Peer to Patent, Community Patent Review

1

A computer-implemented method for manipulating objects in a user interface, comprising:

providing the user interface including a first interface object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface; and

in response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, presenting at least one additional interface object in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object, each additional interface object representing a drop target with which the first interface object may be associated.

Relevance

[SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION] According to the present invention, a method for facilitating access to remote content on a display screen is presented. According to aspects of the present invention, the invention monitors for and detects a user's activation gesture. The activation gesture includes an empty or nonempty selection, the nonempty selection having a source icon. The activation gesture also includes an origin and a direction. Upon detecting the activation gesture, a target region is determined according to the activation gesture. Target icons are selected from those remote icons within the target region. The selected target icons are temporarily displayed in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected. [Column 8, Lines 43-47]: According to the present invention, in order to cause the system to display the remote content in the proximity of the working area, the user must perform an activation gesture. While the activation gesture may comprise numerous combinations of movements and selections, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the activation gesture is dragging an icon, such as the source icon 402, in a direction for a predetermined distance. [Claim 1 of reference]: A method for facilitating user access to remote icons on a display screen, the method comprising: detecting an activation gesture, the activation gesture having an origin, a direction, a location, and a selection; selecting base icons on the display screen according to the activation gesture; generating a target cluster of target icons, wherein each target icon corresponds to a selected base icon remotely displayed on the display screen; displaying the target cluster at a predetermined proximity distance from the activation gesture's location; and displaying target icons in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected; and upon detecting an action dismissing the target cluster, removing the target cluster from the display screen.

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2

The method of Claim 1 wherein the first interface object represents any of a data file, a shortcut, an executable, a contact, and a message.

Relevance

[Col 8 Lines 9-17]: As shown in FIG. 4, the exemplary display screen 400 includes multiple icons representing various types of content and devices, including: data files/documents, such as icon 402 (also frequently referred to as the "source icon" in the discussion that follows); executable programs, such as icon 404 and icon 406; file folders, such as icon 408 and icon 410; printers, such as icon 412; networks; fax devices or services; and recyclers, such as icon 414.

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3

The method of Claim 1 wherein each additional interface object corresponds to a current interface object present in the user interface prior to the selection and movement of the first interface object, each current interface object representing the drop target to which the corresponding additional interface object corresponds.

Relevance

[Col 3, Lines 10-15]: Upon detecting the activation gesture, a target region is determined according to the activation gesture. Target icons are selected from those remote icons within the target region. The selected target icons are temporarily displayed in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected. Claim 1: A method for facilitating user access to remote icons on a display screen, the method comprising: ... generating a target cluster of target icons, wherein each target icon corresponds to a selected base icon remotely displayed on the display screen; displaying the target cluster at a predetermined proximity distance from the activation gesture's location; and displaying target icons in proximity to the activation gesture's location.

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4

The method of Claim 3 wherein the at least one additional interface object is presented closer to the first interface object than the corresponding current interface object.

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[Col 3, Lines 11-15]:Target icons are selected from those remote icons within the target region. The selected target icons are temporarily displayed in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected.

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7

The method of Claim 1 further comprising, prior to presenting the at least one additional interface object, identifying the at least one additional interface object with reference to at least one of a parameter associated with the first interface object, at least one currently instantiated object in the user interface, previous user interaction with the drop target, a user preference, a speed of movement of the first interface object in the user interface, a direction of movement of the first interface object in the user interface, a position of the first interface object in the user interface, and a position of a preexisting drop target in the user interface.

Relevance

[Col 3 Lines 25-31]: An activation gesture includes an origin, a location, a selection, and a direction. Upon detecting an activation gesture, the computing device selects target icons from the plurality of target icons displayed on the display device and temporarily displays the selected target icons in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected. [Col 9 Lines 31-44]: FIG. 6 is a pictorial diagram of the exemplary display screen 400 of FIG. 4 illustrating selecting candidate target icons from a target region in accordance with the present invention. After detecting an activation gesture, such as dragging the source icon 402 from its previous location 502 for a predetermined distance, the present invention makes a determination as to which icons are to be temporarily displayed in proximity to the working area. This determination is based on the direction of the activation gesture. As shown in FIG. 6, the activation gesture's direction is determined based on the original location 504, the origin, and the current location of the source icon 402 and extends from the origin to the edge of the display screen 400. Vector 602 indicates the direction for the activation gesture described.

Claim Chart

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12

The method of Claim 1 wherein the user interface is provided on a display associated with any of a personal computer, a media computing platform, a wireless device, a telecommunications device, and a handheld computing device.

Relevance

[Col 4 Line 63 - Col 5 Line 6]: While the computing system will be described in the general context of a personal computer usable in a distributed computing environment, where complementary tasks are performed by remote computing devices linked together through a communications network, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with many other computer system configurations, including multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may be practiced in a local area network or, alternatively, on a single computer using logical, rather than physically remote, devices. [Col 6 Line 43-48]: It should be understood that the computing device 202 includes many types of physical devices including, but not limited to: personal computers; mini- and mainframe computers; PDAs; tablet computers; interactive display boards; and other devices capable of interacting with a user and displaying content on a display device.

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13

The method of Claim 1 wherein the user interface is associated with any of a web application, an operating system, a client application, and a messaging application.

Relevance

[Col 5 Lines 12-19]: While aspects of the invention may be described in terms of application programs that run on an operating system in conjunction with a personal computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that those aspects also may be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.

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15

The method of Claim 14 wherein the configuration of the additional interface objects is determined with reference to at least one of a number of the additional interface objects, a speed of movement of the first interface object in the user interface, a direction of movement of the first interface object in the user interface, and a position of the first interface object in the user interface.

Relevance

[Col 3 Lines 25-31]: An activation gesture includes an origin, a location, a selection, and a direction. Upon detecting an activation gesture, the computing device selects target icons from the plurality of target icons displayed on the display device and temporarily displays the selected target icons in proximity to the activation gesture's location until an action dismissing the target icons is detected.

Claim Chart

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16

A device comprising a processor, memory, and a display, the processor and memory being configured to:

provide a user interface on the display including a first interface object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface; and

present at least one additional interface object in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object in response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, each additional interface object representing a drop target with which the first interface object may be associated.

Relevance

In conjunction with the text quoted for method claims, the following excerpt applies to the device claim 16 and its dependents. [Col 7 Lines 1-9]: FIG. 3A is a block diagram of an alternative exemplary computer system 300 suitable for operating the present invention. As shown in the exemplary computer system 300, the system includes a computing device 302. The computing device 302 includes a processor 304 and a memory 306. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computing device 302 will include many additional devices and components not illustrated in the computing system 300 shown in FIG. 3 for illustration purposes.

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17

The device of Claim 16 wherein the device comprises one of a personal computer, a media computing platform, a wireless device, a telecommunications device, and a handheld computing device.

Relevance

Same as the text quoted for claim 12 above.

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18

The device of Claim 16 wherein the user interface is associated with any of a web application, an operating system, a client application, and a messaging application.

Relevance

Same as the text quoted for claim 13 above.

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19

A computing platform comprising at least one processor and memory configured to provide a user interface on a remote device in communication with the computing platform, the user interface including a first interface object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface, the user interface being operable to present at least one additional interface object in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object in response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, each additional interface object representing a drop target with which the first interface object may be associated.

Relevance

The text quoted above for method claim 1 and the excerpt below (with reference to remote devices) applies to claim 19. [Col 4 Line 60 - Col 5 Line 6]: FIG. 1 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a computing system suitable for implementing various features of the invention. While the computing system will be described in the general context of a personal computer usable in a distributed computing environment, where complementary tasks are performed by remote computing devices linked together through a communications network, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with many other computer system configurations, including multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may be practiced in a local area network or, alternatively, on a single computer using logical, rather than physically remote, devices.

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20

A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable medium having computer program instructions stored therein which are operable to cause a computing device to:

provide a user interface including a first interface object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface; and

present at least one additional interface object in the user interface in proximity of the first interface object in response to selection and movement of the first interface object in the user interface, each additional interface object representing a drop target with which the first interface object may be associated.

Relevance

Claim 52 and its dependents of the reference apply to the computer program product implementation described in claim 20.

Claim Chart

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Type of Prior Art	Issued Patents - US

Country	United States of America

Patent/Application #	US 7,231,609

Kind Code	United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A

Patentee Name	Microsoft Corporation

Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines	Summary of the invention

URL

Filing Date	August 5, 2005

Additional Information

Summary / Description	A method of displaying target icons in close proximity of a source icon/file being dragged is presented.

Notes	Please note that Patrick Baudisch of Microsoft Corporation is the inventor of this patent. The prior art posted by Ryan Paul also has Patrick Baudisch as one of the authors.