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:
Sep. 28, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 13, 1997
Robert G Johnston, Jr, Cupertino, CA (US);
Robert R Ulrich, Mountain View, CA (US);
Timothy Craycroft, Mountain View, CA (US);
Jeffrey R Cobb, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods for providing a user with increased flexibility and control over the appearance and behavior of objects on a user interface are disclosed. Sets of objects can be grouped into themes to provide a user with a distinct overall impression of the interface. These themes can be switched dynamically by switching pointers to drawing procedures or switching data being supplied to these procedures. To buffer applications from the switchable nature of graphical user interfaces, colors and patterns used to implement the interface objects are abstracted from the interface by, for example, pattern look-up tables.