drug to a patient in need of the drug, while restricting access to the drug by patients for whom the drug may be contraindicated are disclosed. In some of the disclosed methods, prescriptions for the drug are filled by a pharmacy only after a computer readable storage medium has been consulted to retrieve a prescription approval code. Embodiments are provided wherein the patients are assigned to risk groups based upon the risk that taking the drug will lead to an adverse side effect, and certain additional information, such as periodic surveys and diagnostic tests probative of the ongoing risk of the side effect developing are obtained before prescriptions for the drug are approved. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066000 | CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS WITH EXTERNAL CONTEXT - A clinical decision support (CDS) system comprises a patient treatment histories database ( | 2012-03-15 |
20120066001 | Bambam: Parallel comparative analysis of high-throughput sequencing data - A differential sequence object is constructed on the basis of alignment of sub-strings via incremental synchronization of sequence strings using known positions of the sub-strings relative to a reference genome sequence. An output file is then generated that comprises only relevant changes with respect to the reference genome. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066002 | METHODS OF INITIATING CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE - This invention provides a method of initiating a critical illness insurance policy, comprising: receiving from or on behalf of a person interested in both critical illness insurance and banking a biological sample (i) an agreement to enroll in a critical illness insurance policy, (ii) a biological sample, and (iii) one or more payments or an agreement to make one or more payments, and testing, having tested, or requesting testing of, the biological sample, thereby initiating the critical illness insurance policy. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066003 | AUTOMOBILE SALES TRAINING AND PROMOTION SYSTEM - The sales of automobiles are promoted by providing to a customer a portable media player including a user interface permitting the customer to selectively play one or more walkaround instruction files so that the customer may engage in one or more guided walkaround examinations of vehicles without the presence of a salesperson. The user interface further permits the customer to send a wireless signal requesting salesperson assistance. In response to such a signal, the salesperson engages in face-to-face interaction with the customer. The training of sales personnel may be enhanced by the same or similar portable media player as is provided to the customer, allowing the sales personnel to selectively play one or more sales training files. The media player may signal a base computer of the completion of selected training files, allowing automobile dealership management to track sales training. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066004 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERSONAL INSURANCE COMPARISON AND ADVICE - Personally unidentifiable information (“PUI”) is received from a user at a computer device. One or more records from a database of records that match some or all of the received PUI is determined by the computing device. Insurance advice is provided to the user based on the determined one or more records by the computing device. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066005 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GRID-BASED INSURANCE RATING - A method for rating insurance products using a programmed computer system comprising receiving a coordinate pair including a longitude and a latitude of a location; determining a target coordinate grid block bounded by latitude and longitude lines, wherein the target coordinate grid block encompasses the coordinate pair, querying a database for a target set of existing data associated with the target coordinate grid block, wherein the existing data was associated with the target coordinate grid block prior to receiving the coordinate pair, and calculating a pure premium based at least in part on analyzing the data in the target set. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066006 | METHOD FOR CONVERTING GENERAL ACCOUNT LIFE INSURANCE TO SEPARATE ACCOUNT LIFE INSURANCE - A method is disclosed for converting a third-party owned life insurance policy from being guaranteed by an insurance carrier's general account to a life insurance policy guaranteed by the insurance carrier's separate account. An insurance carrier receives a request from a policy owner to convert the account from being backed by the general account to being backed by a separate account. The insurance carrier transfers cash or assets in an amount equal to the policy value of the life insurance policy from the general account to the separate account. The insurance carrier issues an endorsement to the policy owner amending the policy. In a preferred embodiment, the owner of the third-party life insurance policy is a bank. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066007 | System and Method for Tracking and Sharing Driving Metrics with a Plurality of Insurance Carriers - A method for determining an insurance premium cost to insure a vehicle. A wireless communication link exists between a vehicle telematics system of the vehicle and a control center remote from the vehicle. The control center has a data center including a database server and a protocol gateway exchanging data with the server, and a web portal connected to the data center. Driver metrics data associated with the vehicle and/or the driver are communicated by a vehicle telematics system to the data center and are analyzed to create a driver profile. The driver profile is shared with at least one insurance carrier who can assign a rating to the profile and, thereby, determines an insurance premium cost to insure the vehicle, which is sent to an owner or a driver of the vehicle. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066008 | Method and System for Processing and Optimizing Travel Insurance Transactions - A method and system for processing communications between travel service providers and travel insurers where travel service providers use different messaging formats. A travel service provider transmits itinerary data to a travel insurer in one messaging format. The travel insurer may then convert the itinerary data into a format compatible with the travel insurer's system and determine an optimal policy choice based on the itinerary data. The travel insurer may then transmit this choice to the travel service provider in the travel service provider's preferred messaging format, and the travel service provider offers the product to the consumer through the travel service provider's interface. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066009 | SYSTEM FOR SEARCHING AND SOLVING FOR INSURANCE PRODUCTS - A system for evaluating and scoring software products in which illustration engines relating to insurance products are run based on a common set of inputs. The illustration engines output a set of output metrics which are common to all illustration engines. The output metrics of products selected for comparison or evaluation are mathematically combined with each other and with the corresponding metrics of from all other illustration engines to determine a score which can be used to compare quickly and accurately the selected product against all other products in the database. The score may be determined by a weighted average in which the weights assigned to output metrics are adjustable at the user's discretion. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066010 | VEHICLE REPAIR SYSTEM - A vehicle repair system facilitates communication between multiple parties involved in the repair of a vehicle. A status engine monitors the status of a vehicle repair and provides status information to a customer so the customer can stay up-to-date on the current status. A store engine provides a marketplace where vehicle repair products can be sold. A jobs engine provides a jobs board where job openings can be posted. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066011 | DRIVING ASSISTANCE METHOD AND DEVICE - The present invention measures the frequency of occurrence of behaviors of a particular behavior for each time within a predetermined driving unit for each type of driving behaviors and causes the measured frequency of occurrence on a display unit as a driving evaluation index aimed at attaining a zero number each time the particular behavior takes place. Also, for each type of the driving behaviors, based on the frequency of occurrence of the particular behavior, which is a proportion of the number of occurrence of the particular behavior for each type relative to a predetermined driving time, which is the predetermined driving unit, the mean time between incidents of the particular behavior is calculated and the calculated mean time between the incidents is used as the driving evaluation index. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066012 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSESSING A CONDITION OF AN INSURED PROPERTY - A system and method for assessing a condition of property for insurance purposes includes a sensor for acquiring a spectral image. In a preferred embodiment, the spectral image is post-processed to generate at least one spectral radiance plot, the plot used as input to a radiative transfer computer model. The output of the model establishes a spectral signature for the property. Over a period of time, spectral signatures can be compared to generate a spectral difference, the difference attributed to a change in the condition of the property, such as a fire or flood. In response to the change, an insurance company initiates an insurance-related action such as processing a claim. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066013 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THEME PARK LINE QUEUE MANAGEMENT - The present disclosure describes a method for managing theme park ride lines by providing an identifying device to a guest, the device configured to uniquely identify the guest, using the identifying device to ascertain an amount of time a guest spends at a predetermined location and reducing the amount of time a guest spends in a line queue for a predetermined ride by the amount of time the guest spends at the predetermined location. A system for managing theme park ride lines is also provided. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066014 | Method and Apparatus for Facilitating a Transaction Between a Buyer and One Seller - A seller server receives an offer which specifies a type of product (e.g. a seat on a flight), at least one condition (e.g. destination and date of departure), and an offer price specified by a buyer. The seller server also receives an associated payment identifier that specifies a financial account, such as a credit card account. The payment identifier essentially “guarantees” the offer in that the seller may receive payment from the financial account even if the buyer attempts to renege. The seller determines whether to accept the offer, based on various factors such as the offer price and the availability of appropriate products to satisfy the conditions of the offer. If the offer is accepted, payment is provided to the seller using the payment identifier. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066015 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN ONLINE RESERVATION SYSTEM FOR SERVICES SELECTABLE FROM MULTIPLE CATEGORIES - The present invention teaches an online reservation system providing services of multiple categories of service providers. A user may enter the online reservation system by clicking on a button either embedded in a directory services search result for a particular service provider or located on a particular service provider's website. Alternatively, a user may search for service providers through the online reservation system by entering criteria such as category of service, pricing, rating, location, or time and day of availability of the service. Both users and service providers receive electronic confirmation and reminders for the booked appointments. Service providers may integrate all of their appointments with a calendar maintained by the online reservation system. The system automatically collects client data and may provide accounting services. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066016 | PROVIDING WORK, TRAINING, AND INCENTIVES TO COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES IN CONTACT HANDLING SYSTEMS - Several of the embodiments disclosed herein relate to accessing and tracking real-time data concerning company representative performance, proficiency, training, scheduling, current work flow, and estimated work flow. Moreover, many of the improvements in contact handling systems disclosed herein automatically provide training, work, and incentives to company representatives to improve performance, proficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, automate scheduling, and automated work flow. Thus, as a result of the teachings disclosed herein, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and revenue may be improved in the contact handling industry. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066017 | System and Method for Utilizing Industry Specific Competencies to Maximize Resource Utilization - A computer-implemented method for identifying requirements associated with a job type and to matching personnel to the requirements including identifying any deficiencies in satisfying the requirements is described. The method includes identifying one or more of each of a knowledge requirement, a skill requirement, and a behavior requirement associated with a job type, generating and administering a competency identification test for the job type based on the requirements, generating a personnel profile based on the competency identification test, the personnel profile including at least a knowledge competency, a skill competency and a behavior competency, and generating a role analysis report including a correlation score indicating the determined correlation between the competencies and the requirements. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066018 | AUTOMATIC AND SEMI-AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF SERVICE OR PROCESSING PROVIDERS - A system and method for automatic or semi-automatic selection of service or processing providers is disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention allows the user to input a set of preferences, and from that input automatically selects a service or processing provider that matches the attributes that are important the user as derived from the input preferences. In another embodiment, the process is semi-automatic in that the user provides a set of preferences, and the present invention filters and the service or processing providers and presents a limited number of them that match the user's preferences and from which the user can select one for processing of the particular task. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066019 | CONSTRUCTION CONTROL SYSTEM - A building material and workflow control system adapted to manage workflow associated with a building of a construction project at a job site. The building material and workflow control system has a server having a processor and a database. The processor is programmed to identify a construction sequence of the construction project. The processor is further programmed to identify kits of assets and materials needed to execute steps of the construction sequence. The processor is further programmed to identify and implement assembly features on the materials associated with use of the assets needed to execute steps of the construction sequence. The processor is further programmed to provide and stage the kits of assets and materials from a source to the jobsite utilizing real time dynamic knowledge of an erection state of the building at the job site. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066020 | MULTI-TENANT DATABASE MANAGEMENT FOR SLA PROFIT MAXIMIZATION - Systems and methods are disclosed to consolidate workload on cloud-based computers by co-locating one or more high-penalty tenants on one or more cloud-based servers; reducing service level agreement (SLA) violations by over-provisioning the cloud-based server; and maximizing an SLA profit. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066021 | COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED COMPANY RISK ANALYSIS AND PROFILE GENERATION - Computer-implemented company risk analysis and profile generation systems and methods are provided. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of analyzing risk associated with a plurality of companies includes receiving accounting information about the plurality of companies, receiving legal information about the plurality of companies, and receiving regulatory information about the plurality of companies. The accounting, the legal, and the regulatory information is utilized to assign a risk rating to each of the plurality of companies and to generate a profile for each of the plurality of companies. The risk ratings and the profiles are stored in an electronic database. Access to the electronic database is provided through a web site that enables a user to selectively retrieve the risk rating and the profile for a particular one of the plurality of companies. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066022 | Price indexing - Transactions involving assets that share a common characteristic are represented as respective data points associated with values of the assets. The data points include transaction value information. Respective statistical values are determined for the data points with respect to a probability density function that fits a power law parameterization to the data points. A probability function describing the statistical values is evaluated as a measure of confidence that the probability density function of the data points is validly represented by the power law parametrization. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066023 | Green Energy Database Including Verifiable Information for Implementing a National Level Green Energy Policy - A green energy, smart-grid residential system collects power usage information from a plurality of connected homes by progressively integrating information collected from each of the individual homes using a group of sensor devices. Such information is compiled to usable format using distributed computers. The in-home sensor devices include an intelligent master device, and one or more of a communication and power switch device, a ZigBee® enabled switch device, and a power control switch device, each of which typically operate over a power line communication network. The master device collects, compiles, and communicates the collected data to the Web or outside world. The information from a number of these homes in a local area is consolidated using local distributed processors on the Web and provided to a main processing unit for compilation and integration with other regional inputs for use in national policy decision making. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066024 | Apparatus, Method and System for Designing and Trading Macroeconomic Investment Views - The disclosure details the implementation of an apparatus, method, and system for a macroeconomic equity investment design and trade system (the Wavefront system). The disclosure teaches a set of quantitative tools to help investors design trades around macro themes. Part of the approach is a linked set of models called Wavefronts, which describe how economic shocks ripple through the economy into company performance, market value and equity returns in the US market. In one embodiment, the modeling may be viewed as having in three parts. The first converts an economic shock into a comprehensive set of shifts in the economy. The second takes those economic shifts and drives them into company fundamentals. The third values those fundamentals based on what the market normally pays. As a consequence, the Wavefront system maps economic views and risks into predictions of what the market will pay for those changes, and the industries and companies that will over- and under-perform, which allows for and results in the construction of more risk-efficient portfolios. In an alternative embodiment, the Wavefront system may also inverse the progression of the three parts to uncover and move industry specific information to uncover macroeconomic themes. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066025 | ASSESSING ADOPTION OR UTILIZATION OF A MEDICAL PRODUCT - In various embodiments, the present disclosure provides systems, computer-readable media and methods for assessing adoption or utilization of a medical product. In various embodiments, a request for observations by the sales representative relating to a plurality of observable factors that potentially influence adoption or utilization of the medical product by one or more providers may be caused to be presented to a sales representative for the medical product, at a computer system of the sales representative. In various embodiments, numeric data corresponding to observations by the sales representative relating to the plurality of observable factors may be received. In various embodiments, assessment of the numeric data may be facilitated to identify one or more observed factors of the plurality of observable factors that influence adoption or utilization of the medical product. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066026 | SELECTING AND PROCESSING OFFERS TO COMPLETE TASKS, RESEARCH PROGRAMS, AND CONSUMER REWARDS PROGRAMS BASED ON LOCATION - The present disclosure describes, among other things, a method. The method may include receiving a location associated with a mobile device. The method may also include determining at least one offer to complete at least one task based at least in part on the location. The method may also include sending the at least one offer to the mobile device. The method may also include receiving a selection of an offer by a user of the mobile device. The method may also include sending a request for data associated with the selection of the offer. The method may also include receiving data associated with the request from the mobile device. The method may also include determining acceptability of the data. The method may also include allocating compensation to the user according to the acceptability of the data. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066027 | METHOD OF DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ABOUT A PRODUCT OR SERVICE TO IMPROVE AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS AND/OR USERS - The utility model relates to methods of marketing and social researches, while informing consumers and/or users in respect of a specific product or service with using telecommunications devices of communication. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066028 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ACTIVITY-BASED RECOMMENDATIONS - Embodiments of computer-implemented methods and systems for activity-based recommendations are described. One example embodiment includes receiving data indicating historical activities of a user community, the historical activities including historical activities of the target user, selecting a reference group of users from the user community based on analysis of the historical activities of the target user, receiving generally current time activities of the reference group of users, the generally current time activities including those activities that have occurred within a defined time window, and recommending items to the target user based on the generally current time activities of the reference group of users. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066029 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A GEOGRAPHIC REGION FROM WHICH TO SOURCE A RESOURCE - A computer system for determining a geographic region from which to source a resource. The computer system has an associated database which stores region-specific cost data for each of a plurality of geographic regions (e.g. countries). The computer system is operable to present an interface to enable a user to input resource data for a resource; to store the resource data; to calculate a potential cost of sourcing the resource from each of the plurality of geographic regions based on the region-specific cost data and the resource data; and to output the calculated potential cost of sourcing the resource from one or more of the plurality of geographic regions. Advantageously, the should be cost of sourcing a resource from a low cost region can be calculated and used to identify the best low cost region sourcing opportunities. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066030 | Performance Management System And Dashboard - A performance management system for straightforward company analytics including trend, peer and industry benchmarking analysis, for performance assessment, measurement and action planning by linking fundamental financial metrics to their business drivers through key performance indicators (KPI's). | 2012-03-15 |
20120066031 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PEER-PROFILING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE - Embodiments of the invention provide a comprehensive, automated system and method for evaluating the performance of individuals or entities employed by an organization, particularly useful in peer-profiling physician performance in multi-facility environments. Embodiments of the invention can dynamically compose a virtual peer or group of peers and perform peer-profiling on each individual or group of individuals to be evaluated. For example, a composite physician may be generated from system-wide and/or state-wide healthcare data as a benchmark against which a particular physician is profiled according to industry-standard measurements. The composite physician would have equivalent or similar job function(s) as well as patient population. The composite physician enables a comprehensive “apple to apple” comparison with the particular physician, giving meaning to and facilitating the usefulness of performance evaluation results. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066032 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INTEGRATING ELECTORAL DATA AND ELECTORAL INTERFACES - Computer-implemented architectures and interfaces for providing a configurable electronic ballot for an election. Ballot interfaces that define a format for presenting ballot data to a voter are integrated with the ballot data using machine-readable metadata associated with the ballot data. Independent information agents may design ballot interfaces that incorporate sources of information that enable the voter to make less costly and better informed voting choices based on voter preferences. Decentralization of control over ballot interfaces reduces the election administrator's monopoly power over ballot information, thus creating a more robust voting information marketplace. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066033 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO EVALUATE AND PROVIDE FUNDS IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS - A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to implement a lending or cash advance system that can be (but is not required to be) integrated with an online commerce site. Sellers on the online commerce site can click a button or tab in their web browser that is visiting the online commerce site and information known to the online commerce site is automatically shared with a potential cash provider. The information can include sales data related to the seller's business on the online commerce site that can be applied to a formula used by a cash provider to evaluate the risk associated with lending the seller cash. A financial account used by the seller can rapidly receive the cash loan (if approved) and payments received by the seller from buyers would go into this financial account which is then used to automatically pay the cash provider back at agreed upon terms. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066034 | ONLINE ACCOUNT TO MOBILE DEVICE LINK - Systems for and methods of linking an electronic device to an online account using a unique device identifier, and Internet Protocol (IP) address, and online account information such as an email address. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066035 | RF FINGERPRINTS FOR CONTENT LOCATION - Content Management Systems (CMSs) can be configured to edit available content. The CMS can be provided as a web interface so that content can be rapidly updated. User data can be collected associated with an individual user or one or more specific locations. Examples include information related to venue traffic, efficacy of floor plan and layout, store placement, advertising rates as a function of location, lease rates, user demographics, user purchasing habits, and other user profiles. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066036 | System And Method For Providing An Advertisement To A Recipeint Of A Physical Mail Object - A system and method is provided for transmitting data (e.g., an advertisement, etc.) over a wide area network, such as the Internet, in response to receiving and authenticating at least a portion of mail data. In one embodiment of the present invention, a mail verification application is adapted to store mail data in memory. The mail data is then affixed to a mail object. The mail object is then manually delivered to a recipient. The mail data is then provided to a reception device. The reception device, which communicates with the mail ID device over a wide area network, transmits the mail data to the mail verification application operating on a mail device. The mail verification application then compares the received data with the data stored in memory. If the received mail data is authenticated, data (e.g., an advertisement, etc.) is sent to the reception device. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066037 | IDENTITY NON-DISCLOSURE MULTI-CHANNEL AUTO-RESPONDER - The invention relates to allowing mobile smart-phone users to request marketing information ‘on-demand’ from businesses via a communication channel of preference without involuntary disclosure of the consumer's identity from the channel the request is made. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066038 | DYNAMIC TALK RADIO PROGRAM SCHEDULING - Methods and systems for dynamically scheduling a talk radio program include registering potential participants of a talk radio program service and receiving participant preferences for each of the potential participants, wherein the participant preferences include at least one topic of interest and a time availability; scheduling a talk radio program for production when a combination the participant preferences reach predetermined thresholds; and sending the potential participants a notification of the scheduling of the talk radio program. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066039 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EVENT-TARGETED ADVERTISEMENT - The event-driven advertisement is targeted to a certain group of potential buyers who actually have needs for obtaining goods, material, products and or services. The buyers indicate these needs in terms of separate reminder items or entries in a reminder list which will be later reminded to the buyers in various manners. The sellers register their for-sale items such as goods, materials, products and services. Upon detecting any occurrence of the predetermined trigger conditions, if the reminder service identified one or more of the buyers and one or more of the reminder items, the identified buyers would be reminded of the identified reminder items with some seller information on the for-sale items that substantially match the identified reminder items. Depending upon the buyer control and preference, the reminder is optionally delivered with or without advertisement and or incentive to obtain goods, products and services from a particular registered seller. The incentives are generally negotiated by the intermediary agent in advance on behalf of the buyers and typically include discounts, coupons, rebates and other promotions. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066040 | VIRTUAL-WORLD BENEFIT TO MOTIVATE PHYSICAL-WORLD PURCHASE - A virtual-world benefit may be used to motivate a physical-world purchase. A game machine presents a suggestion that a user (e.g., a player of a game hosted by the game machine) make a purchase of physical-world item, and the suggestion includes an indication that the purchase entitles the user to the virtual-world benefit, thus providing the user with an incentive to make the purchase of the physical-world item. The virtual-world benefit may include a virtual world item, an amount of virtual-world currency, or both. Supposing that the user makes the purchase, the game machine accesses purchase data of the physical-world item. The purchase data indicates that the user has made the purchase. Based on the purchase data, the game machine changes a data structure of the user. The data structure is accessible by a process that configures the virtual environment as including the virtual-world benefit. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066041 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VIRTUAL TRANSFERRING OF GIFTS - Disclosed are methods and systems for offering virtual gifts to consumers. In some embodiments, the method includes offering a virtual gift to a purchaser. Upon electronic acceptance of the virtual gift by the purchaser, establishing or maintaining an association of the accepted virtual gift with at least one form of payment associated with the purchaser. Upon a purchaser's request to transfer the virtual gift to a recipient and electronic acceptance of the virtual gift by the recipient, establishing or maintaining an association of the accepted virtual gift with at least one form of payment associated with the recipient. Upon purchase of the subject matter of the accepted virtual gift with the form of payment associated with the recipient, electronically receiving a redemption of the accepted virtual gift. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066042 | METHOD OF COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ON AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS AND/OR USERS WITH RESPECT TO A GOOD OR SERVICE - The utility model relates to methods of marketing and social researches, while informing consumers and/or users in respect of a specific product or service with using telecommunications devices of communication. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066043 | Mobile Gift Card - A gift card that automatically updates its balance and allows storing purchased items. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066044 | STORED VALUE ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATE PROCESSING - An electronic stored value certificate processing system is provided in which a certificate processor ( | 2012-03-15 |
20120066045 | System and Method for Dynamically Identifying, Prioritizing and Offering Reward Categories - A method for identifying and offering rewards is provided. A user's transaction history or category history, such as, for example, spending history, transaction history, merchant history, purchases history, services history, product history, channel history, frequency of spending history, SKU history, redemption history, reward earnings history, earning levels, reward categories, or currency type, currency history, customer responses to questions, and/or other data or information that enables identification of relevant rewards is determined. Next, at least one reward category based on the user's transaction history or reward category history is dynamically prioritized, and at least one top reward category based on the dynamic prioritizing of the at least one reward category is determined. Finally, the user is dynamically rewarded discounts, rebates, coupons, or other reward incentives based on the least one top reward category. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066046 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY IN ASSOCIATION WITH A FINANCIAL ACCOUNT - The present disclosure relates to comparison shopping and usage based service analysis for consumers, primarily for financial products. A consumer may not be aware of a provider's services, options, terms, conditions, costs, or how the service options change based on the consumer's particular usage characteristics. The disclosed comparison shopping method uses the consumer's actual or predicted service usage data. Service provider information is used to present the consumer with relevant alternative service offering options. Transaction data is gathered from a user's financial account and is analyzed for a savings opportunity indication. The analysis is used to match a savings opportunity from a database of savings opportunities, and the savings opportunity may be displayed in a statement of a user's financial account. Past responses to a savings opportunity indication may be gathered and analyzed. In one example, a savings opportunity is presented with a statement of the consumer's financial account. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066047 | IDENTIFIER-BASED COUPON REDEMPTION - Users may save coupon offers in association with account identifiers tied to user accounts, such as identifiers for customer loyalty cards, phones, or personal computing devices. Users may present the account identifiers, or physical items associated with the account identifier, while completing transactions. Retailers may utilize the account identifiers to determine which coupon offers have been saved in association with the corresponding user accounts. The saved coupon offers may then be applied against the transactions. Coupon offers saved in this manner may be counted as distributed for the purposes of producing a distribution count for reports or for applying distribution limits. For example, a user's request to print a coupon for a coupon offer may be denied if the coupon offer is saved in association with an account identifier associated with the user. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066048 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SINGLE COUPON KEY CODE REDEMPTION OF MULTIPLE COUPONS - A system and method for conveying coupons using an electronic device comprises receiving with a computer, a keyword transmitted from the electronic device, associating, with a computer, the keyword with a Key Code, wherein the Key Code is associated with the one or more coupons, and transmitting from the computer to the electronic device, a single electronic message including the Key Code and one or more coupons, each of the one or more coupons including one or more images. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066049 | IDENTIFIER-BASED COUPON REDEMPTION - Users may save coupon offers in association with account identifiers tied to user accounts, such as identifiers for customer loyalty cards, phones, or personal computing devices. Users may present the account identifiers, or physical items associated with the account identifier, while completing transactions. Retailers may utilize the account identifiers to determine which coupon offers have been saved in association with the corresponding user accounts. The saved coupon offers may then be applied against the transactions. Coupon offers saved in this manner may be counted as distributed for the purposes of producing a distribution count for reports or for applying distribution limits. For example, a user's request to print a coupon for a coupon offer may be denied if the coupon offer is saved in association with an account identifier associated with the user. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066050 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LOYALTY CARD REWARDS THROUGH AN ALTERNATE USER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT - The present disclosure relates to comparison shopping and usage based service analysis for consumers, primarily for financial products. A consumer may not be aware of a provider's services, options, terms, conditions, costs, or how the service options change based on the consumer's particular usage characteristics. The disclosed comparison shopping method uses actual or predicted service usage data from the consumer. Service provider information is used to present the consumer with relevant alternative service offering options. Transaction data is gathered from a user's financial account and is analyzed for a savings opportunity indication. The analysis is used to match a savings opportunity from a database of savings opportunities, and the savings opportunity may be displayed in a statement of a user's financial account. Past responses to a savings opportunity indication may be gathered and analyzed. In one example, a savings opportunity is presented for use in a subsequent transaction. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066051 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A PROOF OF PURCHASE REWARD PROGRAM - A system and method for providing consumer, vendors, manufacturers, reward program providers, and reward program beneficiaries with mechanisms for managing and participating in a reward program. By associating consumer identifiers with reward programs, a reward program manager mechanism may administer a reward program on the behalf of all participants. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066052 | Method and System for Associating a Consumer with Product Redemption Data - There is presented a method and system for using a product redemption data associated with an identity of a consumer in a memory of a computer having a processor. The method comprises receiving the product redemption data, searching the memory using the processor to find the product redemption data, and identifying the consumer in response to finding the product redemption data associated with the identity of the consumer in the memory. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066053 | DETERMINING WHETHER TO PROVIDE AN ADVERTISEMENT TO A USER OF A SOCIAL NETWORK - Techniques are described herein for determining whether to provide an advertisement to a user of a social network. The determination is based on a click probability and a social network value for the user. The click probability indicates a likelihood of the user to select the advertisement if provided to the user via the social network. The social network value is based on a subscription probability of the user and further based on subscription probabilities of other users in the social network that are included in an affinity set of the user. Each subscription probability indicates a likelihood of a respective user to subscribe to a paid service with respect to the social network. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066054 | System and Method for Providing a Futures/Forward Tradable Market and Bidded Price Negotiation for Internet Advertising - A system of advertising on the Internet, including: an on-line system for sellers of future advertising space to create advertising contracts; an on-line system for presenting the advertising contracts to purchasers of advertising space; an on-line system for the purchasers of future advertising space to select the sellers' advertising contracts; a system to integrate purchased advertising contracts to a delivery mechanism that displays purchasers' advertising in the sellers advertising space; and a system for transferring funds from the purchasers to the sellers after completion and audit of the advertising contracts. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066055 | GENERATING A USER INTERFACE BASED ON PREDICTED REVENUE YIELD - A method and a system to place secondary content in predetermined slots in a graphical user interface based on a predicted revenue yield is provided. In example embodiments, in response to a request for primary content, a plurality of pieces of secondary content are identified. A graphical user interface (GUI) is identified that has at least one available slot to be populated with secondary content. For each respective piece of secondary content, a revenue yield is calculated based on a position of slots in the GUI. The revenue yields are analyzed according to a combinatorial optimization algorithm. Finally, instructions to place the plurality of the secondary content in the slots are generated. | 2012-03-15 |
20120066056 | Advertising Revenue Sharing System and Method - A revenue sharing system includes a destination website in communication with an analytics module. The system also includes a payment calculation module, capable of communication with the analytics module. One or more referring websites direct a visitor to the destination website in response to the selection of a link. The analytics module tracks visitor activity and relates the activity to a referrer account, based on the link. The payment calculation module calculates a payment based at least in part on visitor activity. The destination website transmits the calculated payment to a payment account associated with the referrer account. | 2012-03-15 |