With Bill S. doing an excellent job with patent updates on SEW Blog, we’ve been a bit lax in providing you with news of some of the latest published patent apps and awarded patents. So, here’s just a taste.

Published Patent Apps
REMEMBER, these are only patent applications.

Title: Game-powered search engine
Assignee: Microsoft

The subject invention provides a unique system and method that facilitates an interactive game-powered search engine that serve the purposes of both users who may be looking for information as well as game participants who may desire to earn some reward or level of enjoyment by playing the game. More specifically, the system and method provides feedback to a user based on the user’s input string or a string derived therefrom. The feedback can be a response or answer to the user’s input in the form of text, an image, audio or sound, video, and/or a URL that is provided by one or more game participants when there is some degree of consistency or agreement between the responses or when individual players have demonstrated good reliability in their responses.

First Filed: January 24, 2005

Title: System and method for improving online search engine results
Assignee: Yahoo

System and method for improving online search engine results. In one embodiment, a search system queries one or more servers of a destination site to obtain detailed and relevant information. In one embodiment, this query is in the form of an application programming interface call. Based on the content received in response to the aforementioned queries, a plurality of content pages may then be used to build one or more search databases against which user searches may be made during some future time period.

First Filed: January 26, 2006

Title: Method and system for providing annotations of a digital work
Assignee: NA
Notes: Udi Mandber is listed as a co-inventor. This app was first filed 1/2005 which might make it an A9/Amazon app.

In one aspect, a method and system for receiving and distributing annotations of a digital work includes identifying a digital work and receiving an annotation of the digital work. The annotation may be stored in a database in association with the digital work. A user desiring to access the annotation submits an authorization credential that, if valid, enables the user to receive the annotation of the digital work. The annotation may be presented to the user in context with regard to the digital work.

Title: System and method for query refinement
Assignee: Microsoft

A method and system are provided for automatically enhancing initial search results produced by a search engine in response to a multi-word user query. The method may include implementing a result evaluation mechanism within the search engine for evaluating adequacy of the initial search results. The method may additionally include formulating at least one alternative query, such as a sub-query, if the initial search results are deemed inadequate by the result evaluation mechanism. The method may additionally include displaying result information including the initial search results and a listing of any formulated alternative queries.

First Filed: January 25, 2005

Title: Apparatus, system, and method for digitally presenting the contents of a printed publication
Assignee: NA

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for digitally presenting the contents of a printed publication. In one embodiment, the method includes obtaining contents of the printed publication, determining text content and graphical content; and providing one or more digital playback files configured to selectively present audio data and visual data corresponding to the text content and graphical content of the printed publication, wherein the audio data and the visual data are synchronized. The method may also include obtaining advertisement content and coordinating the audio data and the visual data to playback the advertisement content interspersed with the contents of the printed publication.

First Filed: January 26, 2006

Title: Virtual Calling Card System And Method
Assignee: Microsoft
Social networking.

A novel virtual calling card system and method aid in the formation of online relationships, serving as an introduction tool and as a contact mechanism. The calling card is an exchangeable entity that is automatically updated, ensuring that the recipient or viewer sees the most current version of the card. The card may display an aspect ratio that is the same as that of a traditional business card, and has front side and a reverse side. Furthermore, the card provides a number of avenues for the card owner to express themselves, including an array of affiliation symbols, a most recent mood symbol, and a text field. The reverse side of the card can display a representation of the owner’s social network, so that recipients of the card may identify common friends and associates. The exchange of the card, although server-based, appears to users to simply be a transfer of the card from the owner, or other party, to the recipient, much as a card changes hands in the physical world.

First Filed: April 11, 2006

Awarded Patents

Title: Purchase notification service for assisting users in selecting items from an electronic catalog
Assignee: Amazon.com
Note the social and community aspects of this patent.

A computer service monitors online browsing of an electronic catalog by a user, and notifies the user when a catalog item being accessed is one that has been purchased by an affiliated user, such as a contact or a fellow community member. The notification may include the contact information of the affiliated user, and/or may provide an option to send a message to the affiliated user.

First Filed: August 19, 1999

Document data structure and method for integrating broadcast television with web pages
Assignee: Microsoft
First Filed: July 16, 2004

Described are a method and apparatus for incorporating broadcast television into Web pages. Broadcast television can be embedded into Web pages using, for example, a “tv:” attribute in conjunction with common HTML tags. Within the “tv:” attribute, a Web-page author can reference a TV station by channel number, network, or broadcast call letters. HTML documents are parsed to recover both the conventional tags and tags that include TV attributes. The resulting Web pages display the identified broadcast TV in a frame specified by the TV attribute. One embodiment supports the presentation of television in the background of an HTML document. In that embodiment, HTML tags corresponding to overlying HTML content are provided with an attribute that defines a level of transparency from zero to one-hundred percent.

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