50th week of 2014 patent applcation highlights part 54 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140365229 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXCERPT CREATION BY DESIGNATING A TEXT SEGMENT USING SPEECH - An apparatus includes at least one input device configured to receive a speech input, a display configured to present predetermined content acquired by the apparatus from which excerpts may be extracted, and a processor configured to execute computer readable program code. The computer readable program code is configured to collect a speech recognition vocabulary set that corresponds to content visible on the display such that at least one vocabulary word in the speech recognition vocabulary set is the same as a word presented on the display, designate a segment of the content to be excerpted based on the speech input, and create a link to a source of the excerpted content and display the link with the excerpted content. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365230 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAXIMIZING A LIMITED SET OF IDENTIFIERS FOR AUDIO WATERMARKING - A method and apparatus for encoding identifiers into a media item, the method including: embedding a sequence of identifiers equally and in order over a duration of a content of the media item; and storing a mapping between the embedded identifiers and the media item; wherein the sequence of identifiers is created by: (a) generating a subsequence of 2M unique identifiers, M being an integer greater than one; (b) shifting every other identifiers in the generated subsequence to the right by two positions in the subsequence and with the identifier at the end cycling around to the corresponding position at the beginning to generate a new subsequence; (c) repeating step (b) up to M−1 times; and (d) concatenating the generated subsequences to create the sequence of identifiers. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365231 | UPSAMPLING USING OVERSAMPLED SBR - An encoder (250) comprises a core encoder (252) for encoding a low frequency component of the audio signal at the signal sampling rate (fs_in) and a spectral band replication-referred to as SBR-encoding unit (153, 254) for determining a plurality of SBR parameters. A plurality of the SBR parameters is determined such that a high frequency component of the audio signal can be approximated based on the low frequency component of the audio signal and the plurality of SBR parameters. A multiplexer (155) is adapted to generate an overall bitstream comprising the core encoded bitstream, the plurality of SBR parameters and an indication of one or more SBR encoder settings applied by the SBR encoder (153, 254); wherein the generated overall bitstream does not indicate that the core encoded bitstream has been determined by encoding the low frequency component at the signal sampling rate (fs_in). | 2014-12-11 |
20140365232 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING GUIDANCE TO MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS - Method and apparatus for providing guidance to medical professionals. In some embodiments, at least one natural language understanding engine is used to analyze at least one narrative provided by a radiologist in connection with a study of one or more medical images. One or more decision rules are applied to one or more facts extracted by the at least one natural language understanding engine from the at least one narrative, and a result of applying the one or more decision rules to the one or more facts extracted from the at least one narrative is used to provide guidance to the radiologist. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365233 | INTERACTIVE HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - An online weight management system and maintenance program for the comprehensive medical treatment of obesity and obesity related illnesses. In an online environment, prospective patients are invited to register for the program, and, if approved, are presented with interactive sessions, where, under the supervision of an assigned physician or health coach, the patient receives medical advice and step-by-step medical guidance in order to achieve the patient's desired medical goals. Sessions are completed, results obtained, and interactive feedback is presented to the patient on a periodic basis. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365234 | Computer Network-Interfaced Method for Health Care Provider Active Reach Into Diverse Sub-Population Communities - A computer network-interfaced method for public health and health care provider active reach into diverse sub-population communities for the purpose of reducing health care treatment gaps of the population-at-large; comprising a network of computing means for health care provider administrators, a network-interfaced web software registration process requiring member user characteristics and health insurance information to parse members into sub-population communities; provider secure remote access control of network-interfaced computing means of sub-population community members during scheduled consultations, and production, broadcast and storage of protocol-driven life-episodes for actively screening member health care needs and improving social inclusion of sub-population community members. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365235 | PERSONAL SURGICAL CENTER - A personal surgical center embodied as a general purpose computer (e.g. laptop) with wireless technology for monitoring the operation of an independent surgical center and/or handheld instruments. The computer tracks procedures in the operating room and instruments used during those procedures, and accounts for billing, supply management, and payment options. The monitoring of the instruments used during the surgery is conducted by the personal surgical center while actual control of the settings of those instruments is via the independent surgical center or via controls included in the instruments themselves. The monitored information is stored in a log file which is then transmitted to a hospital server for generating reports, inventory control, billing, and the like. Other information generated during the procedure (e.g. doctor notes) is also stored in the log file. The personal surgical center may also access the hospital server or local data storage device for retrieving a surgeon's specific surgery parameters, obtaining patient files, and the like. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365236 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A NETWORK ANALYZER TOOL - The present solution provides a new tool to assist clients and prospects in evaluating and optimizing their use of PPO networks. The interactive analysis tool of the present solution allows you to rapidly see the impact of different network configurations based on actual experience measured against a comprehensive bill review database. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365237 | Coordination of Payment of Patient Healthcare in Developing Countries by Family Members Living Abroad - Methods, systems, and computer program products for the coordination of payment of medical goods and/or services of patients in developing countries by relatives of those individuals living abroad, such as in the diaspora of particular cultures or nationalities. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365238 | BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SERVER, PROGRAM THEREOF, AND MEDICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM USING THE SAME - To provide a medical information distribution server for providing a system for sharing a patient's biological information with a plurality of people having different roles, such as doctors and pharmacists, as well as a medical support system that uses such a server. The medical information distribution server is connected via network to a terminal including a card reader, including: a device for saving an identification symbol assigned to a card and read by the card reader, patient ID for identifying a patient, and biological information of the patient in association with each other; a device for generating display data from information included in the biological information of the patient in accordance with a condition set in advance by a user of the terminal; and a device for transmitting generated display data to a terminal that read the card including the identification symbol, in response to a request from the terminal. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365239 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING GUIDELINE COMPLIANCE - Method and apparatus for facilitating guideline compliance. In some embodiments, a report provided by a radiologist in connection with a study of one or more medical images is analyzed to determine whether the radiologist provided an item of information called for by at least one guideline. If it is determined that the radiologist failed to provide the item of information called for by the at least one guideline, at least one assumption is automatically made with respect to the item of information, and the radiologist is prompted to review the at least one assumption. In some embodiments, one or more decision rules are generated based at least in part on at least one published guideline relating to at least one aspect of radiology, the one or more decision rules for use in automatically determining whether a radiologist's report complies with the at least one published guideline. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365240 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CROSS-PLATFORM SENTIMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC-BASED TRANSACTIONAL SERVICE SELECTION - In one exemplary embodiment, a method of a telehealth services system includes the step of providing a healthcare providers database. The healthcare providers database includes an healthcare provider schedule information, a healthcare provider specialty information and a healthcare provider pricing information. The method includes the step of providing a search engine. The search engine is configured to search the database of healthcare providers based on at least one keyword. The method includes the step of providing a scheduling module configured to schedule an appointment between a consumer and a healthcare provider. A negotiation module is provided to mediate a price negotiation between the consumer and the healthcare provider. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365241 | SYSTEM FOR PRE-HOSPITAL PATIENT INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND METHODS OF USING SAME - Disclosed is a system and method for a platform as a service solution stack for real-time, bi-directional dynamic routing of vendor agnostic pre-hospital electronic records to/from a health care provider. The solution provides a single interaction point for all customers or nodes on the enhanced network, which allows a customer to integrate with the platform a single time regardless of the number of network interactions with other customers. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365242 | Integration of Multiple Input Data Streams to Create Structured Data - Disclosed herein is a framework for integrating multiple input data streams. In accordance with one aspect, multiple input data streams are acquired from one or more pervasive devices during performance of a regular task. The acquired input data may be translated into structured data. One or more determinations may then be made based on the structured data. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365243 | RETROACTIVE EXTRACTION OF CLINICALLY RELEVANT INFORMATION FROM PATIENT SEQUENCING DATA FOR CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT - A catalog ( | 2014-12-11 |
20140365244 | Imaging Examination Protocol Update Recommender - A computing device ( | 2014-12-11 |
20140365245 | METHOD FOR MANAGING TREATMENT OF A HEALTH CONDITION USING SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOM DATA - A method for managing treatment of a particular health condition afflicting a patient includes programming a processor with a health management application program that prompts a user for entry of health condition data, including a patient physiological data, subjective patient health condition data, and medication delivery data, compiles the health condition data into a data summary, and transmits the data summary through a communication unit. A drop-down list related to subjective symptoms is provided, which includes stress and depression. A display touch method is used to enter data, selections, and controls. The health management program also provides prompts for the entry of diet data, and further displays drop-down lists related to daily activities and alerts for medication delivery. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365246 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GRID-BASED INSURANCE RATING - A system and method for underwriting and rating insurance products using a programmed computer system to receive usage information of a vehicle within a geographic area or location, determine a target grid cell or a sequence of target grid cells bounded by latitude and longitude lines that encompass at least a portion of the geographic area where the vehicle was used, attain a set of data associated with the target grid cell(s), and calculate a location rating factor based on the usage information, target cell(s), and the set of data. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365247 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR OBTAINING COVERAGE REQUEST AUTHORIZATIONS - A method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided herein for obtaining multiple authorizations for a multiple payee coverage request and facilitating the distribution of coverage payments according to the request. An example method involves receiving a multiple payee coverage request to generate a coverage payment in accordance with a coverage plan, determining two or more payees based on the multiple payee coverage request, receiving transaction data from at least one of the two or more payees and associating the transaction data with the multiple payee coverage request, determining a distribution vehicle for each payee based, at least in part, on the transaction data received, and causing the coverage payment to be distributed according to the respective distribution vehicles determined. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365248 | Private Health Insurance Exchange System and Method - Systems and methods for the distribution, equalization and mitigation of risks in an insurance exchange, and specifically to that of a private health insurance exchange system and method that rewards/punishes those attempting to poach or game it. The system and method also includes a way to create an insurance exchange so that those providers participating may get all or a fraction of any losses that exceed pre-established limits reimbursed to them as part of a payment by those providers participating in the exchange who received gains exceeding their expectations. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365249 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LOCATION BASED SOCIAL DINING MATCHING - The present invention generally relates to computer and web-based dining services. Specifically, this invention relates to systems and methods for matching users for a social dining experience, utilizing location based services and filtering technologies as well as restaurant availability services and other criteria. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365250 | TRANSPORTATION SERVICE RESERVATION METHOD AND APPARATUS - A transportation service reservation method includes receiving a ride request specifying an origin and a destination; with respect to each of vehicles each capable of providing ride options in multiple forms of ride, generating a feasible ride option pertaining to the multiple forms of ride by referring to a storage part storing information indicating schedules assigned to the vehicle and forms of ride of the schedules; calculating a choice probability of each of ride options forming a subset with respect to each of one or more subsets satisfying a predetermined condition among subsets of a group of the generated feasible ride options; and selecting a subset to be offered in response to the ride request from among the one or more subsets satisfying the predetermined condition, based on the calculated choice probabilities. The receiving, generating, calculating, and selecting are executed by a computer. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365251 | Vacancy Rate Calculation Apparatus, Vacancy Rate Calculation System, Vacancy Rate Calculation Method and a Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Recording Medium - The vacancy rate calculation apparatus is provided with a restaurant information storing part for storing table identification information, the number of customers that can be seated at each table and group information indicating a group of a plurality of tables which can be grouped. The vacancy rate calculation apparatus receives table identification information of a table at which a customer or customers is/are seated and the number of the customer or customers and determines whether or not the number of the customers exceeds the number that can be seated at the table. When it is determined that the number of the customers exceeds, the vacancy rate calculation apparatus determines whether or not another table is vacant which can be combined with the table indicated by the received table identification information. When it is determined that said another table is vacant, the vacancy rate calculation apparatus stores the table identification information of said another table at which a customer is assumed to be seated, along with the received table identification information. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365252 | RULES VISUALIZATION USING AN EXPRESSION TREE - Representing a business rule by: (i) determining an expression tree corresponding to the business rule; and (ii) displaying the expression tree. The business rule is a business rule used in one or more OLAP cubes and can be debugged and/or edited through an OLAP utility. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365253 | System for Calculating, Analyzing and Tracking Regulatory Recovery in a Relational Database relating to Regulatory Management - A system for calculating, analyzing and tracking regulatory recovery relating to regulatory management has been developed. The system includes, a mapping interface for mapping the source data from multiple source databases, analysis keys that are applied and act as data tags to the mapped source data and a storage database for storing the mapped source data. A jurisdictional template is used for filtering mapped source data in order to model the data for a specific jurisdiction. Next, a case ledger layer that generates rate cases based on filtered mapped source data. A regulatory monitoring tool is then used to monitor regulatory recovery performance. Finally, a revenue requirements manager that analyzes both historical and forecast rate cases generates a user report. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365254 | First to File Lean Invention Process - Systems and methods are disclosed to commercialize a product or service at an early stage, by conceiving of a new concept and converting the new concept into an intellectual property (IP) asset; forming a team to develop the new concept using a computer; determining contributions from each member of the team and assigning a profit sharing percentage to each contributing member; and developing the new concept and bringing the product or service to a marketplace as a new business venture. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365255 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR APPLYING PREDICITIVE ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE CLIENT SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS BY MEANS OF INDIRECT USER INTERACTION - Systems and methods enable the processing of a customer-support request by allowing customers to initiate a support request through a computing device without the need for the customer to provide information relating to the customer's reasons for initiating the request. In one embodiment, a server associated with a provider receives a support request from a customer computing device. The provider server performs predictive analysis to determine the most likely reasons the customer initiated the service request. The provider server also identifies one or more representatives qualified to address the support request and transmits a support request notification to a computing device associated with a provider representative who is qualified to address the request. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365256 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SUBMITTING DAILY FIELD REPORTS - A system provides field workers with on-site access to forms and tools that guide the field worker through the data entry and submission of information and images from field inspections and maintenance. The system also provides an interface for recipients of submitted field reports to view and manage the received data. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365257 | COMPUTER AIDED TRACKING BY BIOMETRICS - A computer aided method of racking persons who need to be tracked, comprising the steps of providing means to biometrically identify and track the movements of persons to be tracked; providing business rules and business rule monitoring to assure that persons tracked movements are completed correctly and timely; providing wizard-based computer data entry of persons' tracking data; providing alert notifications by e-mail and by text messaging relating to persons being tracked; providing cloud-based computer data sharing relating to persons being tracked; providing mobile dashboard integration of data relating to persons being tracked; and providing real-time transaction logging of persons' tracking data. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365258 | JOB MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A FLEET OF AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS - The Job Management System (JMS) of the present invention processes job requests in an automated physical environment, such as a factory, hospital, order processing facility or office building, wherein the job requests are handled by a fleet of autonomously-navigating mobile robots. The JMS includes a map defining a floor plan, a set of virtual job locations and a set of one or more virtual job operations associated with virtual job locations. The JMS automatically determines the actual locations and actual job operations for the job requests, and intelligently selects a suitable mobile robot to handle each job request based on the current status and/or the current configuration for the selected mobile robot. The JMS also sends commands to the selected mobile robot to cause the mobile robot to automatically drive the actual job location, to automatically perform the actual job operations, or both. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365259 | IN-FIELD INSTALLATION RECORD OF A PROJECT - A method for reporting as-built data of a project is disclosed. In one embodiment, an object for installation is automatically identified by a handheld device associated with an installer and at least one attribute of a task performed by the installer is recorded at the handheld device. The attribute of the at least one task is reported via a wireless communication link to an information management system. The at least one attribute of the task is used to update a record of a project stored at the information management system. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365260 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING WORK ASSIGNMENT STATUS INFORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH WORK TO BE PERFORMED ON A COMPONENT OF A LINEAR ASSET INFRASTRUCTURE - The invention provides a graphical user interface implemented on a computer including an information area for displaying to a user at the computer inspection status information in connection with one or more components of a linear asset infrastructure. The graphical user interface also includes a control component operable by the user at the computer to cause the graphical user interface to display additional information on the one or more components of the linear asset infrastructure. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365261 | CREATING RECURRING APPOINTMENTS - A user creates appointments by selecting dates on a displayed calendar. A pattern may be automatically detected in response to the user selecting calendar dates on the calendar. For example, a pattern may automatically be detected when a user selects two Mondays in a row when selecting appointment dates. In response to automatically detecting a pattern, a list of recurring appointments is automatically created. The automatically created appointments may be shown on the calendar. The automatically created appointments may also be shown in a list of an appointment user interface. A user may interact with the appointments in the appointment user interface. For example, a user may select one of the displayed appointments from the list and change appointment information related to the selected appointment. A start date and an end date may also be specified using the appointment user interface. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365262 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND AGENDA REMINDING METHOD - In an agenda notification method of an electronic device, an applicable reminding time period and an alarm time is set for each of one or more agendas created in the electronic device. A movement state of the electronic device is detected in real-time to determine whether the movement state of electronic device changes from a static state to a moving state. When the movement state of the electronic device changes from the static state to the moving state and a current time is within the applicable reminding time period of an agenda, a notification is output to remind a user. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365263 | ROLE TAILORED WORKSPACE - A workspace display includes a plurality of different groups, task, set of tasks or each group including a plurality of different components. Each group corresponds to a topic of information related to a user's role. The particular components included in each group are user interface display elements that are each related to an item of content within the corresponding group. The individual components are also selected and placed on the workspace display based on a user's role and activities or tasks performed by a user in that role. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365264 | CRITICALITY PROFILE FOR INDUSTRIAL ASSET - Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for developing a criticality profile of an industrial asset. The criticality profile describes the importance of the industrial asset to a system in terms of one or more criticality metrics and/or one or more confidence profiles. Such metrics may include an operational metric indicative of the operation impact of the industrial asset on a system if the industrial asset remains unchanged or enters a degraded or improved state, a restoration metric indicative of a complexity of restoring the industrial asset to an operational state from the unchanged or degraded state and/or complexity of improving the industrial asset to an improved state, and/or an interdependency metric indicative of a relationship between the industrial asset and one or more other industrial assets and/or between the industrial asset and one or more structures in an environment associated with the industrial asset. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365265 | SEMICONDUCTOR BULLET LOT DISPATCH SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A semiconductor bullet lot dispatch system is provided. The semiconductor bullet lot dispatch system includes a plurality of lots having bullet lots and non-bullet lots, and a processing site having a plurality of load ports used to run the lots. The semiconductor bullet lot dispatch system also includes a bullet lot arriving time initial module configured to collect work flow information of the lots and calculate bullet lot arriving time intervals; and a port remaining time initial module configured to calculate port next available time intervals. Further, the semiconductor bullet lot dispatch system includes a future constraint check module configured to match the bullet lots with the load ports, and a bullet lot scenario engine module configured to calculate a total available lot count of each of available load ports and dispatch the bullet lots to the load ports. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365266 | ENTERPRISE PROCESS EVALUATION - Method and system for performing an evaluation of an enterprise process. The method includes receiving process data for a plurality of activities associated with the at least one enterprise process. The process data depicts a current state of the at least one enterprise process. Based on the process data, a plurality of lean metrics for each of the plurality of activities is calculated. Upon calculating the plurality of lean metrics, a lean maturity assessment is performed to evaluate the enterprise process by comparing the current state of the enterprise process with a target state of the enterprise process based at least on the process data and target data depicting the target state of the enterprise process. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365267 | Global Enterprise Printing and Mailing - Systems, devices, and methods for global enterprise workflow management are disclosed. The system may include a communications module, memory, and processor for executing a method of managing job information. The system receives job information and uses a model to identify a desirable resource to execute the job. Then the system sends the job information to the identified resource for execution. The resource may send back information associated with the running and/or completion of the job. Various models may be used in identifying a desirable approach, including a cost model, a staffing model, and other models. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365268 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RESOURCE DEPENDENCY PLANNING - Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media are disclosed for resource dependency planning. A method is provided for resource dependency planning including receiving resource dependency logic. The resource dependency logic may define a dependency relationship among a plurality of resources. The method may also include receiving a set of resource input data. The resource input data may indicate a status of at least one of the plurality of resources. The method may further include determining a status of each of the plurality of resources based on the set of resource input data and the resource dependency logic, and providing the status of the plurality of the plurality of resources via a resource dependency planning interface. Various other means including a system, apparatus, and computer readable medium are also disclosed. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365269 | FAILURE PREDICTION BASED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLANNING ON ASSET NETWORK SYSTEM - There are provided a method, a system and a computer program product for maintaining an asset. The system receives data associated with an one asset and other assets to which the one asset is directly or indirectly physically connected. The system determines, based on the received data, a dependency between the one asset and one or more of the other assets. The system predicts, based on the determined dependency, a failure of the one asset within a future time period. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365270 | PROACTIVE SIMULATION AND DETECTION OF OUTBREAKS BASED ON PRODUCT DATA - Embodiments of the present invention relate to proactive computer simulation of portable product failures, and more specifically, to determining the likely cause of an outbreak of foodborne disease or other geographically distributed symptoms of a failure or contamination of a portable product. In one embodiment, a method of and computer program product for simulating portable product failures is provided. Data regarding the locations of consumers of a portable product within a geographic region is received from a data store. A probability density map is determined from the data, indicating where the portable product is likely to be consumed within the geographical region. For each of a plurality of simulated failures of the portable product, the locations of a plurality of simulated incidents arising from the simulated failure are determined. From the locations of the plurality of simulated incidents and the probability density map, the number of incidents necessary to identify the portable product to a predetermined certainty is determined. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365271 | INDUSTRIAL ASSET HEALTH MODEL UPDATE - Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for generating a health profile of an industrial asset based upon data pertaining to such an industrial asset. The health profile describes an expected condition of the industrial asset during a prediction period, a predicted cause of the expected condition, and/or a predicted impact of the expected condition. In some embodiments, the health profile is generated using a model that is configured to be periodically and/or intermittently updated. Further, in some embodiments, a diagnostic profile may be generated describing diagnostic actions that may be taken to improve predictions included within a health profile and/or to improve a confidence in one or more of those predictions. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365272 | PRODUCT DISPLAY WITH EMOTION PREDICTION ANALYTICS - A system and method for determining customer emotional reaction to products is provided. The system may include a physical retail store with both a plurality of physical products for sale, and a virtual interactive product display allowing customers to virtually interact with three-dimensional rendered images of products. Gesture sensors such as motion sensors and video cameras are provided at various locations near the physical products and the interactive display. Emotional reaction can be analyzed based on customer facial expression, skeletal joint movement, and other physical factors. Machine learning techniques can be employed to analyze the reactions. In the system the customer emotional reactions are associated with the particular product that the customer was interacting with when the customer expressed the emotion. The information relating the emotional reaction to a particular product may be provided to a product manufacturer to improve the design of future products. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365273 | Data analytics collection for customer interaction with products in a retail store - A system and method for data analytics includes a physical retail store having a plurality of sensors provided in various locations around the physical store. The sensors may include motion sensors, visual imaging cameras, heat sensors, or other kinds of sensors. Information about the customer's shopping behavior is collected by detecting the customer at a first sensor and monitoring the customer's motion as the customer moves out of the sensing range of the first sensor and into the sensing range of other sensors around the store. The system may track the customer anonymously. In one embodiment, the customer self-identifies in the store, for example when making a purchase. If the customer chooses to self-identify, the previously anonymous shopping behavior for that customer can be associated with the customer's unique ID. Based on the shopping behavior, the retailer can provide the customer with deals and customized content. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365274 | PRICE PAID DATABASE METHOD AND SYSTEM - A novel price paid database, method, system, and computer program product in which checkout items are scanned at a plurality of stores, and a checkout computer identifies the purchased items. The checkout computer determines a price paid for each purchased item. A central computer records in a price-paid database an item identification and price-paid for each purchased items. The central computer publishes the price-paid database. The checkout computer recurrently updates the price-paid database in the central computer with the price paid for each purchased item, the customer identification (if available), the store identification, and a list price for each purchased item. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365275 | METHODS AND SYTEMS FOR COMPILING MARKETING INFORMATION FOR A CLIENT - Methods and systems for compiling marketing information for a client are provided. Data can be obtained from a plurality of social media websites, where each of the social media websites includes a universal resource identifier that points to a client website. A plurality of insights can be extracted from the obtained data, resulting in extracted insights. Each of the extracted insights comprises text elements that denote product approval for at least one product available for sale at the client website. Measurements of traffic to the client website can be collected, the traffic being referred to the client website by the plurality of social media websites. A referred traffic dynamics summary table can then be generated based on the extracted insights and the measurements of traffic. The referred traffic dynamics summary table aggregates the extracted insights across the plurality of social media websites to rank the extracted insights. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365276 | DATA-DRIVEN INVENTORY AND REVENUE OPTIMIZATION FOR UNCERTAIN DEMAND DRIVEN BY MULTIPLE FACTORS - Based on a time series history of a random variable representing demand for at least one of a good and a service as a function of at least one controllable demand driver, obtain a quantile regression function that estimates a quantile of a demand distribution function; obtain a mixed- and/or super-quantile regression function that estimates conditional value at risk; and obtain a regression function that estimates mean of the demand distribution function. Joint optimization of: inventory of the at least one of a good and a service, and the at least one controllable demand driver, is undertaken based on the quantile regression function and the mixed- and/or super-quantile regression function, to obtain an optimal value for the at least one controllable demand driver and an implied optimal value for a stocking level. One or more exogenous demand drivers can optionally be taken into account. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365277 | RETROACTIVE DOCUMENT RETENTION, REPORTING AND PRICING DETERMINATION - Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for providing retroactive document retention service. In some embodiments, a system is provided that includes: a computing platform including a processor and a storage device, a database comprising rules relating to maintenance of information stored in an archive, a software module stored in the storage device comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: (a) identify one or more data items in the one or more databases having a retention date prior to a date of enrollment into the document retention service; (b) retroactively apply the document retention service to the one or more data items by modifying a retention time for each of the one or more data items, wherein the retention time is extend for a predetermined time in accordance with one or more terms of the document retention service. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365278 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS - An information processing apparatus includes a storage and a controller. The storage stores a plurality of tasks for which first threshold values are respectively assigned. The controller communicates with the storage, the controller being programmed to select a first task group from the plurality of tasks, provide a first task from the first task group, calculate a first score based on an operation result of the first task, and determine whether or not to provide a second task from the first group tasks based on a comparison between the first score and the first threshold value for the second task. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365279 | INFORMATION MANAGEMENT DEVICE, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM - Provided is an information management device ( | 2014-12-11 |
20140365280 | PROVISION OF FEEDBACK INFORMATION TO POINT OF SALE DEVICE OPERATORS BASED ON PERFORMANCE MEASURES - Systems and methods for provision of feedback information to point of sale device operators based on performance measures are disclosed. According to an aspect, a method includes determining an operator performance measure at a point of sale (POS) device. The method also includes generating, based on the operator performance measure, an interface for operator input. Further, the method includes receiving operator input to the interface. The method also includes providing feedback information based on the operator performance measure and the operator input. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365281 | COMPUTERIZED VOTING SYSTEM - Officials using computers research then create lists of Certified Registered Voters and Proxies whom are sent computer encoded ballots and return containers. Each Ballot and correlated Receipt(s) share a unique Random Symbolic Identifier (RSID) and embedded Security Elements to prevent counterfeiting. For privacy, before voting, Voters-Proxies optionally exchange ballots within their Voting Region, validating ballots by submitting Ballot Validation RSID to Officials. Voter-Proxy completes ballot(s), adds Personal Security Identifier(s), receives ballot receipt, delivery receipt upon sending ballot to Officials via postal mail, Interactive Television, Internet, Telephone, Fax, Email, In-person. Received ballots are scanned and recorded; if timely and authentic, voter selections are extracted, tallied if properly marked, and published to Voters' private data area accessed via Receipt RSID and passcode. Official devices, communications computer processing partially managed and optimized by computers running artificial intelligence software programs. After voting ends, Officials publish data for verification. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365282 | Web-based System and Process for Creating Child Entities While Incentivizing Users to Engage in Positive Behavior - A web-based system for creating a potentially endless stream of Child Entities which incentivizes users to participate in the creation of a Child Entity which may be a charitable organization at a variety of levels including helping select the people who will help lead or direct the activities of the Child Entity based on the merits of their life activities demonstrated through the system. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365283 | Parking Payment Detection - In one embodiment, a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone) is utilized to determine whether a user has paid for parking. The mobile device collects sensor data that describes actions of a mobile device or actions of an automobile or of a driver of the automobile. The sensor data includes one or more of location data, acceleration data, rotational data, or audio data. Either the mobile device or a centralized server performs an analysis of the sensor data to determine data indicative of a pay status of the parking spot. The pay status indicates whether the user has likely paid for parking. The mobile device or the centralized server is configured to generate a message based on the data indicative of the pay status of the parking spot. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365284 | DISTRIBUTED MARKETING PLATFORM - A system for providing access to a distributed marketing platform is disclosed. In particular, the system may be utilized to allow a local marketer to access marketing resources for one or more brands through the use of a sub-account. The system may generate the sub-account for the local marketer, which may be utilized by the local marketer to access a master account associated with a particular brand that the local marketer desires to connect with. Access to the master account and its resources may be granted to the sub-account if the local marketer submits valid key and account information to an online portal associated with the master account. Additionally, the sub-account may be allowed to connect to other master accounts associated with other brands by using the online portal and without violating master account agreements of direct-solicitation and cross-promotion of the master accounts to the sub-account. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365285 | MECHANISM FOR DONATING TO CHARITY WHILE BUYING GOODS AND SERVICES ONLINE - In one embodiment, a centralized internet commerce platform allows a user to donate to charity as part of an internet purchase. The centralized internet commerce platform | 2014-12-11 |
20140365286 | Method of Reserving an Electronic Savings Advertisement - A method of reserving a savings advertisement includes: delivering an electronic savings advertisement creation interface web page from a server system to a computer system of a merchant; receiving at the server system a request from the computer system of the merchant to generate an electronic savings advertisement, the request comprising a maximum number of transactions that can be conducted with the electronic savings advertisement; storing in the server system a value representing an available numeric quantity for the savings advertisement; determining in the server system whether the numeric quantity is greater than zero; delivering an electronic savings advertisement request interface web page from the server system to a computer system of a customer, the savings advertisement request interface web page including an offer for the savings advertisement; receiving at the computer system of the customer a reservation request for the electronic savings advertisement; and decrementing the available numeric quantity by one in the server system in response to the reservation request. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365287 | Loyalty Point Reward System - A method to configure a loyalty points reward program, where the method configures a loyalty program server comprising computer readable program code to configure a loyalty point merchant consortium and a loyalty point customer consortium comprising a plurality of participating consumers. The method further dynamically sets a universal loyalty point value, and determines a quantity of universal loyalty points to allocate to the first customer based upon prior purchases made by the first consumer from the plurality of participating merchants. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365288 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEFINING, DISTRIBUTING, AND REDEEMING SMS AND MMS COUPONS - A method and apparatus is disclosed that allows advertisers to define and distribute Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) coupons to consumers, and for consumers to redeem the received coupons, where such SMS and MMS coupons are used by businesses to promote their products and services to consumers. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365289 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REWARD CALCULATION AND DISBURSEMENT - Methods and systems for receiving purchase transaction data and identifying the purchase transactions that qualify for customer rebates. In an embodiment, a transaction clearing computer of a payment processing network receives the purchase transaction data from a plurality of acquirer financial institutions. A rewards system computer of the payment processing network identifies individual purchase transactions that qualify for customer rebates pursuant to rewards programs and based on the purchase transaction data, and then initiates crediting of rebate amounts from acquirer financial institutions to payment card accounts of cardholders at issuer financial institutions. The rewards system computer also initiates charging of the rebate amounts to merchant accounts of merchants associated with the individual purchase transactions that qualified for customer rebates. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365290 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING REWARDS TO A PORTABLE COMPUTING DEVICE AT THE POINT OF SALE - A method of providing rewards to a user by storing, in a portable computing device, user profile data which may be accessed by a merchant terminal. A merchant terminal interacts with the portable computing device by accessing the user profile data from the portable computing device, and providing the user with a reward in accordance with the user profile data accessed by the merchant terminal, wherein the merchant terminal provides a relatively greater reward to the user when relatively more user profile data is accessed by the merchant terminal and a relatively lesser reward to the user when relatively less data is accessed by the merchant terminal. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365291 | UNIVERSAL LOYALTY PROGRAM - The performance of obligations is facilitated with respect to a discount received via a loyalty program. For example, the performance of the obligations can be facilitated via: managing information regarding the obligation of a user of the loyalty program; determining a path to satisfaction of the obligation based on a location of a mobile device associated with the user; and producing a notification regarding fulfillment of the obligation based on the path. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365292 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS TRACKING OF A PORTABLE DEVICETHROUGHOUT A PREMISES - A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns reward points from a plurality of independent reward points issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned reward points in a user reward point account stored on a multi-function card (such as a frequent flyer account or a credit card loyalty account). The multi-function card is adapted to aggregate some or all of the user's earned reward points from the reward accounts and credit the aggregated points into a single reward exchange account on the multi-function card. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated reward points from the multi-function card. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the reward points from the multi-function card. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365293 | POINT OF SALE DEVICE FOR ONLINE REWARD POINT EXCHANGE METHOD AND SYSTEM - An online reward exchange system and method, with an exchange computer that interoperates with user computers, reward point issuer computers, and merchant computers. The merchants' products may be purchased by a user by requesting via a user computer, merchant's point of sale device, or mobile device an issuer(s) to redeem reward points in exchange for payment to the merchant. The exchange computer is the gateway to the system and manages various transactions such as providing online product catalogs to users that list the merchants products, as well as displaying to the user the reward points he has available in his reward programs with the issuers. Once a user selects a desired product the exchange computer can manage the purchase transaction in which reward points are redeemed by the selected issuer and consideration is conveyed to the merchant in exchange for the merchant providing the product to the user. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365294 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING REWARD POINTS TO LIQUIDATE PRODUCTS - A user selects a product to be liquidated from a product provider and then designates to the transacting entity that reward points are to be used towards the purchase of the liquidated product. The transacting entity acts to decrease the number of reward points in the user's reward account by the required number of points. The reward account holder conveys consideration to the transacting entity equivalent to the par value of the reward points consumer obtains the product in exchange for reward points having a retail value equivalent to what he would have otherwise paid for the product, while the reward account holder is required to convey only the par value of the points. The product provider is able to liquidate the product and obtain payment equivalent to what it would otherwise have obtained in a prior art liquidation process, auction or trading environment. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365295 | REWARD EXCHANGE METHOD AND SYSTEM IMPLEMENTING DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS - A method of operating a data collection and analysis system. An exchange computer receives customer identification data associated with a customer. A quantitative analysis algorithm determines whether the exchange computer has received an amount of customer identification data sufficient for the customer to be uniquely identified, and if so, then a linking service computer or a plurality of remote database computers perform a qualitative analysis algorithm with the customer identification data to determine if the customer identification data is sufficient for the customer to be uniquely identified. If the qualitative analysis algorithm passes, then customer information may be retrieved from the remote databases and collated and analyzed at the exchange computer. The customer may automatically register with reward programs using already-entered user information. A data analysis embodiment enables offers to be generated that are tailored towards specific users. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365296 | CROSS-DEVICE CONVERSION ESTIMATES - Systems and methods for cross-device conversion estimates determine an observed number of cross-device conversions based on different sets of devices being logged into the same online accounts. The observed cross-device conversions are extrapolated out based on a percentage of one set of devices having logged into the same accounts as the second set of devices. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365297 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TARGETING AD IMPRESSIONS - The present disclosure includes a system, method, and article of manufacture for targeting ad impressions. A list of customer records may be transmitted to a service provider system that identifies a matched customer and installs a cookie on a web client associated with the matched customer. The system may further receive a campaign request from a merchant and transmit the campaign request to the service provider system which may add a flag to the cookie based on the campaign request as well as instruct a media buyer system to bid on an ad impression for the matched customer based on the flag. The system may further receive an expenditure associated with the matched customer who received the ad impression and compare the expenditure to an expenditure associated with a customer who did not receive targeted ad impression but fits parameters associated with the campaign request. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365298 | SMART BUDGET RECOMMENDATION FOR A LOCAL BUSINESS ADVERTISER - Spending data for local advertising campaigns for advertisements directed for a specific business location is analyzed in order to classify the campaigns by geographic location and type of each business. The server then determines the average and range of spending for a plurality of geographic and type classifications. This spending and classification data is stored by a server in order to identify reasonable and competitive budgets for other advertising campaigns. When an advertiser is interested in establishing a new campaign for a local business, the server may determine the classification for the business based on the location and type of the business. The server then retrieves the stored data in order to recommend one or more reasonable budgets for the advertiser. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365299 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ADVERTISING CONSISTENCY - In example embodiments, a system and method for providing advertising consistency is provided. In example embodiments, identifying information for a primary advertisement that is presented on a primary device is received. A secondary advertisement that is consistent with the primary advertisement is determined. The secondary advertisement is to be presented on a secondary device at a same time that the primary advertisement is presented on the primary device. The secondary advertisement is provided to the secondary device. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365300 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANONYMOUSLY VIEWING NEWSLETTERS AND EMAIL ADVERTISMENTS - Systems and methods are provided for assisting merchants in making their advertising and information content available to a wide array of users who do not subscribe to the merchant's newsletters or participate in the merchant's advertising promotions. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365301 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO GENERATE OFFERS BASED ON TRANSACTION DATA - A computing apparatus includes an offer engine configured to generate offers on behalf of merchants based on transaction data and a reduced set of parameters, such as budget, timing, and logo. The offers may be generated to include offer terms, identification of targeted customers to whom the offers will be provided, identification of media channels through which the offers will be distributed, and other aspects that generated based on the transaction data in accordance with the reduced set of parameters. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365302 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING DYNAMIC ADVERTISING ON A SECOND SCREEN BASED ON SOCIAL MESSAGES - The disclosed methods and devices make use of a second screen to provide dynamic advertising regarding content based on social media commentary. By tracking a user's social messages based on content being viewed, advertising relating to topics of their social messages can be presented in a timely and unobtrusive manner on a second screen device. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365303 | INFORMATION FILTERING AT USER DEVICES - Various techniques for selecting electronic messages based on user data residing on user devices are described herein. In one embodiment, a method performed by a computing system includes receiving a search query via an input device of the computing system, transmitting the received search query to a server, and receiving a set of electronic messages from the server in response to the transmitted search query. The method also includes selecting a subset of the received electronic messages at the computing system based on user data residing on the computing system. The selected subset of electronic messages are then displayed via an output device of the computing system. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365304 | Cross-Device Geolocation Sensing to Geotarget Offers - Provided is a process of distributing offers to non-location-sensing devices based on a geolocation sensed by another device, the process comprising: obtaining a geolocation of a user from a mobile device of the user; associating the geolocation of the user with an identifier of the user in an offers engine; receiving a request for an offer from another computing device of the user, the request including or prompting obtaining data from the other computing device sufficient to identify the user; retrieving the geolocation of the user obtained from the mobile device by identifying the user with the data from the other computing device sufficient to identify the user account; selecting, with the offers engine, a responsive offer based on the geolocation of the user obtained from the mobile device; and sending the responsive offer to the other computing device of the user. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365305 | PROVIDING GEOSPATIAL-TEMPORAL NEXT-BEST-ACTION DECISIONS - Embodiments herein provide geospatial-temporal next-best-action decisions. Specifically, a predictive modeling tool is configured to receive, from a user, a first instance of unstructured data, the unstructured data containing an indicator of a transacting opportunity, and generate a profile for the user by combining the unstructured data with structured data, the profile including personality characteristics and identifying information of the user. The profile is used to identify the user as a producer of a second instance of unstructured data by comparing the personality characteristics and identifying information of the user to the second instance of unstructured data. A commercial offer is then generated based on information from the profile of the user and at least one of the first instance of unstructured data or the second instance of unstructured data, and the offer is communicated to the user when the user is located within a predetermined proximity to a retailer. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365306 | USER INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS, USER INFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD, AND ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - A user information providing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a database, an acquiring unit, an extracting unit, and a output unit. The database stores pieces of user information of a business operator. The acquiring unit acquires, as entry information, information of a place corresponding to the business operator and information of a wireless terminal which has entered the place. The extracting unit extracts a piece of user information of the business operator corresponding to the place which the wireless terminal has entered from the database, based on the entry information acquired. The output unit outputs the extracted piece of user information. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365307 | TRANSMITTING LISTINGS BASED ON DETECTED LOCATION - Systems and methods for facilitating location-aware listing publication are discussed. A listing can include an item location corresponding to an item described in the listing. The listing may be received on a central server from a device operated by a first user. A geofence can be generated around the item location corresponding to the item described in the listing. The geofence surrounding the item location can be monitored for a second user. A second user can be detected within the geographical area enclosed by the geofence. In response to detecting the second user, a determination can be made as to whether the second user has indicated an interest in the item described in the listing. In response to the determination, the listing can be transmitted to a second device operated by the second user to notify the second user of the published listing. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365308 | INFORMATION PROVISION SYSTEM, WIRELESS TERMINAL, AND INFORMATION PROVISION METHOD - A wireless terminal according to an embodiment includes a list of identification information of wireless LAN access points according to a behavior history of a user, and receives information corresponding to an entrance place from an information management device when the entrance to a communication area of a wireless LAN access point whose identification information is included in the list is performed. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365309 | POINT OF SALE TRANSACTION PROCESSING - A disclosed transaction processing method includes transmitting a request to a credit aggregator in response to a message from a point of sale device to a wireless communication device of a user. Responsive to receiving credit account information from the credit aggregator, a user interface indicative of at least some of the credit account information including account identification information for a plurality of user credit accounts is displayed. Responsive to detecting a user selecting one of the plurality of credit accounts, credit account information is transmitted to the point of sale device. The request may include information identifying the user. The message from the point of sale device may indicate a price associated with the transaction. The credit account information may include available credit information, current balance information, closing date information, payment date information, annual percentage rate information, and so forth. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365310 | PRESENTATION OF MATERIALS BASED ON LOW LEVEL FEATURE ANALYSIS - A computer system obtains an image or video of a person, such as a shopper. The image or video includes the face of the person. The system extracts low level features from the image or video. The low level features may be Gabor features. The system examines the low level features to designate stimuli that are likely to result in preferred behaviors associated with the person. The system analyzes the plurality of designated stimuli based on predetermined criteria to select one or more selected stimuli, and then causes the selected stimuli to be rendered to the person. The predetermined criteria may be economic criteria, such as a requirement to select the stimulus with the highest expected economic benefit from among the various designated stimuli. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365311 | Associating Advertisements with Events - In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a notification identifying the occurrence of a user-initiated event associated with a software application that complies with the specifications of a software development kit. The user is identified based at least in part on the information included the notification. The method includes determining whether the event is attributable to an electronic advertisement, and when the event is attributable to the advertisement, the method include determining whether the electronic advertisement is associated with information identifying the advertisement or an advertising campaign that the advertisement is a part of When the electronic advertisement is associated with the information, the method includes notifying an advertiser associated with the electronic advertisement or a developer associated with the software application that the information identifying the advertisement is associated with the event. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365312 | MOBILE DEVICE GROUP APP PROVIDING CUSTOMIZED INTERACTIVITY - Disclosed is a system that may be used by a parent organization or group that allows local entities who are part of the group or parent organization to customize and distribute messages to local customers or other users of a software application provided by the parent organization that may be preloaded with generic messages. Also disclosed are examples of processes and systems providing local members of the group with options controlling how input or data is processed when it is received from customers responding to the customized messages. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365313 | PROVIDING PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS RELATING TO GROUP ACTIONS - A recommendation engine provides a plurality of users with a recommendation for a common group action. The recommendation engine can take into user information such as explicit or implicit preferences of the participant of the group action in recommending a group action, such as shopping together, buying together, going to an event together, engaging in an activity together, etc. By considering the group, as well as the individuals, the recommendation engine can make recommendations optimized for a goal of one or more of the individuals, or for a group goal, which might not have been a recommendation made for any one of the individuals if considered in isolation. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the recommendation engine recommends an item related to a planned group activity for a group including a plurality of individuals based on information relating to each of the plurality of individuals. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365314 | MACHINE LEARNING SYSTEM TO OPTIMIZE TARGETING CAMPAIGNS IN ON-LINE BANKING ENVIRONMENT - Computer-implemented methods leverage internal data accumulated by a banking institution including merchant sales data and customer purchasing data, in order to best implement merchant offer campaigns by computing a set of “good campaigns” for a given user in real time, while maximizing the success of all active campaigns. (FIG. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365315 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMIZING SERVICES TO USERS ON MOBILE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS USING PERSONAS - A method and system are provided for customizing a service to a user on a mobile technology platform. The method include determining which of a plurality of personas defined in the mobile technology platform is an active persona, wherein each persona of the plurality of personas is defined as a set of user preferences associated with an operating system of the mobile technology platform; and customizing a service to the user based on the active persona. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365316 | INTELLECTUAL CONTENTS DISTRIBUTION METHOD AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - An intellectual contents distribution method distributes intellectual contents from a computer via a network. The contents provided from a contents provider are stored in a computer | 2014-12-11 |
20140365317 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED ADVERTISEMENT REASSIGNMENT AND BID PRICING - This specification describes technologies relating to content presentation. One aspect of the subject matter described herein can be embodied in methods that include: selecting an auction including a first bid from a first advertiser that is associated with a first advertisement, and a second bid from a second advertiser that is associated with a second advertisement, computing respective effective bids that reflecting a product of the respective bids and a respective randomly selected values, comparing the respective effective bids to identify a winning bid, based on an identification of the second effective bid as the winning bid, charging the second advertiser a final auction price reflecting the first effective bid divided by the second value, and charging the first advertiser a baseline price, and providing, based on the winning bid, the first advertisement and/or the second advertisement. Other embodiments include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365318 | VIEW-BASED PRICING OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN SCROLLABLE ADVERTISEMENT UNITS - An online system determines the pricing of an advertisement included in a scrollable advertisement unit including multiple advertisements and a display area presenting one or more advertisements. When an advertisement is included in a scrollable advertisement unit, a price for presentation of the advertisement is determined based on bid amounts of advertisements evaluated for inclusion in the scrollable advertisement unit and a scaling factor. The scaling factor is based on the probability of the advertisement being presented to a user based on the position in the scrollable advertisement unit associated with the advertisement. Advertisement characteristics affecting the likelihood of an advertisement being presented to a user may also be considered in the scaling factor. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365319 | MECHANISM FOR MANAGING ONLINE CONTENT ON TOUCHSCREEN DEVICES IN THE FLOW OF AN ONLINE PUBLICATION - An online content server includes a memory device for storing data and a processor in communication with the memory device. The processor is programmed to store dynamic online content and to receive a content request for displaying dynamic online content on a mobile computing device. The content request is initiated at least in part by a publication request. The processor is programmed to determine that the content request is associated with one of the dynamic online content and to deliver the dynamic online content with an overlay layer to the mobile computing device for display to a user. The overlay layer is positioned at least partially over the dynamic online content. The overlay layer allows the user to activate the dynamic online content or to navigate to a navigated publication item representing one of the first publication item or a second publication item. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365320 | VIEW-BASED PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN SCROLLABLE ADVERTISEMENT UNITS - An online system selects advertisements for inclusion in a scrollable advertisement unit that includes a display area and multiple advertisements, each associated with a position in the scrollable advertisement unit. Positions in the scrollable advertisement unit are ranked based on a measure of predicted performance of an advertisement in each position. Advertisements are ranked based on a probability of being viewed by a user if associated with a particular position in the scrollable advertisement unit and, optionally, on a probability of presenting an advertisement based on characteristics of the advertisement. The position ranking and the advertisement ranking are used to associate advertisements with positions. For example, an advertisement is associated with a position having a location in the position ranking corresponding to the advertisement's position in the advertisement ranking. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365321 | System and Method for Enabling an Advertisement to Follow the User to Additional Web Pages - A computer-implemented method and system for advertising that performs the steps of delivering an electronic advertisement comprising one or more menu options and a reference to a network location for retrieving specified content associated with each menu option for inclusion in a first electronic document, receiving a selection of one or more menu options from the electronic advertisement and delivering a subsequent accessible document including content from the referenced network location associated with the menu option selected, the subsequent accessible document including the electronic advertisement. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365322 | GRATUITY PROCESSING SYSTEM APPARATUS AND RELATED METHODS - Apparatus and methods are disclosed to improve the administration of tip monitoring, collection, and distribution, and related reporting needs (such as for U.S. tax reporting). POS systems and employee prepaid debit cards can be used to make the distribution process “cash-less.” | 2014-12-11 |
20140365323 | KIOSK SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION AND SERVICES DESCRIPTION - The invention relates to a kiosk system comprising: a first kiosk and a second kiosk; a first device connected to said first kiosk and a second device connected to said second kiosk; a kiosk manager configured to manage said first and second kiosks; and a network connection between said kiosk manager and said first and second kiosks, wherein each of said first and second kiosks comprises a virtual layer comprising characteristics which are representative of the device connected thereto; and said kiosk manager is configured to connect said first and second kiosks as a function of said representative characteristics, thereby forming a kiosk subnetwork. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365324 | NOVEL DATA EXCHANGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING A NETWORK TRANSACTION - The invention discloses a method and system for exchanging data between users using a transaction phrase, comprising: composing a data package by a source, uploading the data package onto a server, receiving a transaction phrase associated solely with the data package generated from a dictionary database utilized by the server, communicating the transaction phrase by the source to a recipient, requesting the data package by the recipient using the phrase, and receiving the data package from the server to the recipient if the parameters allow. The invention also details a financial aspect wherein a payment dialogue is initiated on the recipient interface allowing the recipient to complete a payment through a merchant server. Another embodiment comprises receiving a payment by the recipient upon submitting the transaction phrase to the server. The invention also envisions allowing the source to create a source account before composing the data package. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365325 | DIGITALLY SENDING AN ITEM TO A RECIPIENT FROM AN E-COMMERCE SITE - A method to provide digital transmission of an item from a shopper to a recipient using an e-commerce website. The method includes adding a “gifting” function by inserting a few lines of code, selecting an item by the shopper and inserting personal details and details of a recipient, activating the “gifting” function and finalizing the purchase of the item. The method also includes receiving authorization by the system, submitting a request via an API to partnering gift card issuers, one of the partnering networks for a closed loop by a particular store or open loop gift card code by a partnering network, digitally sending the code to the recipient, along with an image and other details, receiving the code by the recipient to be used to redeem the item selected by the purchaser or another item and using the code in a corresponding store. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365326 | AUCTION METHODS AND SYSTEMS - A novel online auction system in which both sellers and buyers are compelled to bid their “true value”. Potential buyers solicit desired items or services and submit sealed bids. A demand curve is created based on buyer bids, and a potential seller can use the curve to create its own sealed bid. A winning seller is determined, however the system uses the bid of the second-lowest bidding seller to establish the ultimate group of winning buyers and sale price. Winning sellers can choose lower prices to capture higher sale quantities. Second or multiple transactions can be implemented from a single bid, if included in the winning set of bids. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365327 | REVERSE AUCTION FOR REAL-TIME SERVICES - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a non-transitory computer storage medium, for providing reverse auctions for goods and services in real-time. In one aspect, a method includes storing profile information associated with a plurality of information sources, each source associated with a category. A request for information from a user including information associated with a good or service sought is analyzed to identify information sources as responsive to the request based on a comparison of the good or service sought and each information source's associated category. Responses are solicited from the identified information sources. In response, a set of responses from at least a subset of the identified information sources is received, which are then ranked based on a comparison of the particular response to the request for information, and at least a subset of which are presented to the user based on the ranking. | 2014-12-11 |
20140365328 | LOGISTICS-AWARE SHIPPING ESTIMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A method, computer program product, and computing system for initiating a shipping inquiry for a specific piece of heavy equipment having a defined manufacturer/model. A logistics database is accessed to obtain at least one logistics criterion for the specific piece of heavy equipment, wherein the at least one logistics criterion defines one or more logistical characteristics for the specific piece of heavy equipment. The at least one logistics criterion is identified to the user. | 2014-12-11 |