The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 10, 1998
Filed:
May. 01, 1996
Steven J Bailey, Redmond, WA (US);
Eric Berman, Redmond, WA (US);
Coyle Brett Marl, Seattle, WA (US);
Luis Talavera, Seattle, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A computer-implemented messaging application (e.g., e-mail, browser, paging) lists messages addressed to a user in a graphical message window of a graphical user interface. The message window lists both read and unread messages. The read messages are displayed visually differently than the unread messages to distinguish between the two types. A highlight bar identifies a particular message in the list. The message window has a preview pane in which the highlighted message can be previewed by a user without opening that message into a separate window. Heuristics are employed to determine whether the user is likely to be reading the message while it is displayed in the preview pane. For instance, scrolling the message in the preview pane is evidence that the user is likely to be reading the message. If any heuristic condition is met, the message is marked as read.