IP Library Granted Patent US 9,336,177
Granted Patent B2
US 9,336,177 · App. 12/288,014 · Granted May 10, 2016

Genome sharing

Inventors: Brian Lee Hawthorne (San Francisco, CA); Oleksiy Khomenko (Stanford, CA); Jeffrey Mellen (San Francisco, CA); Marcela Miyazawa (Mountain View, CA); Michael Polcari (San Francisco, CA); Jack Tihon (San Francisco, CA); Alexander Wong (Palo Alto, CA); Anne Wojcicki (Palo Alto, CA); Linda Avey (Los Gatos, CA)
Assignee: 23andMe, Inc.
G06F15/16G06F17/3089
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,336,177
App. No.
12/288,014
Granted
May 10, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

Sharing data is disclosed. In some cases, sharing data includes receiving a request to share data from a first account to a second account, receiving an indication of a plurality of first account profiles associated with the first account to share with the second account, and establishing sharing from the plurality of first account profiles to the second account, wherein sharing comprises the second account having read access to a subset of nonpublic data associated with the plurality of first account profiles.

Claims (56)

1. A method for sharing data, comprising:

receiving, from a first account, a request to share data with a second account in a web application, wherein:

the first account owns a plurality of first account profiles for a first set of individuals and each first account profile is associated with a different individual of the first set;

the second account owns a plurality of second account profiles for a second set of individuals and each second account profile is associated with a different individual of the second set; and

the request comprises: an indication of a set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles associated with the first account to share with the second account, and a corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles;

the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles is specified by a first user of the first account; and

a sharing level in the corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles indicates a subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from an account profile among the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles to the second account;

notifying the second account of the request from the first account;

receiving, from the second account, an acceptance of the request to share data, wherein:

the acceptance includes: an indication of a set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles associated with the second account to share with the first account, and a corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles;

the set of selected one or more of the plurality of the second account profiles is specified by a second user of the second account; and

a sharing level in the corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles indicates a subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from an account profile among the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles to the first account;

establishing sharing from the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles to the second account and sharing from the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles to the first account; and

storing sharing information, including, for a shared profile, information pertaining to an account to which the shared profile is shared and a corresponding sharing level; wherein the first account and the second account do not own the same account profiles.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the data includes genetic data.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the data includes phenotype data.

4. A system for sharing data, comprising:

one or more databases configured to store:

a first account associated with a plurality of first account profiles in a web application, wherein each first account profile includes sensitive nonpublic data that includes genetic data; and

a second account in the web application, wherein: (1) the first account owns a plurality of first account profiles for a first set of individuals and each first account profile is associated with a different individual of the first set; and (2) the second account owns a plurality of second account profiles for a second set of individuals and each second account profile is associated with a different individual of the second set; and one or more processors configured to:

receive, from the first account, a request to share data with a second account in the web application; wherein:

the request comprises: an indication of a set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles associated with the first account to share with the second account, and a corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles;

the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles is specified by a first user of the first account; and

a sharing level in the set of one or more sharing levels indicates a subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from an account profile among the plurality of first account profiles to the second account;

notify the second account of the request from the first account;

receive, from the second account, an acceptance of the request to share data, wherein:

the acceptance includes: an indication of a set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles associated with the second account to share with the first account, and a corresponding set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles;

the set of selected one or more of the plurality of the second account profiles is specified by a second user of the second account; and

a sharing level associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles indicates a subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from an account profile among the plurality of second account profiles to the first account;

establish sharing from the set of selected one or more of first account profiles to the second account and sharing from the set of selected one or more of second account profiles to the first account; and

wherein:

the one or more databases are further configured to store sharing information, including, for a shared profile, information pertaining to an account to which the shared profile is shared and a corresponding sharing level;

the subset of the sensitive nonpublic data includes genetic data; and

the first account and the second account do not own the same profiles.

5. A method for sharing data, comprising:

receiving, from a first account, a request to share data with a second account in a web application wherein the request includes an indication of a first account profile associated with a first account to share with a second account, wherein the first account owns a plurality of first account profiles for a first set of individuals and the first account profile is associated with an individual of the first set;

notifying the second account of the request from the first account;

receiving, from the second account, an acceptance of the request to share data;

establishing sharing from the first account profile to the second account, including:

obtaining a sharing level that indicates a subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from the first account profile to the second account, wherein the sharing level is selected by a user of the first account among a plurality of sharing levels that corresponds to a plurality of different subsets of sensitive nonpublic data associated with the first account profile; and

based at least in part on the sharing level, giving the second account read access to the corresponding subset of sensitive nonpublic data associated with the first account profile; wherein:

the first account does not have read access to nonpublic data associated with the second account;

the sensitive nonpublic data includes genetic data; and

the first account and the second account do not own the same profiles.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein there are no profiles associated with the second account.

7. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein each profile is associated with a different individual.

8. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the data includes genetic data.

9. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the data includes phenotype data.

10. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the indication includes an indication of a plurality of first account profiles associated with the first account to share with the second account.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles or the set of one or more sharing levels associated with the selected one or more of the plurality of second account profiles includes a basic sharing level associated with a basic set of data and an extended sharing level associated with a superset of the basic set of data.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein each profile is associated with a different individual.

13. The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the data includes genetic data.

14. The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the data includes phenotype data.

15. The system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the first account does not necessarily have read access to nonpublic data associated with the second account.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles is selected among a plurality of sharing levels each indicating a different subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from the account profile among the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles to the second account.

17. The system of claim 4 , wherein the set of one or more sharing levels associated with the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles is selected among a plurality of sharing levels each indicating a different subset of sensitive nonpublic data to be shared from the account profile among the set of selected one or more of the plurality of first account profiles to the second account.

Assignments (4)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE APP. NO. 63806415 TO 63806145 AND APPL NO. 17721779 TO 17731779 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 73168 FRAME 531. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE CHANGE OF NAME. Recorded Jan 6, 2026
From: 23ANDME PGS LLC
To: 23ANDME GENOMICS LLC
Reel/Frame 074434/0334 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 22, 2025
From: 23ANDME PGS LLC
To: 23ANDME GENOMICS LLC
Reel/Frame 073168/0531 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 26, 2025
From: 23ANDME, INC.
To: 23ANDME PGS LLC
Reel/Frame 072562/0795 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 17, 2008
From: HAWTHORNE, BRIAN LEE; KHOMENKO, OLEKSIY; MELLEN, JEFFREY; MIYAZAWA, MARCELA; POLCARI, MICHAEL; TIHON, JACK; WONG, ALEXANDER; WOJCICKI, ANNE; AVEY, LINDA
To: 23ANDME, INC.
Reel/Frame 022000/0378 →
Continuity (4)
Provisional Application 61070321 · Mar 19, 2008
Provisional Application 60999148 · Oct 15, 2007
Provisional Application 60999064 · Oct 15, 2007
Related Publication 20090112871A1 · Apr 30, 2009