(12) unlted states patent (10) patent n0.: us 8,438,487 b1

US008438487B1

(12) Unlted States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 8,438,487 B1 Lin-Hendel (45) Date of Patent: May 7, 2013

(54) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ONE-CLICK 5,805,167 A * 9/1998 van Cruyningen ......... .. 715/808 NAVIGATION AND BROWSING 01: 5,815,155 A * 9/1998 Wolfston, Jr. .... .. 715/855

5,835,094 A * 11/1998 Ermelet al. 715/848 ELECTRONIC MEDIAAND THEIR 5,835,905 A * ll/l998 Pirolliet al. ..... .. 707/3

CATEGORY STRUCTURE As WELL As 5,842,218 A * 11/1998 Robinson ..... .. 707/102

TRACKING THE NAVIGATION AND 5,877,766 A * 3/1999 Bates et a1. . 715/854 BROWSING THEREOF 5,878,421 A * 3/1999 Ferrel et al. 707/100

5,878,423 A * 3/l999 Anderson et al. .. 707/100 , - - _ 5,895,470 A * 4/1999 Pirolli et al. ..... .. 707/102

(76) Inventor. Catherine Lln Hendel, Los Gatos, CA 5,918,236 A * @1999 Wical """""" “ 715600

(Us) 5,924,090 A * 7/1999 Krellenstein ................... .. 707/5

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this (Continued) patent is extended or adjusted under 35 OTHER PUBLICATIONS U.S.C. 154(b) by 882 days.

Flanagan David et al. “ JavaScript: the de?nitive Guide, 3rd Edition”

(21) App1.N0.: 09/577,190 Jun. 1998*

(22) Filed: May 23, 2000 (Continued)

Related US. Application Data Primary Examiner * Ba Huynh 74 Allorn , A enl, or Firm *1’. G. Scott Bom; Foster

(60) Provisional application No. 60/136,149, ?led on May gelgper PLL? g 24, 1999.

(51) Int Cl (57) ABSTRACT G06F 3/00 (200601) Method and apparatus facilitate browsing of web pages or

(52) us CL other electronic content stored over a network of remote USPC 715/739_ 715/738_ 715/841_ 715/843 and/or local storage devices. Browsing is performed without

(58) Field of Classi?cation Search 715 /85 4 repeated intermediary clicking and page downloads. Pre 841 843’ browsing of the category structure is provided via rolling the

See application ?le for Complete Search hist’ory ’ cursor from category to category, and level to level, to view ' each category’s sub-categories, without clicking on a cat

(56) References Cited egory or downloading web-page(s) linked to the category.

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

5,041,967 A * 8/1991 Ephrath et al. .... .. 715/825 5,491,795 A * 2/1996 Beaudet et al. .. 715/804 5,546,529 A * 8/1996 Bowers et a1. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 715/848

5,555,354 A * 9/1996 Strasnick et al. 345/427 5,740,549 A * 4/1998 Reillyetal. 705/14 5,742,768 A * 4/1998 Gennaro et al. . 709/203 5,760,771 A * 6/1998 Blonder et al. .. .... .. 715/854

5,768,578 A * 6/1998 Kirk et a1. 707/100 5,768,581 A * 6/1998 Cochran . . . . . . . . . . .. 707/5

5,786,820 A * 7/1998 Robertson ................... .. 715/853

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When the user selects the content linked to a particular cat egory, the user invokes the link-token corresponding to the content to retrieve the content. A dynamic tracking-string with an embedded one-click nested/cascading category browsing apparatus facilitates returning and/or changing path during browsing and examination of electronic media, and allows the user to review more than one path along the cat egory structure while the browser is at a page linked to any category at any level.

26 Claims, 27 Drawing Sheets

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US 8,438,487 B1 Page2

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 6,664,980 B2* 12/2003 Bryan et a1. ................ .. 715/738

5930 788 A * M999 Wical 7076 6,665,838 Bl* 12/2003 Brownetal. .715/501.1 , 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ *

5,940,075 A * 8/1999 Mutschleretal 715/760 233382 5%,, $88: ?acioélgail' ' 71387763 5940 821 A * 8/1999 Wical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 707/3 ’ ’ - ' """"""""""" "

6,023,701 A * 2/2000 Mam t 1 707% 6,754,660 Bl* 6/2004 MacPha11 .................... .. 707/100 6,031,537 A * 20000 H 1 e ‘1 7l5/854 6,760,720 Bl* 7/2004 DeBellis . 707/3 6,038,560 A * 3/2000 7076 6,772,139 Bl* 8/2004 Smith, 111 . 707/3 6,091,415 A * 7/2000 Chan 'ég'éi ' ' ' ' "515/809 6,799,174 B2* 9/2004 Chlpmanetal. 707/3

’ ’ g . 6,801,916 B2* 10/2004 R0bergeeta1.. 707/101 6,104,400 A * 8/2000 Halachm1 et al. 715/854 6816175 B1,, “0004 O alkaetal 715/854 6112201 A * 8/2000 Wical . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 707/5 ’ ’ p ' "

6,121,970 A * 90000 G dal. 7l5/760 6,853,391 B2* 2/2005 Batesetal. .. 715/854 6128009 A * 10/2000 02121171121211" 725/46 6’920’445 132* W005 E36 """""" " 70m

6,154,213 A * 11/2000 Rennison et a1. .. . 715/854 g’ggi’gg? 5%,, $882 ?dams et a1‘ """""""" " 6,226,655 131* 5/2001 Borman et a1. .......... .. 715/501.1 6’938’218 B1,, 8/2005 R22; """""""""""""" " 715/850

6,236,400 131* 5/2001 Guerrero ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ 715/841 6,961,731 132* 110005 Holbroéi; 707/l02

6243 699 Bl* 6/2001 Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 707/2 ’ ’ ' 6,252,597 131* 60001 L k 715/84l 7,032,183 B2* 4/2006 Durham ..... .. 715/823

6,253,188 131* 60001 vatéllfgtéi' ' 705“ 7,039,684 B2* 5/2006 Blockton etal. .. 709/213 6256028 131* wool S f d t~1' "'7l5/84l 7,039,860 Bl* 5/2006 Gautestad 715/205 6,271,840 131* wool P911051 ~ ~ 715613 7,062,453 Bl* 6/2006 Clarke .. .. 705/26 612755991131}, W001 E5152 6 ' ' 7076 7,181,692 B2* 2/2007 Siegel .... .. 715/727

5 5 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ >x< '

6,285,366 131* 90001 Ng etal' """ " ‘ 715/853 7,210,094 B2* 4/2007 Dovin etal. . 715/240 2001/0037347 A1 11/2001 Kell1her et a1. .. 707/530

6,286,002 131* 9/2001 Axaopoulosetd ~~~~~~~ ~~ 707/10 2002/0129114 Al* 9/2002 Sundaresan et al 709/213 6301576 Bl* 10/2001 Wolfe ............................. .. 707/5 - '

’ ’ 2003/0014415 Al* 1/2003 Welssetal. .......... .. .. 707/10 6311194 Bl* 10/2001 Shethetal 715/505 6345273 131* 20002 C hr ~~ ~ 707/4 2003/0146939 Al* 8/2003 Petropoulosetal. 345/810 6’369’840 B1,, 4/2002 Bgrcneftnet'é'l" "515/853 2006/0106793 A1* 5/2006 Liang ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~- 707/5 6:385:602 Bl* 5/2002 Tso etal. 707/3 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 6,404,446 Bl* 6/2002 Bates etal. . .715/854 “ - - - - - _ 6,434,556 131* 80002 Levin et a1‘ 707/5 Zieillweiger et a1. Flu1dl1nksf0r1nf0rmedand1ncrementall1nktran 6,452,609 Bl* 9/2002 Katinskyetal. .715/716 smons 1998* _ _ _ _

6,496,842 131* 12/2002 Lyness ““““““““““““ “ 715/206 Kopetsky et a1. “V1sual prevlew for l1nk traversal 0n the World Wlde 6,549,220 Bl* 4/2003 Hsu et a1. .................... .. 715/854 Web”1999~* 6,567,800 131* 5/2003 Barrera et a1‘ 707/3 Flanagan, David, etal. “JavaScript: the de?nitive guide” 1996, 1997, 6,583,794 Bl* 6/2003 Wattenberg ................. .. 715/708 1998* 6,594,670 131* 7/2QQ3 Genser ________________________ __ 7()7/1()2 Smith et a1.“JavafortheWorldWideWebzVisual QuickStartGuide” 6,606,101 B1* 8/2003 Malamud et a1. .. . 715/715 “chapter 14 Hierarchical menu”, 1998* 6,625,609 Bl* 9/2003 McDade et a1. . 707/102 6,636,244 B1 * 10/2003 Kelley et a1. ................ .. 715/781 * cited by examiner

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