{
  "patent_number": "US 7343566",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Computers Automatically Manage Temporary Pop-up Windows",
  "original_title": "Method and apparatus for displaying a window for a user interface",
  "summary": "A method for computer systems to automatically display, fade out, and close temporary windows based on timers or system events without requiring user interaction.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a system for managing temporary user interface windows that appear and disappear on their own. The core mechanism involves triggering a window display based on a system event rather than a user click, starting a timer, and automatically closing or fading out that window once the timer expires. If the user interacts with the window while it is active, the system resets the timer to keep the window open longer. It also covers the ability for these windows to be translucent, allowing users to see other content underneath, and the ability for the system to automatically move these windows to avoid overlapping with new content.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover windows that require a user to manually click a close button to dismiss them.",
    "Does not cover windows where the closing behavior is strictly tied to a specific user input device event.",
    "Does not cover non-window UI elements like standard status bar icons or system notifications that are not defined as windows."
  ],
  "filed": "2002-07-10",
  "granted": "2008-03-11",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Apple Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/apple-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Bas Ording",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/bas-ording"
    },
    {
      "name": "Imran Chaudhri",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/imran-chaudhri"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 20,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software"
  ],
  "abstract": "Methods and apparatuses to display windows. In more than one embodiments of the invention, a window is closed automatically (e.g., after a timer expires, or when a condition or criterion is met, or a system input is received) without user input. In some examples, the window is translucent so that the portion of another window, when present, is visible under the window. In some examples, the image of the window is faded out before the window is closed and destroyed. In some examples, the window does not close in response to any input from a user input device. In some examples, the window is repositioned (or hidden) automatically when another translucent window is displayed. The degree of translucency, the speed for fading out, the discrete levels of translucency for fading out, the time to expire, and/or other parameters for controlling the display of the window may be set by the user or adjusted by the system (or application software programs) automatically according to system conditions or other criteria.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7343566/os-x-dock",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7343566/os-x-dock/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US7343566",
  "relatedPatents": []
}