http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/activity Methods and apparatus are described for manipulating objects in a user interface. The user interface includes a first interface object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface. In response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, at least one additional interface object is presented in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object. Each additional interface object represents a drop target with which the first interface object may be associated. en-us Smart drag-and-drop While I no longer have access to the codebase or the application which implements the functionality, I created an AJAX emulation Portal in 2002 which implemented much if not all this functionality for the U.S. Navy. It encapsulated a cascading event model, dynamically mapped drop points, an event handler which controlled the appearance of drop-shadows outlining the drop location of a portlet as it was being dragged. The project was upgraded to a full .Net web service implementation in early 2007 keeping much of the event model in tact. The Portal is still in production and contacts at Northrop Grumman can verify this. Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:40:05 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Regarding [[claim 00001]] The "method for manipulating objects" does not seem to incorporate any specific algorithm or logic plus data for eliciting the user's intent. Absent some innovative, substantive "method," it lacks content to distinguish it from prior art. Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:48:24 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop The patent description references "event handler logic" only with various "might be" illustrative options - e.g., might be related to cursor movement speed and direction. As noted by others, inferring "target" from cursor movement is covered by prior art and in any case inferences from cursor movement does not cover many of the user needs outlined in the description. Although entitled "smart drag-and-drop", the application does not offer any specific "smart" alogrithm or logic/data combination to be patented. Absent some ionnovative means to elicit or assess user intent, the patent merely describes a desirable service without offering an invention to satisfy user intent. Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:06:16 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop The patent US5742286 (submited by Priya) requires manual selection of the target icons, to which the user wishes to drop a source icon/file, which is in a way is a limitation. On the other hand, the method described in the 20070234226 patent application from yahoo, selects the target icons automatically, which can be considered as a technincal advancement over US5742286. However, the same advancement is anticpated by the patent and priorart submitted earlier on this forum. Please correct me, if I missed out on something. Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:32:35 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop I like the prior art just submitted by Jayakanth. Looks very good. Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:32:15 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Just a reminder that while it's fine to discuss prior art amongst yourselves in this Discussion page, in order to be sure it will be considered by the USPTO, you must submit each prior art reference on the Prior Art page. Please post all prior art on that page. Thanks. Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:33:57 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Does your observation mean that the USPTO will not read the discussion at all? Or that it just may not catch references to prior art contained in the discussion? Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:34:36 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop I have just uploaded a patent US5745111 by IBM, that teaches similar process of selecting target icons based on the selecting/dragging of an object, the patent was granted way back in Apr 28, 1998. The claim 1 of the patent reads, "1. A method for efficient invocation of data processing system events utilizing a plurality of target icons, wherein each of said target icons is representative of at least one data processing system event, and wherein said data processing system includes at least one container displayed within a graphical user interface border, comprising the steps of: selecting an object within a container surrounded by a graphical user interface border; identifying selected target icons among said plurality of target icons which are representative of data processing system events appropriate for said selected object in response to said selection; dragging said selected object across said graphical user interface border; and automatically displaying at least one selected target icon at a location proximate a point where said selected object crosses said graphical user interface border in response to said dragging such that a data processing system event may be invoked by dropping said selected object upon said at least one selected target icon wherein a distance said selected object is dragged to invoke said data processing system event is minimized. " Therefore, this is a priorart which makes the publication in interest an obvious and non-inventinve. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:33:06 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop To amplify Michael Hanson's comment, the Apple Finder has a functionality called "Spring-loaded folders." According to Wikipedia this was introduced in Apple OS 8 in 1997. It works as follows: select and drag an object (the "first interface object" FIO )around a list of folders. As it gets near one of the folders, the target folder changes outline or color to indicate that it will be the target if the FIO is released. Furthermore, if the FIO is held in position without release, the target folder "springs" open to reveal its contents. This exactly corresponds to several claims, such as [[claim 10]] The FIO can then be moved additionally to select a subfolder in the folder hierarchy. This process can be repeated multiple times, moving down through the folder hierarchy. This is referred to as "branching" and "drilling down" in the [[Description]]. It corresponds to [[claim 11]] , [[claim 14]] and others. The patent claims a generalization of the concept to allow any logic for selecting the target object, not limited to physical proximity. [[claim 7]] In addition, it suggests that the target change location during the dragging. [[claim 4]] We should look for prior art on claims 4 and 7; I'm not aware of any explicit prior art. RB Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:26:14 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Excellent points, Roger. Especially the point that the folder changes to multiple states, indicating buried drop points. Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:34:31 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Yes, this indeed is very close in cocept as well as manifestation of the drag and drop idea proposed in said patent. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:52:51 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Actually, Microsoft also introduced this in 2004 with Visual Studio 2005. If you drag a "Tool Window" over another "Tool Windows", you get drop targets that tell you how the windows will dock when you release the mouse button. This functionality was then replicated by a company called DivElements with their SandDock component. Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:50:29 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Prior art is rather obvious in this case. There is a plethora applications that perform this functionality. Everything from NetNewsWire to Apple Mail. This also includes Apple's Finder, iCal, and Safari. Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:36:19 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop An obvious example of a prior art is a digram drawing application like Microsoft Visio or Microsoft Excel. If you have sevaral "boxes" in the drawing, drawing connector lines the application highlights possible connector points while the user is dragging the free end of a connector. Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:43:17 -0800 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion Smart drag-and-drop Application US20070150834 is similar, but has a publication date after the filing date of this patent, so Peer2Peer won't allow it to be added. It can be considered as 102(e) type prior art [http://www.bitlaw.com/source/mpep/2136.html] US20070150834 teaches extensible icons with multiple drop zones and expanded forms. As the user approaches the icon, it expands to show multiple drop icons with different purposes. This fits claims 1, 2 and 6. Some excerpts: [0019] ... an extensible icon with a multiple drop zone can include two representative states--an expanded state and a contracted state. In the contracted state, the extensible icon can appear as an ordinary icon. In an expanded state, however, the extensible icon can appear larger than an ordinary icon and can include iconic regions each dedicated to a different operation. In this regard, each iconic region can be dedicated to a different operation responsive to a drag-and-drop operation or a selection operation. The expanded state can be activated when a mouse pointer becomes proximate to the extensible icon during a selection or a drag-and-drop operation. [0020] ... FIG. 1A depicts a drag-and-drop operation for an extensible icon with multiple drop zones. As shown in FIG. 1A, a drag-and-drop operation can be performed by selecting a subject icon 110 with a pointer 140 and dragging the subject icon 110 into the proximity of the contracted form of the target icon 120A. The target icon 120A, responsive to detecting the proximity of the subject icon 110 can transform to an expanded form of the target icon 120B which can include multiple drop zones 130. Each of the drop zones 130 can represent a different operation to be performed if the subject icon 110 is dropped on the individual ones of the drop zones 130. In this way, the operation to be performed in response to a drag-and-drop operation can vary according to the context of the operation and the target icon 120A, 120B is not limited to a singular operation to be performed in response to a drag-and-drop operation. CLAIMS: 1. An icon data processing system configured for use in a graphical user interface, the data processing system comprising: a contracted form of an extensible icon; an expanded form of the extensible icon comprising multiple drop zones; and, a drag-and-drop event handler coupled to the contracted form of the extensible icon and the expanded form of the extensible icon. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple drop zones comprises separate iconic elements disposed about the expanded form of the extensible icon, each of the drop zones comprising an association with a different operation. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple drop zones comprises separate subdivided portions of the expanded form of the extensible icon, each of the drop zones comprising an association with a different operation. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the drop zones comprises an association with a different drag-and-drop operation. Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:56:18 -0700 http://peertopatent.org/patent/20070234226/discussion