Amazon wins patent for ordering HTML forms; Minimizing and Maximizing

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NEWS.COM

Amazon wins patent for ordering forms
# 6,615,226 http://tinyurl.com/m7v8
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-5070569.html

In its latest patent, the online retailing giant outlined a method for
expanding portions of the ordering form, then collapsing that portion of the
form and removing the data fields. The content for that particular section
of the form would then be displayed again.
The patent, filed in September 1997 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, also described a method for editing content on the order form and
redisplaying the information in the section after the changes have been
made, according to a copy of the patent.



Does this minimize and maximize is threatened? As say if two windows are
pointing to the same application.....

Or what about opening up the Printing Window using the old Windows 3.1?

What about that networking company of long ago with the tree view
explorer...wasn't that expanding and collapsing?
 
You are not reading the patent correctly.

You only need to look at Claim #1...It mentions nothing about HTML. Claim
#6 uses Claim #1, but Claim #1 doesn't need Claim #6 whatsoever.....


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
1. A method for displaying a form at a client system, the method comprising:

providing a document describing the form, the form having a plurality of
sections, each section having descriptive information and a plurality of
data entry fields;

displaying the descriptive information for each section;

in response to a user selecting descriptive information of a section,
expanding that section by displaying the data entry fields associated with
that section; and

when the user indicates to collapse the expanded section, collapsing that
section by removing the displayed data entry field and redisplaying the
descriptive information for that section.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---



So CLAIM #1, can mean Windows OR any FORM practically.....heck what's a
FORM..any window with a Textbox......
 
Things like a treeview probably don't apply. What the patents is directed at
is forms, not things like printing windows. Minimize and maximize is not
threatened. What they have patented is the concept that if you have a form
with multiple sections and the selection of a form field in one section will
cause the expansion of another section (such as checking a box for "ship to
a different address" will cause a section to open with the fields needed for
the different shipping address). The claims also specifically state that
this must be an HTML document so that leaves out a lot of other
applications. You have to really sift through the individual claims in it to
get a good enough feel of how restrictive it is, and with almost 40 claims I
fell asleep on 10. The key items though are a plurality (multiple) section
form rendered in HTML where a single section at a time can be activated by
the selection of a data field in one of the other sections.

Hope this helps,
Mark Fitzpatrick
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage
 
Reading more.....LOOK at claim #10.....

________________________________________
10. A method in a computer system for editing fields comprising:

displaying the content of the fields;

receiving a selection of a field whose content is displayed;

in response to receiving the selection, displaying an editing window in
which the content of the selected field is edited; and

after the content of the field is edited, removing the displayed editing
window and displaying the selected field with the edited content.
_________________________________________

That sounds just like editing a datagrid.......

Oh, well, I guess Microsoft is going to stop using the Datagrid/DataSet for
editing.


# 6,615,226 http://tinyurl.com/m7v8
 
-----Original Message-----
NEWS.COM

Amazon wins patent for ordering forms
# 6,615,226 http://tinyurl.com/m7v8
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-5070569.html

In its latest patent, the online retailing giant outlined a method for
expanding portions of the ordering form, then collapsing that portion of the
form and removing the data fields. The content for that particular section
of the form would then be displayed again.
The patent, filed in September 1997 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, also described a method for editing content on the order form and
redisplaying the information in the section after the changes have been
made, according to a copy of the patent.



Does this minimize and maximize is threatened? As say if two windows are
pointing to the same application.....

Or what about opening up the Printing Window using the old Windows 3.1?

What about that networking company of long ago with the tree view
explorer...wasn't that expanding and collapsing?


.
Click to expand...
 
Hello,

[OT stuff]

Please do not include the microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb group in your
"to:" list. Thanks! Show us that you are not a troll.

EOT
 
You are right, Herfried doesn't own the newsgroups, nor does he pretend to .
But in reference to your other post...on
microsoft.dotnet.public.general....<added below> Maybe he just feels bad
b/c you didn't take your lithium....and just basically too stupid, too lame,
and too much of a pain in the ass to want you in this newsgroup. While I
can't speak for Herfried, I can verify, that's how I feel. Don't you have
an Access Database to go program for Mom and Pop?

From nospam on the NG referenced above.


<<I'm sorry about my ridiculous posts. I know I've angered
a bunch of you. Here's the deal. I'm a washed up Cobol
programmer who was never good at much of anything. I
often post on newsgroups and pretend to be a big time
programmer that venture capitalists clamor for while
droning on and on about Mom and Pop shops. Yes, Ebay
and Granny's restuarant are both on my clientele list. I
get erotically excited when I see a MVP reply to my post
and I will immediately reply "Good A MVP" because that's
the only way I can get anyone to post. Also, I don't
believe in posting code, only anti-MS rhetoric. I also
occassionally run on and on about my reason for only
posting my name as 'nospam' .


Anyway, Oliver Stone has agreed to make a new movie out
of my life provided I promise to take my Lithium as
prescribed. It'll be really kewl.

And to all of you that pretend I'm not a real important
dude...f-off. Also, If I catch you posting pretending to
be me, just to mock how paranoid I am...you will pay for
it. When I get back on my Lithium, I'll figure out who
you are and me, Mom and Pop will come and egg your house.
nospam said:
You don't own this newsgroup....so bug off


Herfried K. Wagner said:
Hello,

[OT stuff]

Please do not include the microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb group in your
"to:" list. Thanks! Show us that you are not a troll.

EOT
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
[This followup was posted to microsoft.public.dotnet.framework and a
copy was sent to the cited author.]

NEWS.COM

Amazon wins patent for ordering forms
# 6,615,226 http://tinyurl.com/m7v8
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-5070569.html

In its latest patent, the online retailing giant outlined a method for
expanding portions of the ordering form, then collapsing that portion of the
form and removing the data fields. The content for that particular section
of the form would then be displayed again.
The patent, filed in September 1997 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, also described a method for editing content on the order form and
redisplaying the information in the section after the changes have been
made, according to a copy of the patent.



Does this minimize and maximize is threatened? As say if two windows are
pointing to the same application.....

Or what about opening up the Printing Window using the old Windows 3.1?

What about that networking company of long ago with the tree view
explorer...wasn't that expanding and collapsing?
Click to expand...
I have a tutorial on Java that I wrote before 1997 which used HTML and
provided for expansion to give more details. Yet I did not patent this.
Why should they be allowed to patent such thing?
 
I have a tutorial on Java that I wrote before 1997 which used HTML and
provided for expansion to give more details. Yet I did not patent this.
Why should they be allowed to patent such thing?
Click to expand...

If someone can show that they did it first ("prior art"), then the patent
becomes invalid. You can submit prior art to the patent office and ask them
to revoke a patent (or pending patent). Of course, you have to be able to
prove that you did it before the patent was *submitted* (as opposed to
granted).
 
Jimmy said:
If someone can show that they did it first ("prior art"), then the patent
becomes invalid. You can submit prior art to the patent office and ask them
to revoke a patent (or pending patent). Of course, you have to be able to
prove that you did it before the patent was *submitted* (as opposed to
granted).
Click to expand...

When did they apply for the patent? We have an Intranet back end order
pickup system that has had this implemented for years. (I always thought a
patent on such a thing is ridiculous, because show/hide is a basic, basic
feature of dhtml - how can you patent that?)

R.
 
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