While designing software and system architectures at Apple, it was important to protect our work. Each year Apple and Microsoft would “trade” patents with each other. Both companies were hard at work trying to top the other. It was of critical importance that we (Apple) had a portfolio of patents each year to use as bargaining chips against anyone else who might have patented things that we wanted to use.
The picture above was taken with myself and a few of my friends with the then CEO John Sculley. This picture was during an awards ceremony for employees who had been granted patents. See me over John’s right shoulder? I’m directly behind Debbi Holmes in the front. You can also see Dylan Ashe and Nick Kledzik in this photo. All great friends!
By the time I left Apple in 1997 I was either the named inventor or a significant contributor to 22 Apple patents:
- 6,731,310 – Switching between appearance/behavior themes in graphical user interfaces
- 6,710,782 – Data driven layout engine
- 6,690,356 – Method and apparatus for providing visual feedback during manipulation of text on a computer screen
- 6,664,981 – Graphical user interface with hierarchical structure for customizable menus and control objects
- 6,535,930 – Method and apparatus for improved interaction with an application program according to data types and actions performed by the application program
- 6,466,228 – Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface
- 6,404,433 – Data-driven layout engine
- 6,307,574 – Graphical user interface with hierarchical structure for customizable menus and control objects
- 6,243,102 – Data-driven layout engine
- 6,239,795 – Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface
- 6,212,577 – Method and apparatus for improved interaction with an application program according to data types and actions performed by the application program
- 6,104,391 – System and method for customizing appearance and behavior of graphical user interfaces
- 6,061,058 – Method and apparatus for transferring data by type according to data types available
- 5,963,206 – Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface
- 5,959,624 – System and method for customizing appearance and behavior of graphical user interfaces
- 5,880,729 – Graphical user interfaces having animated control elements
- 5,790,857 – Method for associating and storing arbitrary data with graphical user interface elements
- 5,754,178 – Method and apparatus for improved feedback during manipulation of data on a computer controlled display system
- 5,696,915 – Method and apparatus for linking routines for different contexts
- 5,694,151 – Method and apparatus for providing visual feedback during manipulation of text on a computer screen
- 5,598,524 – Method and apparatus for improved manipulation of data between an application program and the files system on a computer-controlled display system
- 5,561,444 – Method and apparatus for providing visual feedback during manipulation of text on a computer screen