Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Customer service, Intellectual Property, Interactive voice response, Patent, United States Patent and Trademark Office

8×8 Issued New Contact Center Patent

8×8, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded a new patent related to its contact/call center technologies. On August 14, 2012, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued United States Patent number 8,243,913, entitled “Limiting Contact in a Networked Contact Center Environment.”

The patent relates to, among other things, limiting contact to a networked contact center that is a host to multiple tenants. In an example embodiment, when a communication is received by a networked contact center, a contact rate value may be examined in order to determine whether to allow the communication to reach contact center resources. The contact rate value may represent an allowable quantity of contact within a time interval. For some example embodiments, a determination of whether the network contact center is to accept or reject the communication is made based on the contact rate value.

Since its establishment in 1987, 8×8 has been awarded 82 United States patents covering a variety of voice and video communications, signaling, processing and storage technologies.


Brand, CitizenHawk, Intellectual Property, Legal, MarkMonitor, Tools, Trademark, Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy

CitizenHawk Introduces Cloud-Based Online Brand Protection Platform

Image representing CitizenHawk as depicted in ...

CitizenHawk, a global provider of online brand protection and enforcement services, has introduced a powerful online brand protection tool that enables users to search the entire Web and detect use of trademarked terms and phrases, helping uncover instances of brand abuse ranging from counterfeiting to cybersquatting.

HawkDiscovery is a cloud-based technology platform that lets users monitor content on specific websites and produces alerts notifying them of new activity. HawkDiscovery features a fully integrated workflow and case management system that acts as a kind of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for brand protection. The system lets users analyze and assess particular instances of online infringement, determine appropriate responses, and manage remediation activities from initial detection through final resolution – with every action tracked, recorded and shared with appropriate personnel.

“Companies realize their brands are most precious corporate assets, and they invest considerable time and money promoting them to consumers, investors and others,” said David Duckwitz, CitizenHawk’s president and chief executive. “Unfortunately, well known and popular brands are particularly attractive to typosquatters and others seeking to exploit them on the Internet. Marketing, legal, compliance and IT professionals can now fight back with cost effective tools that not only can uncover such abuse, but effectively respond to it.”

CitizenHawk is also introducing an array of complementary online brand protection tools, each designed to detect a specific form of online brand infringement:

HawkTypos can generate literally thousands of domain-name permutations, confirm whether such domains are registered, and identify common ownership, notwithstanding efforts to obfuscate such ownership via asset shielding or inexpensive privacy services.

HawkImages is a powerful tool for determining how a company’s logo and other proprietary images are being used – or misused – on the Internet. HawkImages’ advanced pixelation technology can help confirm whether business partners are fully compliant with agreed-upon standards. It also can detect unauthorized use, such as false claims of affiliation.

HawkAuctions continuously monitors brands on the world’s top auction, exchange and classified advertising sites – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Users can obtain real-time information to permit fast response; assess impact based on product identification, sales volume and pricing (e.g., unauthorized discounting); and detect sales patterns and identify sellers operating under numerous aliases. HawkAuctions’ automated processes fully support eBay’s VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) and NOCI (Notice of Claimed Infringement) programs.

HawkKeywords enables users to ascertain whether affiliate publishers are complying with the specific terms of marketing agreements. It also provides valuable competitive intelligence by showing where competitors rank in search paid placement, and provides insights on their keyword bidding strategies – including whether they are actually bidding inappropriately on trademark terms.

HawkSocial lets users monitor what people are saying about their brand(s) on the world’s most popular social networks, while measuring the sentiment of such communications. It can provide a fast, easy-to-read “footprint” of a brand’s social media presence, whether by geography or by specific social network.

HawkUDRP gives users a powerful tool for pursuing and winning UDRPs (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy). CitizenHawk, one of the world’s most successful filers of UDRPs, has taken advantage of its expertise to create an automated system that allows users to collect evidence, generate necessary documentation and complete the domain recover process quickly and cost effectively.

While each of these tools has a specific function and capability, they are all seamlessly integrated into the HawkDiscovery platform.

“While we offer extensive levels of customer support, we’ve designed these tools for ease of use, enabling virtually anyone to begin benefitting from them almost immediately,” said Duckwitz.


GPS, Intellectual Property, TCS, TeleCommunication Systems, TSYS, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States patent law

TeleCommunication Systems Receives 35 U.S. Patents Advancing Mapping/Mobile Location, Public Safety, Messaging, Wireless Data

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TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued TCS 35 patents related to mobile location/mapping, public safety, messaging and wireless data.

Patents from this new group include 13 mapping and mobile location patents, covering navigation and route determination, location and points of interest, and techniques for locating a user:

Navigation and Route Determination:

  • “Method and System for Dynamic Estimation and Predictive Route Generation” (U.S. Patent No. 8,095,152)
  • “Stateful, Double-Buffered Dynamic Voice Prompting” (U.S. Patent No. 8,099,238)
  • “System and Method for Providing Routing, Mapping, and Relative Position Information to Users of a Communication Network” (U.S. Patent No. 8,107,608)
  • “Method and System for Enabling an Off-Board Navigation Solution” (U.S. Patent No. 8,090,534)
  • “Method and System for Saving and Retrieving Spatial Related Information” (U.S. Patent No. 8,169,343)

The location and points of interest patents provide important benefits for computing and mapping devices that receive discrete position updates for the purpose of monitoring, planning and analysis of mobile devices’ positional information used for mapping, routing and direction finding. Key aspects also include requesting and receiving audio navigation voice prompts and new methods for storing and retrieving locations and/or metadata, such as stop points and images.

Location and Points of Interest:

  • “Device-Based Trigger for Location Push Event” (U.S. Patent No.8,099,105)
  • “Predictive Ephemeral Points of Interest (PEPOI)” (U.S. Patent No. 8,156,068)
  • “Position Identification Method and System” (U.S. Patent No. 8,090,796)
  • “Wireless Network Location-Based Reference Information” (U.S. Patent No. 8,032,166)

Many navigation solutions utilize a database of points of interest (POI) to assist the user in efficiently and effectively routing to/from locations. POIs can be either fixed, such as restaurants, gas stations, etc., or moveable, such as employees and vehicles. The data associated with most POIs can be outdated, as it is stored when the system is created. Thus, conventional navigation systems, for example, would return a list of all possible gas stations to the user, regardless of operating hours, as well as whether or not the POI moved. These patents provide a means to allow the owners of POIs to securely update and post their information on a real-time basis, while also providing a means for the navigation system to predict the future locations of POIs. The patents also cover the use of location triggers for points of interest based upon previous user patterns, stored preferences, etc.

Techniques for Locating a User:

  • “Personal Location Code” (U.S. Patent No. 8,165,603)
  • “Location Fidelity Adjustment Based on Mobile Subscriber Privacy Profile (“Location and Privacy”)” (U.S. Patent No. 8,126,889)
  • “Location Derived Presence Information” (U.S. Patent No. 8,032,112)
  • “User Plane Location-Based Service Using Message Tunneling to Support Roaming” (U.S. Patent No. 8,126,458)

These inventions allow both a caller and receiver to provide each other with position information related to the caller and/or receiver’s physical location, including address information, GPS coordinates and nearby fixed locations (such as a parking structure, etc.) while the users are stationary or roaming. The user controls who accesses this information.

“TCS has long been a pioneer and leading innovator in messaging, mobile location/mapping, public safety and wireless technology,” said Maurice B. Tose, TCS chairman, CEO and president. “These 35 new patents – including the 13 mapping & location patents – demonstrate our continued commitment to apply innovative engineering solutions to improve mobile device communications.”

“There are significant opportunities to leverage our company’s 200+ patents and other intellectual property around the world, through both licensing and partnership arrangements in core and non-core business areas,” said Bob Held, TCS senior director of intellectual asset management.

With clear strengths in mobile location/mapping, public safety, messaging, and wireless communication fields, TCS has created an impressive intellectual property portfolio. Meaningful partnerships with other industry-leading companies can be developed through direct licensing, cross licensing and joint venture agreements. In 2011, TCS was issued 44 U.S. patents; for the year to date, 29 U.S. patents have been issued, bringing the total number of patents issued worldwide to TCS to date to 218, with 309 patent applications pending worldwide.

The following is a complete list of these new patents: Mobile Location/Mapping (13): 8,095,152; 8,099,238; 8,099,105; 8,166,603; 8,169,343; 8,107,608; 8,032,166; 8,032,112; 8,126,458; 8,126,889; 8,156,068; 8,090,534; 8,090,796. Public Safety (11):8,103,242; 8,068,587; 8,059,789; 8,102,972; 8,102,252; 8,116,722; 8,155,109; 8,149,997; 8,150,363; 8,150,364; 8,175,570. Wireless Data (5): 8,090,856; 8,089,401; 8,095,663; 8,127,025; 8,161,553. Messaging (4): 8,073,477; 8,090,341; 8,175,953; 8,060,429. Semiconductor Drives (1): 8,154,881. Secure Communications (1): 8,090,941.


Emergency Notification, Intellectual Property, Notification system, Patent, SchoolMessenger, Voice, Voice message

SchoolMessenger Awarded Patent for Highly Available Notifications

SchoolMessenger, provider of communication solutions for education, today announced it has been awarded a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,269) for a voice message delivery system and method which uses a highly distributed architecture to deliver extremely large volumes of mass notifications originating from many locations nearly instantaneously. The geo-dispersion technology allows the industry-leading hosted notification solution to achieve near-infinite scalability and an unmatched level of redundancy and performance. 

“When an emergency or threat happens on a school campus, our customers must be absolutely certain their message gets to parents as quickly as possible,” said Howard Wood, SchoolMessenger’s co-founder, chief technology officer and one of four inventors named in the patent. “Our patented technology not only delivers the highest degree of fault tolerance available today, but also supports near linear scalability of end-to-end capacity to allow for continued growth and expansion. Our customers know that platform size and scale matter when it comes to delivering uninterrupted service, and have trusted us for more than a decade to continually innovate and lead the K-12 market in fast, secure and reliable notification services.”

The patented technology in SchoolMessenger’s hosted notification system prepares voice messages and delivers them in mass, to a single recipient or to a particular group or household, more quickly and with a higher degree of redundancy than earlier generation architectures. It also provides the intelligence necessary to effectively allocate those messages across its highly distributed nationwide infrastructure, increasing the overall redundancy and resiliency of the system.

Even in today’s budget-conscious environment, demand for notification systems continues to grow.  Over the last 10 years, SchoolMessenger has delivered billions of messages for thousands of educational facilities in all 50 states.


Education, Emergency Notification, Intellectual Property, Patent, SchoolMessenger, Voice, Voice message

SchoolMessenger Awarded Patent for Highly Available Notifications

SchoolMessenger, provider of communication solutions for education, today announced it has been awarded a patent (U.S. Pat. No. 8,131,269) for a voice message delivery system and method which uses a highly distributed architecture to deliver extremely large volumes of mass notifications originating from many locations nearly instantaneously. The geo-dispersion technology allows the industry-leading hosted notification solution to achieve near-infinite scalability and an unmatched level of redundancy and performance. 

“When an emergency or threat happens on a school campus, our customers must be absolutely certain their message gets to parents as quickly as possible,” said Howard Wood, SchoolMessenger’s co-founder, chief technology officer and one of four inventors named in the patent. “Our patented technology not only delivers the highest degree of fault tolerance available today, but also supports near linear scalability of end-to-end capacity to allow for continued growth and expansion. Our customers know that platform size and scale matter when it comes to delivering uninterrupted service, and have trusted us for more than a decade to continually innovate and lead the K-12 market in fast, secure and reliable notification services.”

The patented technology in SchoolMessenger’s hosted notification system prepares voice messages and delivers them in mass, to a single recipient or to a particular group or household, more quickly and with a higher degree of redundancy than earlier generation architectures. It also provides the intelligence necessary to effectively allocate those messages across its highly distributed nationwide infrastructure, increasing the overall redundancy and resiliency of the system.

Even in today’s budget-conscious environment, demand for notification systems continues to grow.  Over the last 10 years, SchoolMessenger has delivered billions of messages for thousands of educational facilities in all 50 states.


GraphOn, Intellectual Property, Patent, United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States patent law, Web server

GraphOn Awarded Patent for “Multi-Homed Websites”

GraphOn Corporation, a developer of cloud application delivery and Web-enabling solutions, announced today that it has been issued a new patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

U.S. Patent 8,117,298, issued February 14, 2012, is directed towards an easily configurable Web server that has the capability to host (or provide a home for) multiple Web sites at the same time. This patent helps small companies or individuals create the same kind of Web presence enjoyed by larger companies that are able to afford the cost of multiple, dedicated Web server machines.

This patent protects GraphOn’s unique technology for “configuring” a Web server that has the capability to host multiple Web sites at the same time – called “multi-homing”. This multi-homing capability of the Web server provides the appearance to users of multiple distinct and independent servers at a lower cost. Functionally, a multi-homed Web server consists of, in effect, multiple virtual Web servers running on the same computer. The patent claims a design in which features can be readily added to one or more of the virtual servers. For example, a new software module having additional features or different capabilities might be substituted for an existing module on one of the virtual servers. The new features or capabilities may be added without affecting any other of the virtual servers and without the need to rebuild the Web server.

“We continue to recognize the vital importance of intellectual property in today’s marketplace,” stated Eldad Eilam, GraphOn’s interim chief executive officer. “We are pleased to add this new patent to our intellectual property portfolio, which helps to protect fundamental technology relating to both the Internet and GraphOn’s own products. Our portfolio now includes twenty-five patents, and more than 30 patent applications are pending. Our objectives include continuing to add significantly to our patent portfolio, maximizing the value of that portfolio, contributing technology to our current GO-Global product line, and providing opportunities for development of new products.”