Patents by Inventor Christopher A. Fortier

Christopher A. Fortier has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Pluggable window manager architecture using a scene graph system
    Patent number: 7716685
    Abstract: Described is a pluggable policy component that determines the look and feel, or windows visual experience, of a computer user interface. Window-related instructions are redirected to the policy component, while client area change instructions are provided to a substrate (into which the policy component plugs in) that includes a composition component. The plug-in policy component handles windows-related (e.g., structural or attribute) changes to a scene graph to construct and maintain the scene graph, while the substrate handles program content changes to the client areas within windows. The substrate may include a desktop window manager that has access to the client areas in the scene graph, whereby the desktop window manager can copy a client area for rendering. For example, the desktop window manager can provide a supplemental live thumbnail image of a window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Greg D. Schechter, Gregory D. Swedberg, Christopher A. Fortier, Jevan Saks, Ian Hanschen, Leonardo E. Blanco, Adrian Secchia, Andrey E. Arsov
  • Pluggable window manager architecture using a scene graph system
    Publication number: 20070061733
    Abstract: Described is a pluggable policy component that determines the look and feel, or windows visual experience, of a computer user interface. Window-related instructions are redirected to the policy component, while client area change instructions are provided to a substrate (into which the policy component plugs in) that includes a composition component. The plug-in policy component handles windows-related (e.g., structural or attribute) changes to a scene graph to construct and maintain the scene graph, while the substrate handles program content changes to the client areas within windows. The substrate may include a desktop window manager that has access to the client areas in the scene graph, whereby the desktop window manager can copy a client area for rendering. For example, the desktop window manager can provide a supplemental live thumbnail image of a window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Publication date: March 15, 2007
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Greg Schechter, Gregory Swedberg, Christopher Fortier, Jevan Saks, Ian Hanschen, Leonardo Blanco, Adrian Secchia, Andrey Arsov