51st week of 2008 patent applcation highlights part 55 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20080312963 | PRODUCTIVITY WORKFLOW INDEX - Provided are methods of providing productivity measure for a complex workflow process, be determining at least one Productivity Workflow Index (PWI) based on data regarding human computer actions and workflow-related variables. Also provided are systems, apparatuses, machine-readable medium, and computer readable program products relating to such methods. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312964 | System and Method for Electronic Home Health Care - The present invention relates to a system and method for managing the business of providing home health care. It facilitates the matching of a health care worker to a client based upon the attributes the health care worker possesses and how those attributes match the needs of a client. In addition there is provided a component for the creation and generation of smart forms which allow the health care worker to enter and track information on visits to a client via a computing device. The completed forms then being accessible for billing and data mining. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312965 | MEDICAL COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE BASED SYSTEM AND COMPUTER WRITEABLE MEDIUM - A software based medical compliance system including a physician accessible computer in communication with an electronic medical records (EMR) database for storing, in digitized form, a patient's medical information including at least a prescription medication portfolio. A plurality of software template screens link the physician computer to the EMR database and provide an ability to upload medication related information. A process server is in operative communication with the EMR database and receives a packet of digitized information incorporating any subset amount of information relative to the patient. The process server issues a wireless communication to a suitable patient accessible device relative to the packet of information. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312966 | Rx SCAN SOFTWARE COMPONENT SUCH AS FOR INCORPORATION INTO A MEDICAL COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE BASED SYSTEM & COMPUTER WRITEABLE MEDIUM - A prescription software component, optionally incorporated into a physician accessible and updatable database of patient medical information and which, in cooperation with an interactive process server, issues a wireless medication reminder message to a patient. The prescription component to the program can operate as either a sub-component of the medical compliance system or can function as a stand-alone program and provides a readily accessible list of patient medications, allowing for updates to be made by a physician or authorized health care provider and incorporated into the patient's list of medications, such as via the Internet on a secured company hosted website, without the patient being required to schedule an office visit. The medications list can include, in non-limiting fashion, brand/generic name of medication, strength (mg), frequency of dosing, instructions, start/end date for pharmaceutical therapy, number of authorized refills, known allergies, etc. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312967 | COMPREHENSIVE METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTAKE SCREENING AND MEDICAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT - A system and method for providing health care services, such as medical intake screening and follow-up patient care, including management of medical records and access to patient information for incarcerated individuals. Data regarding medical information collected during an initial intake and screening process and subsequent physical examination may be inputted into a data repository. Triggers based upon the specific data entered may generate alerts for follow up medical care. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312968 | Electronic Payment System for Providing Regular Payment Services for Pre-Paid Mobile Phones - The invention relates to a mobile telecommunication network and specifically a network adapted to provide a pattern identifier and risk analysis system and methodology to enable users of mobile devices within the network to avail of regular payment services such as insurance for their devices. A preferred embodiment of providing a pre-paid subscriber with the facility to avail of insurance is provided. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312969 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INSURANCE UNDERWRITING AND RATING - An apparatus and method for underwriting and/or rating an insurance policy, and for generating information for underwriting and/or rating an insurance policy, are provided. The system and method may include identifying a vehicle, determining a value of at least one vehicle history data variable or a group of variables, and underwriting and/or rating the policy based on the value of the at least one vehicle history data variable or a group of variables. The system and method may also include generating a score based on the value of the at least one vehicle history data variable or group of variables. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312970 | System and methods for providing additional insurance - The invention provides a system and method for providing additional insurance to a fully-qualified insured party to increase a total benefit amount of insurance. More particularly, the invention provides a computer system and method for providing additional life insurance to increase a total benefit of life insurance to a fully-qualified insured party based upon an underwriting and medical evaluation performed to assess the eligibility of the insured party for an existing or underlying primary life insurance plan. Additional life insurance according to the invention may be obtained through the internet by remote computers and internet access devices well known in the art. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312971 | Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility - An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312972 | Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility - An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312973 | Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility - An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312974 | Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility - An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312975 | Managing Patient Bed Assignments and Bed Occupancy in a Health Care Facility - An integrated health care delivery network with enabling software and network technology to maximize bed resources, manage varying census levels, and avoid patient diversions through real-time monitoring, automation and communication, is disclosed. Preferably, the present invention is embodied in a bed management system that interfaces with and complements existing Admission/Discharge/Transfer (ADT) systems. The bed management system is an easy-to-use business intelligence application that is designed to allow administrators, clinicians and managers to easily access, analyze and display real-time patient and bed availability information from ancillary information systems, databases and spreadsheets. It enables users to see trends and relationships in hospital (bed) management data directly from their desktop personal computers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312976 | ENHANCED TRAVEL RESERVATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - An enhanced travel reservation system and method allows for contribution to reservation offer and selection of a travel reservation provider by a traveler while also allowing for negotiation to occur between the traveler and the travel reservation provider. Before a final booking both the traveler and the travel reservation provider can negotiate over unsettled issues directly with each other. In implementations, the system deducts a fee from an account of the travel reservation provider to enter a final negotiation phase. Depending upon the result of the final negotiation, the traveler will either book a reservation directly or decline. In this manner the traveler is involved with travel reservation offer definition while retaining control over the reservation process so that the traveler can avoid unsatisfactory results. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312977 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AVAILABILITY OF AIRLINE SEATS - A computer program product, method and system for producing seat availability information for a mode of travel such as airline travel produce a prediction of availability of a seat in accordance with an availability query. The prediction is used in place of making an actual query to an airline or other travel mode availability system. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312978 | System and Mechanism for Proactive Supplier Hub Management - A system and method for allowing an organization access to supplier data, allows an organization which has outsourced one or more supply functions to one or more suppliers, permits feeding in real-time data from suppliers and processing and analyzing the data to determine performance metrics. Monitoring of these performance metrics against thresholds, which are established periodically based on customer data and forecast data, allows for the generation of alerts when the thresholds have been exceeded. This may occur, for example, when a supplier contract may have been violated or when new controls may need to be enforced within the contracts. Corrective actions may be taken in response to alerts, and these actions may modify previously established performance metrics and provide for recalculating the performance metrics with the new data. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312979 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ESTIMATING FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF PACKAGED APPLICATION SERVICE PROJECTS - A system for calculating financial benefit estimations and generating reports for multi-dimensional project plans for implementing packaged software applications, the system includes: a view layer configured to act as a user interface for user inputs and system outputs; a model and control layer configured to implement rules based on a series of estimation and implementation models, and to perform calculations to determine financial benefits of implementing multi-dimensional project plans; an estimation knowledge base layer configured to hold and derive the series of estimation and implementation models; and wherein the system for generating financial benefit estimations and reports for the implementation of packaged software applications is carried out over networks comprising: the Internet, intranets, local area networks (LAN), and wireless local area networks (WLAN). | 2008-12-18 |
20080312980 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STAFFING AND COST ESTIMATION MODELS ALIGNED WITH MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PROJECT PLANS FOR PACKAGED SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS - A system for generating staffing and cost estimations and reports for multi-dimensional project plans for implementing packaged software applications, the system includes: a view layer configured to act as a user interface for user inputs and system outputs; a model and control layer configured to implement rules based on a series of estimation and implementation models, and to perform calculations to determine costs and staffing requirements for multi-dimensional project plans; an estimation knowledge base layer configured to hold and derive the series of estimation and implementation models; and wherein the system for scoring and ranking multi-dimensional project plans for implementing packaged software applications is carried out over networks comprising: the Internet, intranets, local area networks (LAN), and wireless local area networks (WLAN). | 2008-12-18 |
20080312981 | Automated Identification of Competitors - A computer system may be configured with software that performs an automated process for identifying likely competitors of a specified entity. The process may include receiving information indicative of the identity of the specified entity. The process may include searching patent ownership data for patents and/or patent applications that are owned by the specified entity. The patent ownership data may be indicative of the identity of owners of patents and/or patent applications. The process may include searching patent citation data for patents and/or patent applications that are cited by and/or that cite to the patents and/or patent applications that are owned by the specified entity. The patent citation data may be indicative of the identity of patents and/or patent applications that cite to or are cited by other patents and/or patent applications. The process may include searching the patent ownership data for the owners of the cited and/or citing patents and/or patent applications and generating a report identifying the owners of the cited and/or citing patents and/or patent applications. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312982 | Dynamic Creation of a Service Model - A service model of resources is dynamically created from a selected service model template. A user-input or incoming event selects one of multiple pre-defined service model templates for construction of a selected service model. The selected service model represents real-time characteristics of resources for an enterprise. External data sources, which are used to describe the real-time characteristics of the depicted resources, are then identified, and the service model is constructed using the identified external data sources. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312983 | DYNAMIC RISK MANAGEMENT - Methods and systems of managing project risk in a business environment are provided. In the methods, the presence of mitigation solutions is taken into consideration prior to the occurrence of project-associated risks, thus minimizing negative impact when the risks occur. Project risk levels can be dynamically updated, thus allowing a user to capture and review accurate risk levels for multiple interdependent projects at any point in time. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312984 | Method for Assessing Risk in a Business - Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems and methods for determining risk associated with a business. The risk determination calculates risk with one or more policy controls associated with one or more business objects in a business object tree. Risk calculated for the policy controls is rolled-up to a business object using an algorithm that does not dilute the risk associated with the policy controls. Likewise, the risk for a business object is rolled-up to the parents of the business object. Risk is finally rolled-up to a highest order business object, which represents the risk associated with the business. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312985 | COMPUTERIZED EVALUATION OF USER IMPRESSIONS OF PRODUCT ARTIFACTS - Computerized systems and methods for use in evaluating user impressions of a product are provided. One method disclosed includes receiving from a developer of a product, a canonical textual description of an intended product audience and an intended use of a product. The product is displayed to potential users, and from each of a plurality of potential users, a user textual description of the product is received. The user textual description indicates a user impression of the intended product audience and the intended use of the product. A computing device may be used to perform semantic analysis to determine correspondence between the canonical and user textual descriptions, and to display the result in a graph or textual form, for example. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312986 | Implementing Key Performance Indicators in a Service Model - A service model of resources is created and the resources are mapped to a plurality of templates. The service model represents real-time characteristics of resources for an enterprise. Rule-based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are then configured on the templates and thereby applied to the depicted resources, and the overall health of the system that utilizes the depicted resources depicted is determined. These KPI's can be chained in a way that allows the user a large amount of flexibility to report the metrics most relevant to the health of the business. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312987 | SUPPLY CHAIN VISUALIZATION AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH DYNAMIC ZOOMING - Supply chain visualization and management are achieved using supply entity icons and inventory parameters overlaid on a zoomable map image. A user zooms in and zooms out to display multiple geographical areas and variably receives greater or less detail regarding supply parameters. A user may initiate a transfer of products between supply entities by manipulating icons on an output device to result in the generation and sending of business documents to relevant entities. A hypothetical mode allows a user to estimate the effects of potential product transfers on entities within the supply chain. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312988 | Performance rating of a business - Method for performance rating of a business entity using a server computer and one or more remote client computers linked to the server computer by a communication network, the method including defining performance metrics related to performance of the business entity; defining desired weighting for each metric; obtaining performance data for the business entity for each metric; defining a rating scale for each metric, wherein the rating scale for at least one performance metric is determined based on statistical data derived from a plurality of comparative business entities; comparing the performance data for the business entity to the rating scale for each metric; and deducing a performance rating for the business entity on the basis of the comparison between the performance data and the rating scale, and the desired weighting, for each metric. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312989 | EVALUATION SYSTEM, EVALUATION EQUIPMENT, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - An evaluation system, an evaluation method, and a computer program that specify an effect inhibition factor are provided. The evaluation system specifies the effect inhibition factor when an introduction effect of a predetermined system such as a support system cannot be acquired. Further, the evaluation system notifies a user of a countermeasure according to the specified effect inhibition factor. Specifically, the evaluation system ascertains operation status of the support system and a user comprehension degree with respect to an operation method of the support system, thereby specifying a factor inhibiting the introduction effect (effect inhibition factor) and a countermeasure according to the effect inhibition factor. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312990 | Knowledge Management System For Asset Managers - A knowledge management system is provided to assist asset owners, managers and operators in the management of assets. The knowledge management system includes a database for storing a plurality of manuals, each manual including world's best practice guidelines with regard to an aspect of an asset life cycle; a performance analysis tool for benchmarking an organisation's performance with regard to each aspect of the asset life cycle to identify areas for improvement; and, a benefit assessment component to assist the organisation in determining which improvements have potential to deliver the greatest benefits. The knowledge management system enables the best practice guidelines to be tailored to suit particular organisations and/or asset types. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312991 | BUYER-SIDE CONSOLIDATION OF COMPATIBLE PURCHASE ORDERS - Systems and methods of buyer-side consolidation of compatible purchase orders are described herein. Purchase orders can be identified for consolidation using spatial and temporal proximity parameters. Purchase orders can be modified by changing a ship date or a delivery date and the changing can be based on a buyer input. Shipments can be consolidated based on the purchase order modifications and less than truckload shipments can be reduced. Consolidated shipments can be associated with different requested delivery dates, different suppliers, and/or different buyers. Buyer-side consolidation of compatible purchase orders can occur before purchase orders are processed by a transportation management system. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312992 | Automatic business process creation method using past business process resources and existing business process - A business process creation method comprising the steps of: receiving the input of the business flow to store the input business flow in the storage unit; extracting a business name of a business corresponding to the input business flow and business information containing business tasks constituting the business from the input business flow; retrieving at least one similar business process from the accumulated business processes based on the extracted business information; extracting a flow shape indicating a shape of the business flow from the input business flow; calculating similarities between the input business flow and the retrieved at least one similar business process; receiving selection of a business process from the retrieved at least one similar business process; and creating a business process corresponding to the input business flow to output the created business process in an executable format based on the selected business process. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312993 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - An information processing system includes: an action storage unit that stores an item of an action in business and a record of the action in business; a selection unit that selects the item of the action stored in the action storage unit; a voucher item storage unit that stores the item of the action selected by the selection unit as an item concerning a voucher; and an item output unit that outputs an item for voucher collection based on the item concerning the voucher stored in the voucher item storage unit. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312994 | GUIDELINE MANAGER SYSTEMS AND METHODS - In embodiments of the present invention, a method and system of a guideline manager is provided for receiving a pricing plan of record, identifying at least one product within the pricing plan of record, determining at least one guideline for carrying out the pricing plan with respect to the at least one product, making available the at least one guideline, receiving data related to carrying out the pricing plan with respect to the at least one product, and altering the at least one guideline in response to the data. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312995 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING SYSTEM EVENTS - The present disclosure provides methods and apparatuses for managing system events. Using the methods and apparatus herein, users can create events that are based on changes in a business process or a business system due to a business process activity. Users can create and manage events that evaluate and execute policies outside of the context of the business process workflow and policy management systems. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312996 | Method and system for managing delivery of communications - Method and system for managing delivery of communications such as advertisements to mobile telephone subscribers where delivery to roaming subscribers is prevented or blocked when the subscriber is determined to be using a roaming network and revenue derived from delivery of the advertisements to a roaming subscriber is less than the cost for delivering the advertisements to the roaming subscribers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312997 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EXPOSING WORKFLOW PROCESS DEFINITIONS AS BUSINESS OBJECTS - The present disclosure provides methods and apparatuses for exposing a workflow processes definition as a business object. Using the methods and apparatus herein, users can access a business object representing a workflow process definition from any system using standard database constructs. The data for the business object may be combined from a variety of existing sources and/or new data. Using the methods and apparatus a user may generate reports from the business object. | 2008-12-18 |
20080312998 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING RIKS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCEPTING A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT - A system and method for verifying a financial instrument or a user's authorization to use a financial instrument. The system initiates one or more verifying transactions involving the instrument, with details that may vary from one transaction to another, such as the type of transaction (e.g., deposit, credit, debit), amount of the transaction, number of transactions, the merchant or vendor name or account for the transaction, and so on. Selected details, particularly variable ones are saved in the system. The user accesses information regarding the transaction, by accessing it on-line, via telephone, in a monthly statement, etc. The user then submits the requested details to the system, which compares them to the stored details. If they correspond, then the user may be allowed to use the instrument (e.g., for a purchase, a fund transfer). | 2008-12-18 |
20080312999 | Multiple Goal Throughput Analysis - A method of analyzing production throughput is disclosed. The method may define production constraints, define timing constraints, define resource constraints, add a weight to one or more solution strategies for the production throughput and calculate a production throughput solution to satisfy the constraints and the weighted solution strategies and report the calculated production throughput solution. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313000 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING SKILL GAP ANALYSIS AND REMEDIATION BASED ON TAG ANALYTICS - This invention includes a workforce management system having a system bus, at least one database in communication with the system bus that includes data representative of workforce employees, and social networking data associated with the employees. A matching functional unit includes a text mining function for mining contextual information from the at least one database to generate context labels for an employee, a clustering function for generating concept labels for an employee, and a matching function that sorts and matches employees by the labels in accordance with a matching criteria. A user interface provides user input to the support operation of the workforce management system. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313001 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE CREATION OF A PATENT PORTFOLIO - Start-up companies, as well as new businesses within established firms, have the challenge of creating a sensible intellectual property (IP) portfolio. With resources usually tight, not all of the IP can be protected due to cost or resource availability considerations. Accordingly, disclosed herein is an apparatus and method that provide an effective solution for management of identified intellectual property. By providing an effective scoring scheme and a simple display, management decision making is made simple and straightforward, while providing in a glance the entire distribution of the firm's IP. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313002 | METHOD, SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS FOR OPERATING A REGISTRY - Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for operating a registry of service providers in a given service sector, an apparatus for operating a registry of service providers in a given service sector, and a system for operating a registry of service providers in a given service sector. In one embodiment, a method of operating a registry of service providers in a given service sector comprises providing a plurality of service providers in the given sector with input access to an electronic database to which each participating service supplies information, and validating the supplied information. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313003 | Designing business processes using parametric roles - Automating a business process includes defining an activity of a business process. The activity is associated with an abstract role, and the abstract role represents a user responsible for performing the activity. An organizational role associated with a set of values is defined. The organizational role can have a value from the set of values, where each value ill corresponds to a user set. The organizational role is matched to the abstract role. An instance of the activity is received, and the value for the organizational role is determined. The instance is routed to the user set corresponding to the determined value. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313004 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A BI-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK LOOP BETWEEN PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PERSONAL CALENDAR SYSTEMS - A system providing a bi-directional feedback loop that assists project management to make timely decisions and alterations based on personal calendar data retrieved from team members' calendars. The system provides a project manager user with perceptible alerts in a project manager user interface in response to detecting a conflict between proposed or actual personal calendar events of a team member user and deliverables assigned to that team member user. The project manager user interface enables the project manager to take an action in the event such a conflict is detected. Project manager actions in this regard may include permitting a conflicting personal calendar event, forbidding the conflicting personal calendar event, delegating the conflicting deliverable to another team member, adjusting the deliverable requirements, and/or escalating the conflict to a higher level of management. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313005 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME SCHEDULING OF HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN RESOURCES - A system for real-time resource scheduling comprising a hosted line-of-business software application for service providers operating in various industry verticals; a central data center; an in-store web-based calendar for service provider employees; a web-based calendar for service provider customers; and a mobile customer scheduling interface; wherein the central data center comprises a data store that comprises a master database and a plurality of service provider chain databases; the master database contains metadata of all service provider chain databases housed in the data store; the master database contains user accounts for customers who make reservations with any of the service providers; each service provider has a service provider chain database that is specific to that service provider; each service provider creates and maintains all resource scheduling information for its own human and non-human resources; and no data is shared between service providers. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313006 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR MANAGING EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS - Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for managing and monitoring a plurality of emergency power supply systems (EPSS's) at a facility via an emergency power management system (EPMS). The EPMS generally comprises EPSS equipment, a management computer system for managing, monitoring, and testing the operational characteristics of the EPSS equipment, and a plurality of interface modules for providing unified communication capabilities between the management computer system and the EPSS equipment. Additional aspects relate to methods for easily and efficiently creating and installing an EPMS at a facility. Further aspects are directed to providing predictive analyses related to the EPSS equipment. Also, aspects of the present disclosure relate to normalizing EPSS equipment information across varying vendors, makes, and models of equipment so as to provide a unified view of all equipment across a given facility. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313007 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SCHEDULING AN IN-HOME APPLIANCE REPAIR SERVICE - A system for scheduling an in-home appliance repair service is disclosed. The system receives inputs from a user via a client device. The inputs are used to identify one or more home appliances in need of repair. For example, the user may have a clogged dishwasher. Data identifying the appliance is then transmitted to a repair scheduling server. The repair scheduling server executes a program which determines a plurality of available repair time slots and transmits a list of choices to the client device for display. The available repair time slots may depend on the type of appliance, the brand of the appliance, the particular model, the user's identify, and/or the geographical location of the appliance. Preferably, time slots are dynamically determined in cooperation with a plurality of service providers. Once the user selects a timeslot, the service is confirmed and scheduled. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313008 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MODEL-DRIVEN APPROACHES TO GENERIC PROJECT ESTIMATION MODELS FOR PACKAGED SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS - A project estimation system with a model-driven approach to the generation of generic project estimation models for packaged software applications, the system includes: a view layer configured to act as a user interface for user inputs and system outputs; a model and control layer configured to implement rules based on a series of estimation and implementation models; an estimation knowledge base layer configured to hold, obtain and derive the series of estimation and implementation models; and wherein the system for a model-driven approach to the generation of generic project estimation models for packaged software applications is carried out over networks comprising: the Internet, intranets, local area networks (LAN), and wireless local area networks (WLAN). | 2008-12-18 |
20080313009 | METHOD FOR EXTRAPOLATING END-OF-LIFE RETURN RATE FROM SALES AND RETURN DATA - A method for predicting product return rate behavior. The ratio of the cumulative product returns to cumulative sales affecting product returns is calculated. The cumulative sales affecting product returns is calculated based on a benchmark distribution related to the product return behavior. Accordingly, a manufacturer is afforded a more accurate prediction of end-of-life return rate at a time preceding the end-of-sales life of a product. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313010 | Online survey spawning, administration and management - A method and apparatus for spawning and management of online surveys is provided. An administration and redirector subsystem (ARS) is used manage ongoing surveys for a plurality of sites. Surveys can be added to or removed from individual sites using the ARS. The ARS also tracks statistics for individual surveys. Redirector tags invite users to participate in surveys and track user survey participation through cookies. The system can be used to conduct advertisement effectiveness studies. Tracker tags and corresponding cookies are used to track users who have viewed content containing the tag. Each study is issued a unique content tag, but uses the same redirector tag. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313011 | Online marketing platform - Online marketing platforms are disclosed that harness user generated content to encourage the viral sharing and tracking of online marketing campaigns. One embodiment includes a campaign hosting system including a database connected to a network, a campaign creation device connected to the network and a plurality of user devices connected to the network. In addition, the campaign creation device is configured to provide campaign information to the campaign hosting system via the network, the campaign hosting system is configured to automatically create an online campaign that is customized according to the campaign information and to store the campaign as one of a plurality of online campaigns in the database, at least one of the user devices is configured to provide profile information to the campaign hosting system via the network, the campaign hosting system is configured to automatically create a user profile using the profile information and to store the user profile as one of a plurality of user profiles in the database, each user device is configured to engage with the online campaign by communicating with the campaign hosting system via the network and each user device is configured to access the user profile by communicating with the campaign hosting system via the network. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313012 | Methods and apparatus for a digital music, video, and data player and recorder and business method of marketing music and video through a branded data storage device - A digital storage device having a credit card sized carrier with memory and processor for processing digital data, an output on the card for converting and transmitting digital data for audio output, a set of touch sensitive controls on the planar surface of the card, a modifiable planar surface for placement of graphics, a USB connector for electrical access to the memory and processor for upload and downloading of the digital content. A method of marketing digital content using such a device by placing graphical information on the flat side of the carrier relating to the creator of the digital data content, and configuring the device with a video screen and shaped in any of a variety of configurations to match the marketing plan desired by the content provider. The device may also be used as a gift card with bar coding. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313013 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING FORWARD RETAIL COMMODITY PRICE WITHIN A GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY - Embodiments disclosed herein provide a new way to generate estimated forward retail prices for a retail commodity within a geographic boundary that represents a target market; Using estimates for local retail prices, combined with knowledge of current and historical wholesale prices, embodiments disclosed herein enable the creation of a forward estimate of retail prices on fuels for a specific location, time period, and fuel grade. In some embodiment, the process of creating a forward estimate of retail prices on fuels comprises performing a predictive modeling utilizing wholesale gasoline prices, rack markup, retail markup, and taxes on a location, time period, and fuel grade basis. In some cases, the estimated forward retail prices thus generated can be used in a pricing model for price protection services for that retail commodity in that target market. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313014 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DETERMINING A RETAIL COMMODITY PRICE WITHIN A GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY - Disclosed are a method and system for determining a retail price for a commodity within a geographic boundary. Retail prices for the commodity may be obtained from various sources, such as observers, third-party reporting, transactional data, and self-reporting. The retail price for each source may be analyzed to determine a risk factor. The retail prices from all sources associated with a location may be compared to determine a composite retail price for the location. The retail prices for all the locations within the geographic boundary may be analyzed to generate an aggregate composite price for the commodity within the geographic boundary. The analysis may include using a weighted formula. The analysis may include a volume proxy. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313015 | PRICING PLAN OF RECORD - In embodiments of the present invention, a method and system is provided for producing a pricing plan of record. The present invention may provide for determining a pricing plan, the pricing plan specifying unit price guidelines for a plurality of items based on anticipated demand, the pricing plan being directed at substantially achieving at least one aspect of an entity plan on an aggregated basis and making available the pricing plan of record. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313016 | Method and System for Managing Media Content in a Network - A method and system for managing a plurality of media content in a network ( | 2008-12-18 |
20080313017 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO WEIGHT INCOMPLETE RESPONDENT DATA - Methods and apparatus to weight incomplete respondent data are disclosed. An example method includes assembling a set of complete data, assembling a set of incomplete data, and selecting a channel of interest. The example method also includes estimating activity within the selected channel, and calculating synthetic time indicies for the set of incomplete data. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313018 | System and Method for Prime Lead Data Commercialization - A prime lead data commercialization system and method, in at least one embodiment, filters lead data to identify prime leads, provides the prime leads to a recipient, and determines compensation to the lead source based upon conversion rates. By shifting compensation risk to the lead source, the prime lead data source is able to obtain leads from any lead source without introducing arbitrary lead filtering criteria, such as filtering based on historically unacceptable conversion rates that would have otherwise omitted quality leads. The prime lead data source can establish filter criteria that restricts the lead data that the prime lead data source purchases. The prime lead data commercialization system can determine compensation based upon a premium pricing model. Accordingly, the risks of compensation based on conversion rates can be offset by justified premium pricing models for prime leads. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313019 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXTRACTING CONTACT INFORMATION FROM WEBSITE TRAFFIC STATISTICS - A system and method for providing user-defined business contact information, relating to website traffic statistics, to a user approximately in real-time is described. One embodiment comprises receiving visitor information associated with a visitor to a website, wherein the visitor information includes at least an IP address of the visitor and a query string; determining an entity associated with the IP address; determining at least one person associated with the entity; gathering contact information associated with the at least one person; and providing the contact information to the user when the contact information meets a pre-defined criterion of the user. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313020 | Method for determining relative ranking data in a broker mediated geospatial information service environment - A method for determining a value indicator in a broker-mediated geospatial information service environment includes receiving feedback data at a first system of the broker-mediated geospatial information service environment. In particular, the feedback data is received from a plurality of respondents, and relates to a broker-mediated geospatial information service provided to each respondent of the plurality of respondents. Furthermore, each respondent of the plurality of respondents is a prior requestor of a process-dataset solution for performing the broker-mediated geospatial information service. Based on the feedback data, a value indicator relating to the process-dataset solution is determined. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313021 | Power demand and supply-adjustment system and method - A power consumption-demand/supply adjustment apparatus comprises: a monitor for a consumption amount of supplied power and the quality of supplied power; a contract-adjustment means for supporting establishing of contract for a power demand/supply by adjusting power demand conditions of a customer and power supply conditions of a power supplier; and banking means for requesting a charge of the consumption amount of supplied power and the quality of supplied power, and a charge to be paid from an accumulated deposit based on the contract; wherein the banking means requests the charge of supplied power and the charge to be paid from an accumulated deposit based on monitoring information sent from the monitor. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313022 | Market determination system - A market analysis system uses travel time to define a relevant market area. A map is generated using stored geographical map information around a selected geographical point or area, and a travel time around the geographical point or area is selected. A trace is formed on the map around the geographical point within the travel time using travel time data, and market information is gathered from a database for the defined geographical area. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313023 | System For Facilitating Objective Evaluation Of The Performance Of Sell-Side Professionals - A system for facilitating evaluation, by a buy-side professional, of performance of a sell-side professional, includes a computer system and a source of performance data in which the computer system is in communication. Software executing on the computer system receives from the sell-side professional a plurality of sell-side data and determines a performance evaluation of each of the sell-side data based at least in part upon contents of each of the sell-side data and at least in part upon the performance data. Software executing on the computer system also receives from the buy-side professional a set of weighted preferences indicative of importance to the buy-side professional of performance of different types of sell-side data, and calculates a performance rating of the sell-side professional based at least in part upon the performance evaluation of each of the sell-side data and at least in part upon the weighted preferences. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313024 | WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT METHOD - A workflow management system for managing a workflow including plural tasks is disclosed that includes a task data storing part for storing task data and a task control part for obtaining task data from the task data storing part, calculating a predetermined index from the task data, and outputting an evaluation of the workflow based on the result of the calculation. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313025 | Designed Process Testing Method - A method for identifying deficiencies in a new or improved designed process comprising the steps of collecting implementation data pertaining to agents, resources, environment and strategy associated with the designed process, identifying a historical event to serve as a context for evaluating the designed process, compiling historical event data for the historical event, including information pertaining to agents, resources, environment, strategy and outcomes associated with the historical event, defining a model space for a simulation based on the implementation data and the historical event data, defining a performance requirement for the simulation, and conducting the simulation within the model space. The model space definition comprises a plurality of roles each having a predefined character set. During the simulation, human role players perform acts and carry out steps or functions in accordance with the predefined character sets. Participants in or monitors of the simulation identify results in respect to achieving the performance requirement, as well as deficiencies that are at least in part responsible for the results. When there are multiple parties responsible for developing, managing and carrying out the newly designed process, the present invention produces consensus and shared understanding among those multiple parties and facilitates developing corrective actions for the identified deficiencies. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313026 | System and method for voting in online competitions - Content distribution systems that support Cost-Per-Engagement (CPE) based advertising are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes a server connected to a network, a database connected to the server and a voter computer connected to the network. In addition, the server is configured to provide a plurality of options to the voter computer, the voter computer is configured to register with the server using a profile and to communicate a current selection from one of the options to the server, the database stores information concerning past activity associated with a voter profile and the server is configured to determine the value of the vote as a function of at least one factor indicative of stored information concerning the past activity associated with the voter profile. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313027 | FAIR DISCOUNTING AUCTION - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates employing an online auction in which a coupon is fairly administered. An online auction environment that can employ an auction to identify a fair market value of at least one of a good or a portion of a service, wherein the auction can receive at least one bid from a bidder with a coupon and a bidder without a coupon. A randomizer component that can select one of a collection of bidders having coupons or a collection of bidders not having coupons based on a randomizing technique, wherein the online auction environment can identify an auction winner as a highest bidder within the selected collection, the highest bidder provides a highest bid from both the collection of bidders having coupons and the collection of bidders not having coupons. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313028 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSUMER NOTIFICATION THAT AN ORDER IS READY FOR PICK UP VIA AN APPLICATION-SPECIFIC USER INTERFACE ON A PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Systems and methods for providing notification of order fulfillment for an order previously made at a retail device by a consumer interacting with a personal communication device are disclosed. According to one system and method, a notification is provided to the personal communication device that the order has been fulfilled, where the order was previously made by the consumer interacting with an application-specific user interface executing on the personal communication device and the application-specific user interface is provided on the personal communication device based on an identifier associated with the retail device received from the personal communication device. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313029 | PUSH-CACHING SCHEME FOR A LATE-BINDING ADVERTISEMENT ARCHITECTURE - A system providing late-binding of advertisements to video content and incorporating a push-caching scheme is disclosed. In general, the system includes an advertisement server located at a central location such as a central headend and a number of late-binding systems located at locations such as a number of remote headends. The late-binding systems are connected to the advertisement server via a Wide Area Network (WAN). Each of the late-binding systems is also connected to an associated advertisement cache via a Local Area Network (LAN). A cache assignment agent associated with the advertisement server operates to push advertisements to the advertisement caches associated with the late-binding systems in a predictive fashion based on, for example, historical information for the late-binding systems and/or profiles of users or viewers associated with the client devices served by the late-binding systems. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313030 | Category-based Advertisement - A hierarchical category system for organizing and displaying electronic advertisements is disclosed. Each electronic advertisement is assigned one or more categories from a hierarchical categorization system. Similarly, each available advertisement placement location is also provided with a category from the hierarchical categorization, system. Then, when displaying advertisements, the system attempts to locate advertisements that have matching categorizations. When no matching advertisement with an exact matching categorization can be found, the system will attempt to locate an advertisement from a more specific (child) category that is a sub category of the current category. However, the advertisement from the more specific (child) category must specify the broader category within its own allowable fall-back path. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313031 | CLASSIFICATION OF IMAGES AS ADVERTISEMENT IMAGES OR NON-ADVERTISEMENT IMAGES - An advertisement image classification system trains a binary classifier to classify images as advertisement images or non-advertisement images and then uses the binary classifier to classify images of web pages as advertisement images or non-advertisement images. During a training phase, the classification system generates training data of feature vectors representing the images and labels indicating whether an image is an advertisement image or a non-advertisement image. The classification system trains a binary classifier to classify images using training data. During a classification phase, the classification system inputs a web page with an image and generates a feature vector for the image. The classification system then applies the trained binary classifier to the feature vector to generate a score indicating whether the image is an advertisement image or a non-advertisement image. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313032 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A POINTS INCENTIVE PROGRAM - The present invention is a method for operating a points incentive program comprising three steps. The first step is to provide consolidation of third party account information into a single source identifier. The second step is to allocate points received by the source identifier to each respective third party account in their due proportion. The final step is to distribute those points received by the source identifier to each respective third party account, in their due proportion. This method allows users to participate in multiple reward or incentive programs without carrying with them, multiple individual source identifiers connected to each of said reward or incentive programs. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313033 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADVERTISEMENT DELIVERY IN WIRELESS NETWORKS - The invention provides for advertising content selection, presentation, and statistics reporting at a wireless user terminal. The invention includes a method for selecting a subset of advertising content for presentation at the wireless user terminal. The invention includes a method for presenting advertising content at a wireless user terminal in response to one or more conditions detected at the wireless user terminal. The invention includes a method for collecting advertising content presentation statistics and providing the advertising content presentation statistics to at least one network system. In one embodiment, the invention may include one or more of the advertising content selection, presentation, and statistics reporting functions. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313034 | Credit item tracking system - A transaction system comprising: a participating vendor tracking mechanism that identifies at least one participating vendor which has authorized at least one certificate to be sold at a face value determined by a promotional campaign and rate plan; a purchase interface that generates a request by a customer for at least one certificate in real time; and a credit tracking system whereby credits are issued to a participating vendor for each certificate authorized in real time. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313035 | System and method for providing print advertisements - A system and method for providing print advertisements is presented. A target audience is assembled from characteristics about readers. Advertising content is targeted to the target audience. The characteristics of the target audience are analyzed against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers. At least one of the potential advertisers is selected. At least one print advertisement for the selected advertiser is included on the document. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313036 | System and method for providing advertisements in online and hardcopy mediums - A system and method for providing advertisements in online and hardcopy mediums is presented. Advertising content is targeted to a target audience. The characteristics of the target audience are analyzed against the advertising content to identify potential advertisers. At least one of the potential advertisers is selected. One or more advertisements for the selected advertiser is included on a document. The document is provided on at least one of online and hardcopy mediums. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313037 | Interactive advisory system - A method for passing content to at least one communicator device. The user of a communicator device registers with at least one service provider for delivering a plurality of different types of content to be passed to the at least one communicator device. A user defined priority is assigned to the at least one type of content. The user-defined priority is stored on a computer readable medium. The different types of content are passed to the at least one communicator device based on the user defined priority. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313038 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR USERS TO BUILD AND USE DIGITAL PRODUCTS AND FOR ADVERTISERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH USERS IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT MITIGATE USER EXPERIENCE - Serving targeted advertisements to a user within a virtual environment. The virtual environment is displayed to the user on a client and enables selection of components for use within the virtual environment. Component selections, associated with one or more attributes are obtained from a user, and a custom product, which is interactively navigable and has a set of interactivity characteristics, is constructed by combining the component selections. A condition within the virtual environment triggers a set of events, and an advertisement, concerning a product component, is served to the user in response and in accordance with a comparison of ad-serve parameters and information associated with the component selections. The custom product can be selectively modified in response to any user interaction with the served advertisement, and its interactivity characteristics accordingly modified. Performance ratings and comparisons thereof can be computed based on the customized product or alternatively customized product. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313039 | Systems and Methods to Facilitate the Specification of a Complex Geographic Area - Methods and systems to specify complex geographic areas for advertisements to connect advertisers and customers for real time communications. One embodiment includes: a web server to present a user interface to receive input specifying a plurality of geographic areas and one or more operations to combine the plurality of geographic areas into a geographic area of service of an advertisement and to provide the advertisement with a reference of a connection server for presentation to a customer when a location of the customer matches with the geographic area of service of the advertisement; and a connection server to receive a request from the customer for a connection to an advertiser of the advertisement and to provide the connection for real time communications between the customer and the advertiser in response to the request made via the reference of the connection server. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313040 | Content distribution system including cost-per-engagement based advertising - Content distribution systems that support Cost-Per-Engagement (CPE) based advertising are disclosed. One embodiment includes a server connected to a network and a plurality of user computers connected to the network. In addition, the server is configured to host an interactive web site that enables the uploading of pieces of content in response to the online marketing campaign and the distribution of pieces of uploaded content, each user computer is configured to interact with the web site, the server is configured to track the number of pieces of content uploaded to the website in response to the online marketing campaign, the number of pieces of uploaded content distributed to user computers and the number of other interactions between the user computers and the website, and the server is configured to determine a cost to charge for hosting the marketing campaign based upon at least the number of pieces of content uploaded to the website in response to the online marketing campaign, the number of pieces of uploaded content distributed to user computers and the number of other interactions between the user computers and the website. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313041 | MULTI LEVEL MARKETING FOR BUSINESSES AND CONSUMERS - A novel marketing system and method wherein consumers and businesses join a network which increases commercial activity in a synergetic manner, providing profits and monetary rewards to consumer members and participant businesses. Participant businesses use the network as a platform for self advertising for which expenses are paid only after achieving a sale. The customers in the network are associated with a club, are placed in a multilevel structure reflecting recruiting order, and get rewards which are associated to actual sales in the whole network for which they are directly or indirectly responsible. A fundamental aspect of the multilevel marketing network of present invention is the fact that it is expanding continuously by recruiting both new consumers and new participating businesses. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313042 | USER DRIVEN SYSTEM FOR ENABLING ASSOCIATIVE ENDORSEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF BRANDING CAPSULES - Building brand awareness that enables users to personally endorse and drive branded messages to a plurality of targets that have a high likelihood of being receptive to the message and associated branding. To ensure that the brand messaging is kept consistent with the desires of the advertiser a repository of brand capsules is available for driving users to select from. To propagate a brand capsule into the community the driving user selects the brand capsule from the repository and associates it with an anticipated event the driving user wishes to associate with the chosen brand. After identification of the targets the brand capsule is forwarded to the targets via a transport mechanism appropriate for carrying the encapsulated imagery and data to the target users. By sending out the brand capsule the driving user implicitly or explicitly endorses the brand by associating it with a personal event, message or request. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313043 | Method and System for Advertising a Product or Service - The present invention provides a method of advertising a product or a service. The method involves distributing an advertisement to a viewer, wherein the advertisement includes an embedded code. In a typical embodiment, the viewer would view the advertisement, take note of the embedded code, and send the code to the advertisers or third-party administrator. In response to receiving the code, the advertiser or third-party administrator would distribute a voucher to the viewer. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313044 | Method and system for payment and/or issuance of credits via a mobile device - System and method for delivering upon request credits having monetary value to a mobile device using a communications network. An account of available credit for the user of the mobile device is maintained and authorization to issue credit is generated when a request for credit for the mobile device is received and there is available credit in the account associated with the mobile device equal to or greater than the requested credit. Credit may be sponsored by one or more sponsors and issued to the user, upon authorization, to enable the user to use the mobile device to purchase items, e.g., at a point of sale terminal. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313045 | Using payment mode rankings responsive to item attributes - A method and system are described for obtaining at least a first mode ranking and a second mode ranking responsive to one or more categorical attributes of a first item and to one or more payment mode use constraints and transmitting at least an indication of a first payment mode responsive to at least the first mode ranking or the second mode ranking. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313046 | FOOD ORDERING SYSTEM AND METHOD - Embodiments of a food ordering system include a menu board station adapted to display information about a plurality of food items. At least one dispenser is associated with at least one of the plurality of food items. The at least one dispenser is adapted to dispense an article including identifying data corresponding to one of the plurality of food items. An article receiving station is adapted to receive the article and identify the identifying data on the article. Other embodiments of a food ordering system include a menu board station displaying information about a plurality of food items. The information includes at least one identifier associated with each food item. An ordering panel is proximate to the menu board station and includes a user interface for placing an order by inputting one or more of the identifiers. A kitchen interface is operably linked to the ordering panel for receiving the order. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313047 | Payment clearing network for electronic financial transactions and related personal financial transaction device - Described herein are networks and related devices and methods for facilitating the electronic transfer of funds and electronic purchases between consumers, merchants, and other parties. Also facilitated by the principles described herein is the electronic transfer of funds or payments between individuals. The disclosed principles provide for the funds of a user's account to never leave his original financial account until the financial transaction takes place. Thus, no special accounts within the payment system are required to be opened, maintained, or funded by a user. Instead, funds are simply transferred to or from a user's associated financial account by the financial institution maintaining that account and in accordance with instructions from the network. Thus, the present disclosure provides for fund transfers and purchases between parties in a secure, efficient, and the user-friendly manner. The disclosed principles provide for such transactions using, in some embodiments, portable devices, which may be dedicated devices associated with the disclosed network, or available consumer devices configured to operate with the network. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313048 | Dual input/output device point of sale terminal - A dual input/output point of sale system allows a customer and a point of sale operator to use respective input/output devices, such as a touch screen, independently and cooperatively during a transaction. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313049 | System and method for dynamic reordering of items in an online list - A computer implemented method for dynamic reordering an online list is disclosed. An embodiment of the invention provides the user with the ability to change the position of an item displayed on the list and this change is seen by all users who are browsing this list. The user provides information on the selection of the item for which the position is to be changed. The user also provides information on the new position for the item. The list is reordered based on the new position information of the item provided by the user, such that the selected item is at the new position. This reordering of the list is in real-time. The view of all users browsing through the item list is affected. Alternatively, an updated list is displayed to users after a fixed interval of time. The user can be billed every time the item is repositioned. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313050 | MEDIA EXCHANGE SYSTEM - A media exchange system according to the present invention provides a simpler interface for requesting media from a server. The user can store an archive copy of the media at the server and send copies to other users with accounts on the server. The user has a control unit which assists the user in identifying the media. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313051 | Online Preowned Golf Club Sales - A portal is provided in which accounts can be created and sellers of golf clubs have login privileges. A seller of preowned used clubs can input an inventory of clubs it wishes to sell. Account representatives at the portal implement a system that grades the clubs and provides a group price. The clubs are then shipped and payment made. Thereafter, the clubs may be made available to the public in accordance with the portal owner's proprietary grading and pricing schemes. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313052 | Method and system for managing transactions initiated via a wireless communications device - A system for managing an order received from a wireless communications device (WCD), including: an order element, in a processor in at least one specially programmed general-purpose computer, arranged to receive, via an interface element in the computer, a transmission, via a communication network, from the WCD, including an order for an item at a retail location; a location element, in the processor, to identify, using the interface element and the processor, that the WCD is within a predetermined location with respect to the location; a scheduling element, in the processor, to schedule preparation of the order in response to the predetermined location; an instruction element, in the processor, to generate at least one instruction for fulfilling the order and to transmit the instruction, using the interface element; and, a presentation element, at a point of sales (POS) station at the retail location, to receive and present the instruction. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313053 | PAYMENT SERVICE - A method and system to offer a payment service to a consumer user. The system receives a check-out request from the consumer user of an electronic storefront. The check-out request is for purchase one or more products from the electronic storefront. The system determines whether to offer a payment service to the consumer user by identifying whether the consumer user is authorized to use the payment service to make purchases from the electronic storefront. Finally, the system serves a web-based check-out interface to a client used by the consumer user. The check-out interface includes an offer to the consumer user to use the payment service. Specifically, the offer includes an option to enable the consumer user to make payment for the one or more products via the payment service. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313054 | DELIVERY STORAGE APPARATUS AND SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR THE SAME - An apparatus, system and method for delivery storage. The delivery storage apparatus includes an outer opening to allow an individual delivering the goods to place the articles of food directly into the delivery storage apparatus disposed at a side of a house without the presence of the owner. The delivery storage apparatus also includes an inner opening to allow the owner to retrieve the articles of food from the delivery storage apparatus. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313055 | Method and apparatus for generating customized furniture documentation - Preferred embodiments include a method and apparatus for generating customized product documentation for a furniture item having a plurality of surface material options. A computer receives a plurality of images of surface materials which may be applied to a furniture item and stores the images into a computer database. Label information describing each of the plurality of images and the furniture item is also received into the database. Surface material images are electronically displayed and an image is selected for application to the furniture item. The computer maps the selected surface material onto an image depicting the furniture item. An electronic document is generated which includes an image of the furniture item having the selected surface material mapped thereon and the label information associated with the selected surface material and the furniture item. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313056 | Ordering and Image Transmission System and Method Utilizing Instant Messaging - A system and method for a consumer to order goods and/or services from a vendor through the use of an instant messaging service and to transmit images via instant messaging. The consumer initiates an instant message communication link between the consumer and the vendor by using the vendor's screen name which has been added to the consumer's list of contacts and sending an initiating message. Software resident on the vendor's computer responds to initiation of the instant message communication link by supplying a list of goods and/or services to the consumer. The consumer can order from the list of goods and/or services to the consumer. The consumer can order from the list of goods and/or services while concurrently communicating with the vendor. An order identification number is created each time an order is placed which includes information from the consumer's screen name, the vendor's screen name and software generated in formation. The order identification number uniquely identifies the order and is used only once. Images can also be sent from a first IM user to a second IM user with each image being customized by the first user by adding text or other attributes to a base image. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313057 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE COLLABORATIVE SOLICITATION OF KNOWLEDGE BASE CONTENT, SERVICES AND PRODUCTS - A system and method for soliciting a content item, which may include but is not limited to one or more products, services and/or acts, based on an assumption that if a content item can be identified for which a single Internet user has a desire, amongst the millions of world-wide Internet users, there is likely a similar desire among many hundreds or even thousands of Internet users. Even if a content item has not been provided and/or produced, and/or has not been posted to the Internet, the approach assumes that among the millions of Internet users, at least one user has the knowledge and/or skill to produce and/or provide the desired content item, and that by collaboratively grouping relatively nominal sums from a large number of interested Internet users, an individual and/or group of individuals may be sufficiently economically motivated to produce and/or provide and/or post the content item. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313058 | Process And System For Identifying Demand For Inventory - A computer-implemented process for identifying demand for excess inventory includes the steps of determining an inventory level and a forecasted demand of at least one part at least one facility; determining a part interchangeability of a first part with a second part of the at least one part; inputting an inventory level reflecting the part interchangeability and a forecasted demand reflecting the part interchangeability of the at least one part into an inventory module embodied in a server in communication with the at least one facility; accumulating the inventory level reflecting the part interchangeability and the forecasted demand reflecting the part interchangeability in the inventory module embodied in the server; determining an inventory position reflecting the part interchangeability for the at least one part for all of the at least one facility; determining a real-time demand reflecting the part interchangeability for the at least one part for all of the at least one facility; and conveying the real-time demand reflecting the part interchangeability for the at least one part to all of the at least one facility. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313059 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A RECEIVING, INSPECTION, AND SUPPLIER QUALITY SYSTEM - The disclosure provides a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for managing inspection of items. In one embodiment, an identifier for an item is received in a shipment of items to form a received item. Inspection criteria for inspecting the shipment of items are adjusted using a quality history. The quality history is data regarding results of inspections of items. A result of the inspection is received. The quality history is updated with the result of the inspection. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313060 | OPENLY ACCESSIBLE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - A system enabling users to view and initiate action to alter the geographic distribution of the pooled inventory of an item includes an inventory registry, a transaction module, and a viewing module. The inventory registry includes information indicative of a pooled inventory of an item including inventory from two or more suppliers of the item. In some embodiments, the registry is openly accessible to multiple suppliers and multiple consumers of the item. The transaction module enables a remote user to execute an inventory transaction to alter the pooled inventory distribution indicated in the inventory registry. The viewing module accesses the inventory registry and produces information enabling a user to visualize the inventory distribution. The inventory management system may interface with value added service including as examples, an auction/bidding module, a price negotiation module, and a cost estimation module. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313061 | System and Method for Facilitating Transfer of Physical Money and/or Credit - A system for transfer of physical money and/or credit comprises a transferring party with a first communication device; an intended recipient with a second communication device; a facilitator; and a third party, wherein the transferring party makes a payment to a third party and receives a unique payment code associated with the amount of the payment. The transferring party sends a first message to the facilitator using the first communications device. The first message includes the unique payment code and a unique identifier associated with the second communication device. The facilitator informs the intended recipient, via a second message including a trace number, sent to the second communication device of the intended transfer and the redemption process. The intended recipient attends the premises of a third party and obtains a unique identifier associated with a third communication device in their possession. The intended recipient sends a redemption message, including the trace number and the unique identifier to the facilitator. | 2008-12-18 |
20080313062 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAPPING PAPER RECEIPTS TO ELECTRONIC RECEIPTS USING AN APPLICATION-SPECIFIC USER INTERFACE ON A PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Systems and methods for providing an electronic receipt for an order previously made at a retail device by a consumer interacting with a personal communication device are disclosed. According to one system and method, a receipt is scanned using the personal communication device, where the order was previously made by the consumer interacting with an application-specific user interface executing on the personal communication device and the application-specific user interface was provided on the personal communication device based on a received identifier associated with the retail device. The scanned receipt is converted to the electronic receipt. | 2008-12-18 |