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:
Oct. 14, 2003
Filed:
May. 31, 2000
Felix G. T. I. Andrew, Seattle, WA (US);
Kevin B. Gjerstad, Seattle, WA (US);
Yutaka Suzue, Issaquah, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Elements of a graphical user interface that are switchably translucent and opaque are disclosed. In one embodiment, such an element is initially set to a default, first mode in which the element is translucent when the pointer is not positioned over the element. When the pointer has been moved such that it is positioned over the element, the element becomes opaque. Various heuristics are also disclosed that are applicable to the opaque-to-translucent and the translucent-to-opaque transformations. For example, when the pointer is moved over the element, there may be a delay prior to the element becoming opaque. As another example, when the pointer remains over the element for a predetermined amount of time, the element may revert back to translucency from opacity.