E-commerce sales and use exchange system and method
Patent No. 8,793,168
The invention provides a system and method for calculating, collecting and/or disbursing one or more third party payments owed to one or more third parties resulting from one or more electronic transactions occurring over a wide area network (WAN) between a customer and a merchant. The transaction concern one or more services and/or products provided by the merchant. The system and method require that the calculation of the amount owed to the third party occur at a WAN node that is different than and at a different locale than that of the merchant. By so doing, the merchant is not required to purchase and install equipment and/or software of the third party to which a payment is due. The present system includes a merchant node, third party payment processing node, financial network, and third party payment receiving node. A consumer conducts a transaction at a merchant node. As a result of the transaction, a third party may or may not be due a payment. The third party payment processing node determines whether such payment is due, calculates the amount of the third party payment, and/or authorizes payment of the third party payment. The financial network, which includes at least the merchant’s acquirer bank, the customer’s credit card issuing bank and the credit car association, then handles payment of the amount(s) due to the third party, the amount(s) due to the merchant and the amount(s) owed by the customer. The system of the invention can be a fee for service type of system wherein those (the merchant or the third party) that employ the system and/or method pay a fee, for example per transaction or per amounts collected and disbursed, to the provider of the claimed system.
Inventors: Jonathan Barsade (Wynnewood, Penn.), Tal Elyashiv (Richmond, Va.)
Assignee: Exactor Inc. (Wynnewood, Penn.)
July 29, 2014
Determining energy consumption in a structure
Patent No. 8,791,417
Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for measuring the supply of a consumable product/energy source, such as electrical power, to a facility over time and analyzing the measurements to determine the consumption or supply of the product by one or more loads and/or sources in the facility, and to determine induced and residual heat flow through the facility’s envelope. Various aspects compare the measured supply of the consumable product to a database of consumption signatures, which characterize access to the consumable product by particular users. Operating conditions and facility characteristics, such as temperatures, load factors, insulation factors, etc., may be further considered in determining a particular user’s access of the consumable product. To aid in the controlling of energy use, thermal resistance factors of the building are determined, which are based on the induced and residual heat flow through the facility.
Inventors: Michael Craig Scelzi (Glen Allen, Va.), James Scelzi (Paducah, Ky.), Allan H. Vaitses (Marion, Mass.), William Shawn Bonwell (Montpelier, Va.), Mark Christopher Hartman (Amelia, Va.)
Assignee: Netesco LLC (Richmond, Va.)
July 29, 2014
Pallet guard terminator
Patent No. 8,789,475
A terminator for a pallet guard assembly is composed of a thin panel portion that can enclose a portion of a pallet directly adjacent another structure without spacing the pallet substantially from the structure. The pallet may be enclosed on one or more sides by a pallet guard assembly, with the terminator permitting an open or free side that can be placed directly adjacent a structure while maintaining the pallet guard assembly in position around the pallet. The pallet guard terminator may be constructed to have multiple orientations to permit attachment to the pallet guard assembly members having different orientations. The pallet guard terminator may be constructed to have a single orientation to interfit with specific members of a pallet guard assembly.
Inventors: Paul Giampavolo (Newton, N.J.), Christopher M. Johnson (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Safe-Strap Co. Inc. (Wharton, N.J.)
July 29, 2014
Automated migration to a new target volume via merged bitmaps to maintain consistency
Patent No. 8,793,456
Aspects of the present invention relate to data migration and/or disaster recovery. One embodiment enables merging of bitmaps to allow for automation of the process of switching to a different target volume on the same storage subsystem without major interruption of data recovery capability and limited interruption of host I/O to the source volumes during the migration. In one approach, the migration of data onto a new target volume within the same storage subsystem as the original target volume is automated, without requiring the user to manually create or remove any new copy relationships.
Inventors: Amy N. Blea (Round Rock, Texas), David R. Blea (Tucson, Ariz.), Gregory E. McBride (Vail, Ariz.), John J. Wolfgang (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.)
July 29, 2014
Bone plate having combination locking and compression screw holes
Patent No. 8,790,376
A method of forming a bone plate comprising fabricating a bone plate to include a first through hole, where at least one of a width and a length of the hole changes along a depth of the hole; plunge milling an interior surface of the bone plate demarcating the first through hole to remove at least a portion of the bone plate to increase at least one of the width and the length of the through hole; and, threading at least a portion of the first through hole.
Inventors: Daniel Duane Fritzinger (Warsaw, Ind.), Paul G. Kiritsis (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Biomet Manufacturing LLC (Warsaw, Ind.)
July 29, 2014
Solar-powered, illuminated support for a decorative item
Patent No. 8,789,964
A support for a decorative item includes a stanchion with a first end and a second end. A flexible neck, having a first end and a second end, is connected to the second end of the stanchion at a first end thereof. At least one attachment device lies between the first and second end of the stanchion for attaching a decorative item to the stanchion. A luminary is connected to the second end of the flexible neck to provide illumination to the decorative item.
Inventors: Timothy A. Lamm (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Evergreen Enterprises of Virginia LLC (Richmond, Va.)
July 29, 2014
Prioritized workload routing in a data center
Patent No. 8,799,690
An approach that manages energy in a data center is provided. In one embodiment, there is an energy management tool, including an analysis component configured to determine an energy profile of each of a plurality of systems within the data center. The energy management tool further comprises a priority component configured to prioritize a routing of a workload to a set of systems from the plurality of systems within the data center having the least amount of energy present based on the energy profile of each of the plurality of systems within the data center.
Inventors: Christopher J. Dawson (Bethesda, Md.), Vincenzo V. Diluoffo (Southbury, Conn.), Rick A. Hamilton (Richmond, Va.), Michael D. Kendzierski (New York, N.Y.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y)
August 5, 2014
System and method for imbedding a defined benefit in a defined contribution plan
Patent No. 8,799,134
A system and method comprises a defined contribution module for periodically receiving contributions and for accumulating value over a period of time by investing at least one of the contributions, the accumulated value being capable of: (1) being withdrawn at any time and reinvested, and (2) being paid out after a predetermined period of time; and wherein select investment options comprises investment products and at least one designated defined benefit investment option module for: (1) receiving at least one investment payment from the defined contribution module, the investment payment comprising at least one of the contributions and/or the accumulated value, (2) for paying out a guaranteed minimum income payment for life, after the predetermined period of time, based on a retirement income formula, and (3) increasing the income payment for life for excess performance over the formula.
Inventors: Geoffrey Stiff (Richmond, Va.), Matthew Sharpe (Glen Allen, Va.), Landis William Atkinson III (Richmond, Va.)
Assignee: Genworth Holdings Inc. (Richmond, Va.)
August 5, 2014
Travel cover with a swivel handle
Patent No. 8,794,409
Luggage, duffel bags, travel bags and travel covers including travel covers for sporting goods such as, but not limited to, golf bags, skis, snowboards, baseball equipment, soccer equipment, and tennis equipment, and travel covers for tradeshow or conference displays or graphics, product samples, tents (collectively, “travel covers”), for example, are commonly used for conveniently transporting and protecting large objects during travel by walking, car, train and/or airplane. The travel covers may have a handle that my rotate or swivel to adjust to an ergonomic position for pulling or pushing the travel cover.
Inventors: Leighton Klevana (Richmond, Va.), Ed Miyashita (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Dynamic Brands LLC (Richmond, Va.)
August 5, 2014
Inline defect analysis for sampling and SPC
Patent No. 8,799,831
In one embodiment, an inline defect analysis method includes receiving geometric characteristics of individual defects and design data corresponding to the individual defects, determining which of the individual defects are likely to be nuisance defects using the geometric characteristics and the corresponding design data, and refraining from sampling the defects that are likely to be nuisance defects.
Inventors: Youval Nehmadi (Modiin, Ill.), Rinat Shimshi (San Jose, Calif.), Vicky Svidenko (San Jose, Calif.), Alexander T. Schwarm (Austin, Texas), Sundar Jawaharlal (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.)
August 5, 2014
Automated migration to a new target volume via merged bitmaps to maintain consistency
Patent No. 8,799,602
Aspects of the present invention relate to data migration and/or disaster recovery. One embodiment enables merging of bitmaps to allow for automation of the process of switching to a different target volume on the same storage subsystem without major interruption of data recovery capability and limited interruption of host I/O to the source volumes during the migration. In one approach, the migration of data onto a new target volume within the same storage subsystem as the original target volume is automated, without requiring the user to manually create or remove any new copy relationships.
Inventors: Amy N. Blea (Round Rock, Texas), David R. Blea (Tucson, Ariz.), Gregory E. McBride (Vail, Ariz.), John J. Wolfgang (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.)
August 5, 2014
System and method for automating customer-validated statement of work for a data storage environment
Patent No. 8,799,051
Computer systems and methods are disclosed for improving professional services delivery, such as services in a data management environment. In certain examples, computer systems comprise portals for transmitting and receiving information from parties involved in the performance and receipt of professional services. For instance, a first portal can receive data (e.g., from sales personnel) descriptive of a customer’s product environment. A manager module populates a record with the data, and a second portal provides the customer with access to the record for review, correction and/or validation prior to the generation of a Statement of Work or other like project description. The second portal can also request additional information from the customer regarding the product environment. The manager module compares the data received through the first portal with the customer-entered information to identify and/or address discrepancies between the sets of data and customize the generation of the Statement of Work.
Inventors: Robert Keith Brower Jr. (Midlothian, Va.), Peter Messore (Manahawkin, N.J.)
Assignee: CommVault Systems, Inc. (Oceanport, NJ)
August 5, 2014
Crystalline pharmaceutical
Patent No. 8,796,451
New crystalline forms of lopinavir are disclosed.
Inventors: Daniel A. Dickman (Longmont, Colo.), Sanjay Chemburkar (Gurnee, Ill.), James J. Fort (Midlothian, Va.), Rodger F. Henry (Park City, Ill.), David Lechuga-Ballesteros (Santa Clara, Calif.), Yuping Niu (Nyack, N.Y.), William Porter (Vernon Hills, Ill.)
Assignee: AbbVie Inc. (North Chicago, Ill.)
August 5, 2014
Ion implantation system and method
Patent No. 8,796,131
An ion implantation system and method, providing cooling of dopant gas in the dopant gas feed line, to combat heating and decomposition of the dopant gas by arc chamber heat generation, e.g., using boron source materials such as B2F4 or other alternatives to BF3. Various arc chamber thermal management arrangements are described, as well as modification of plasma properties, specific flow arrangements, cleaning processes, power management, eqillibrium shifting, optimization of extraction optics, detection of deposits in flow passages, and source life optimization, to achieve efficient operation of the ion implantation system.
Inventors: Edward E. Jones (Woodbury, Conn.), Sharad N. Yedave (Danbury, Conn.), Ying Tang (Brookfield, Conn.), Barry Lewis Chambers (Midlothian, Va.), Robert Kaim (Brookline, Mass.), Joseph D. Sweeney (Winsted, Conn.), Oleg Byl (Southbury, Conn.), Peng Zou (Ridgefield, Conn.)
Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials Inc. (Danbury, Conn.)
August 5, 2014
System, method and program product for dynamically performing an audit and security compliance validation in an operating environment
Patent No. 8,800,047
A system, method and program product for dynamically performing an audit and security compliance validation. The method includes providing a tool for performing a compliance check of installed computer applications running on a system, the tool including a first set and a second set of plug-ins. Further, the method includes scanning the system, using plug-ins selected from the first set to obtain a current inventory of applications currently installed on the system and selecting plug-ins from the second set to be run on the system in response to the current inventory of applications obtained, and automatically running the plug-ins selected from the second set for performing the compliance check on the system in response to a scheduling criteria identified for the system, where the second set of plug-ins perform the compliance check for only the applications currently installed on the system.
Inventors: Christopher N. Kline (Firestone, Colo.), Linwood E. Loving (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, NY)
August 5, 2014
E-commerce sales and use exchange system and method
Patent No. 8,793,168
The invention provides a system and method for calculating, collecting and/or disbursing one or more third party payments owed to one or more third parties resulting from one or more electronic transactions occurring over a wide area network (WAN) between a customer and a merchant. The transaction concern one or more services and/or products provided by the merchant. The system and method require that the calculation of the amount owed to the third party occur at a WAN node that is different than and at a different locale than that of the merchant. By so doing, the merchant is not required to purchase and install equipment and/or software of the third party to which a payment is due. The present system includes a merchant node, third party payment processing node, financial network, and third party payment receiving node. A consumer conducts a transaction at a merchant node. As a result of the transaction, a third party may or may not be due a payment. The third party payment processing node determines whether such payment is due, calculates the amount of the third party payment, and/or authorizes payment of the third party payment. The financial network, which includes at least the merchant’s acquirer bank, the customer’s credit card issuing bank and the credit car association, then handles payment of the amount(s) due to the third party, the amount(s) due to the merchant and the amount(s) owed by the customer. The system of the invention can be a fee for service type of system wherein those (the merchant or the third party) that employ the system and/or method pay a fee, for example per transaction or per amounts collected and disbursed, to the provider of the claimed system.
Inventors: Jonathan Barsade (Wynnewood, Penn.), Tal Elyashiv (Richmond, Va.)
Assignee: Exactor Inc. (Wynnewood, Penn.)
July 29, 2014
Determining energy consumption in a structure
Patent No. 8,791,417
Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for measuring the supply of a consumable product/energy source, such as electrical power, to a facility over time and analyzing the measurements to determine the consumption or supply of the product by one or more loads and/or sources in the facility, and to determine induced and residual heat flow through the facility’s envelope. Various aspects compare the measured supply of the consumable product to a database of consumption signatures, which characterize access to the consumable product by particular users. Operating conditions and facility characteristics, such as temperatures, load factors, insulation factors, etc., may be further considered in determining a particular user’s access of the consumable product. To aid in the controlling of energy use, thermal resistance factors of the building are determined, which are based on the induced and residual heat flow through the facility.
Inventors: Michael Craig Scelzi (Glen Allen, Va.), James Scelzi (Paducah, Ky.), Allan H. Vaitses (Marion, Mass.), William Shawn Bonwell (Montpelier, Va.), Mark Christopher Hartman (Amelia, Va.)
Assignee: Netesco LLC (Richmond, Va.)
July 29, 2014
Pallet guard terminator
Patent No. 8,789,475
A terminator for a pallet guard assembly is composed of a thin panel portion that can enclose a portion of a pallet directly adjacent another structure without spacing the pallet substantially from the structure. The pallet may be enclosed on one or more sides by a pallet guard assembly, with the terminator permitting an open or free side that can be placed directly adjacent a structure while maintaining the pallet guard assembly in position around the pallet. The pallet guard terminator may be constructed to have multiple orientations to permit attachment to the pallet guard assembly members having different orientations. The pallet guard terminator may be constructed to have a single orientation to interfit with specific members of a pallet guard assembly.
Inventors: Paul Giampavolo (Newton, N.J.), Christopher M. Johnson (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Safe-Strap Co. Inc. (Wharton, N.J.)
July 29, 2014
Automated migration to a new target volume via merged bitmaps to maintain consistency
Patent No. 8,793,456
Aspects of the present invention relate to data migration and/or disaster recovery. One embodiment enables merging of bitmaps to allow for automation of the process of switching to a different target volume on the same storage subsystem without major interruption of data recovery capability and limited interruption of host I/O to the source volumes during the migration. In one approach, the migration of data onto a new target volume within the same storage subsystem as the original target volume is automated, without requiring the user to manually create or remove any new copy relationships.
Inventors: Amy N. Blea (Round Rock, Texas), David R. Blea (Tucson, Ariz.), Gregory E. McBride (Vail, Ariz.), John J. Wolfgang (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.)
July 29, 2014
Bone plate having combination locking and compression screw holes
Patent No. 8,790,376
A method of forming a bone plate comprising fabricating a bone plate to include a first through hole, where at least one of a width and a length of the hole changes along a depth of the hole; plunge milling an interior surface of the bone plate demarcating the first through hole to remove at least a portion of the bone plate to increase at least one of the width and the length of the through hole; and, threading at least a portion of the first through hole.
Inventors: Daniel Duane Fritzinger (Warsaw, Ind.), Paul G. Kiritsis (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Biomet Manufacturing LLC (Warsaw, Ind.)
July 29, 2014
Solar-powered, illuminated support for a decorative item
Patent No. 8,789,964
A support for a decorative item includes a stanchion with a first end and a second end. A flexible neck, having a first end and a second end, is connected to the second end of the stanchion at a first end thereof. At least one attachment device lies between the first and second end of the stanchion for attaching a decorative item to the stanchion. A luminary is connected to the second end of the flexible neck to provide illumination to the decorative item.
Inventors: Timothy A. Lamm (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Evergreen Enterprises of Virginia LLC (Richmond, Va.)
July 29, 2014
Prioritized workload routing in a data center
Patent No. 8,799,690
An approach that manages energy in a data center is provided. In one embodiment, there is an energy management tool, including an analysis component configured to determine an energy profile of each of a plurality of systems within the data center. The energy management tool further comprises a priority component configured to prioritize a routing of a workload to a set of systems from the plurality of systems within the data center having the least amount of energy present based on the energy profile of each of the plurality of systems within the data center.
Inventors: Christopher J. Dawson (Bethesda, Md.), Vincenzo V. Diluoffo (Southbury, Conn.), Rick A. Hamilton (Richmond, Va.), Michael D. Kendzierski (New York, N.Y.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y)
August 5, 2014
System and method for imbedding a defined benefit in a defined contribution plan
Patent No. 8,799,134
A system and method comprises a defined contribution module for periodically receiving contributions and for accumulating value over a period of time by investing at least one of the contributions, the accumulated value being capable of: (1) being withdrawn at any time and reinvested, and (2) being paid out after a predetermined period of time; and wherein select investment options comprises investment products and at least one designated defined benefit investment option module for: (1) receiving at least one investment payment from the defined contribution module, the investment payment comprising at least one of the contributions and/or the accumulated value, (2) for paying out a guaranteed minimum income payment for life, after the predetermined period of time, based on a retirement income formula, and (3) increasing the income payment for life for excess performance over the formula.
Inventors: Geoffrey Stiff (Richmond, Va.), Matthew Sharpe (Glen Allen, Va.), Landis William Atkinson III (Richmond, Va.)
Assignee: Genworth Holdings Inc. (Richmond, Va.)
August 5, 2014
Travel cover with a swivel handle
Patent No. 8,794,409
Luggage, duffel bags, travel bags and travel covers including travel covers for sporting goods such as, but not limited to, golf bags, skis, snowboards, baseball equipment, soccer equipment, and tennis equipment, and travel covers for tradeshow or conference displays or graphics, product samples, tents (collectively, “travel covers”), for example, are commonly used for conveniently transporting and protecting large objects during travel by walking, car, train and/or airplane. The travel covers may have a handle that my rotate or swivel to adjust to an ergonomic position for pulling or pushing the travel cover.
Inventors: Leighton Klevana (Richmond, Va.), Ed Miyashita (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Dynamic Brands LLC (Richmond, Va.)
August 5, 2014
Inline defect analysis for sampling and SPC
Patent No. 8,799,831
In one embodiment, an inline defect analysis method includes receiving geometric characteristics of individual defects and design data corresponding to the individual defects, determining which of the individual defects are likely to be nuisance defects using the geometric characteristics and the corresponding design data, and refraining from sampling the defects that are likely to be nuisance defects.
Inventors: Youval Nehmadi (Modiin, Ill.), Rinat Shimshi (San Jose, Calif.), Vicky Svidenko (San Jose, Calif.), Alexander T. Schwarm (Austin, Texas), Sundar Jawaharlal (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.)
August 5, 2014
Automated migration to a new target volume via merged bitmaps to maintain consistency
Patent No. 8,799,602
Aspects of the present invention relate to data migration and/or disaster recovery. One embodiment enables merging of bitmaps to allow for automation of the process of switching to a different target volume on the same storage subsystem without major interruption of data recovery capability and limited interruption of host I/O to the source volumes during the migration. In one approach, the migration of data onto a new target volume within the same storage subsystem as the original target volume is automated, without requiring the user to manually create or remove any new copy relationships.
Inventors: Amy N. Blea (Round Rock, Texas), David R. Blea (Tucson, Ariz.), Gregory E. McBride (Vail, Ariz.), John J. Wolfgang (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.)
August 5, 2014
System and method for automating customer-validated statement of work for a data storage environment
Patent No. 8,799,051
Computer systems and methods are disclosed for improving professional services delivery, such as services in a data management environment. In certain examples, computer systems comprise portals for transmitting and receiving information from parties involved in the performance and receipt of professional services. For instance, a first portal can receive data (e.g., from sales personnel) descriptive of a customer’s product environment. A manager module populates a record with the data, and a second portal provides the customer with access to the record for review, correction and/or validation prior to the generation of a Statement of Work or other like project description. The second portal can also request additional information from the customer regarding the product environment. The manager module compares the data received through the first portal with the customer-entered information to identify and/or address discrepancies between the sets of data and customize the generation of the Statement of Work.
Inventors: Robert Keith Brower Jr. (Midlothian, Va.), Peter Messore (Manahawkin, N.J.)
Assignee: CommVault Systems, Inc. (Oceanport, NJ)
August 5, 2014
Crystalline pharmaceutical
Patent No. 8,796,451
New crystalline forms of lopinavir are disclosed.
Inventors: Daniel A. Dickman (Longmont, Colo.), Sanjay Chemburkar (Gurnee, Ill.), James J. Fort (Midlothian, Va.), Rodger F. Henry (Park City, Ill.), David Lechuga-Ballesteros (Santa Clara, Calif.), Yuping Niu (Nyack, N.Y.), William Porter (Vernon Hills, Ill.)
Assignee: AbbVie Inc. (North Chicago, Ill.)
August 5, 2014
Ion implantation system and method
Patent No. 8,796,131
An ion implantation system and method, providing cooling of dopant gas in the dopant gas feed line, to combat heating and decomposition of the dopant gas by arc chamber heat generation, e.g., using boron source materials such as B2F4 or other alternatives to BF3. Various arc chamber thermal management arrangements are described, as well as modification of plasma properties, specific flow arrangements, cleaning processes, power management, eqillibrium shifting, optimization of extraction optics, detection of deposits in flow passages, and source life optimization, to achieve efficient operation of the ion implantation system.
Inventors: Edward E. Jones (Woodbury, Conn.), Sharad N. Yedave (Danbury, Conn.), Ying Tang (Brookfield, Conn.), Barry Lewis Chambers (Midlothian, Va.), Robert Kaim (Brookline, Mass.), Joseph D. Sweeney (Winsted, Conn.), Oleg Byl (Southbury, Conn.), Peng Zou (Ridgefield, Conn.)
Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials Inc. (Danbury, Conn.)
August 5, 2014
System, method and program product for dynamically performing an audit and security compliance validation in an operating environment
Patent No. 8,800,047
A system, method and program product for dynamically performing an audit and security compliance validation. The method includes providing a tool for performing a compliance check of installed computer applications running on a system, the tool including a first set and a second set of plug-ins. Further, the method includes scanning the system, using plug-ins selected from the first set to obtain a current inventory of applications currently installed on the system and selecting plug-ins from the second set to be run on the system in response to the current inventory of applications obtained, and automatically running the plug-ins selected from the second set for performing the compliance check on the system in response to a scheduling criteria identified for the system, where the second set of plug-ins perform the compliance check for only the applications currently installed on the system.
Inventors: Christopher N. Kline (Firestone, Colo.), Linwood E. Loving (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, NY)
August 5, 2014