How Web Browsers Create Fluid Animations Without Reloading Pages
A method for web browsers to render smooth, real-time animations by using a downloaded engine that calculates transitions on the fly instead of refreshing the entire page.
Original patent title: “USRE48596E1 - Interface engine providing a continuous user interface”
A method for web browsers to render smooth, real-time animations by using a downloaded engine that calculates transitions on the fly instead of refreshing the entire page. Granted to Intel Corp in 2021 with 55 claims.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes an interface engine that runs inside a web browser to manage how elements on a screen look and move. Instead of the browser constantly fetching new, static pages from a server to show changes, the engine downloads executable code that handles the rendering locally. When a user interacts with the interface, the engine uses specific components—layouts, constraints, and animators—to calculate the transition between visual states. For example, if a user clicks to expand a menu, the engine calculates the intermediate frames of that expansion in real-time, creating a fluid animation that was not pre-calculated or stored as a static file on the server.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover standard HTML/CSS animations that are pre-defined by the developer before the user interacts with the page.
- Does not cover server-side rendering where the server calculates the visual transition and sends the resulting frames to the client.
- Does not cover interfaces that rely on full page refreshes to update content states.
- Does not cover hardware-level graphics acceleration that operates independently of the browser's interface engine.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The innovation lies in the 'non-predetermined' nature of the transition; the engine calculates the animation frames dynamically based on the current state of the interface, rather than playing back a pre-recorded animation file.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Modern web-based dashboards like Google Analytics
Interactive data visualization tools
Single-page web applications (SPAs)
Browser-based UI frameworks
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology was a precursor to the modern 'Single Page Application' (SPA) architecture. By shifting the burden of rendering from the server to the client browser, it enabled the highly responsive, app-like experiences we now expect from web-based tools. It effectively bridged the gap between static document viewing and interactive software applications within a browser window.
Filed
January 29, 2020
Granted
June 15, 2021
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Intel, as the assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →, has historically focused on the hardware-software interface. However, the concepts described here are now foundational to major web frameworks maintained by companies like Google (Angular), Meta (React), and the broader open-source community that builds the tools used to create modern web interfaces.
Market impact
This approach helped move the web away from the 'click-wait-reload' paradigm of the early 2000s. It enabled the rise of complex, interactive web applications that feel like desktop software, which is now the industry standard for almost all professional and consumer web services.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes an interface engine that runs inside a web browser to manage how elements on a screen look and move. Instead of the browser constantly fetching new, static pages from a server to show changes, the engine downloads executable code that handles the rendering locally. When a user interacts with the interface, the engine uses specific components—layouts, constraints, and animators—to calculate the transition between visual states. For example, if a user clicks to expand a menu, the engine calculates the intermediate frames of that expansion in real-time, creating a fluid animation that was not pre-calculated or stored as a static file on the server.
The clever bit
The innovation lies in the 'non-predetermined' nature of the transition; the engine calculates the animation frames dynamically based on the current state of the interface, rather than playing back a pre-recorded animation file.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover standard HTML/CSS animations that are pre-defined by the developer before the user interacts with the page.
- Does not cover server-side rendering where the server calculates the visual transition and sends the resulting frames to the client.
- Does not cover interfaces that rely on full page refreshes to update content states.
- Does not cover hardware-level graphics acceleration that operates independently of the browser's interface engine.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Strong
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
20/20
Very broad protection
Recency
20/20
Granted within 5 years
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$58K – $184K
Midpoint $115K · 13.6 yr remaining · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
55 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Carlson, M. D., Wolff, A. G., Simister, J. B., Temkin, D. T., & Kimm, C. (2021). How Web Browsers Create Fluid Animations Without Reloading Pages (U.S. Patent No. RE48,596). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE48596/nest-protect-smoke-co-detector
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Web Browsers Create Fluid Animations Without Reloading Pages cover?
A method for web browsers to render smooth, real-time animations by using a downloaded engine that calculates transitions on the fly instead of refreshing the entire page.
Who owns patent US RE48596?
Intel Corp owns this patent, granted in 2021.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on June 15, 2041, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology was a precursor to the modern 'Single Page Application' (SPA) architecture. By shifting the burden of rendering from the server to the client browser, it enabled the highly responsive, app-like experiences we now expect from web-based tools. It effectively bridged the gap between static document viewing and interactive software applications within a browser window.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover standard HTML/CSS animations that are pre-defined by the developer before the user interacts with the page.
Same assignee
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