Patents by Inventor Debra Ann Gawne Johnson

Debra Ann Gawne Johnson 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).

  • Patent number: 5815142
    Abstract: In a personal communications device having a touch sensitive display screen, text may be marked by a user to be used with different applications. In particular, to begin marking, a user has to maintain his touch at a location on the screen for a short predetermined period of time until the system detects that the position is held over the same character for a delayed period, at which time the system beeps to provide an indication that there has been a change of operation mode. The marking mode continues in operation until the user removes his contact from the touch screen. Thus, text over which the contact point passes after the initiation of the marking mode is marked, until the user removes his contact point from the touch screen. A second beep is sounded to alert the user of the termination of the marking mode, and the appearance of a menu of operations on the screen. The menu of operations echoes the marked text for user confirmation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: David Joseph Allard, James Robert Lewis, Debra Ann Gawne Johnson, Francis James Canova, Jr., Charles Sterling Lanier, William Villafana, Byron Kevin Tiller, Raymond Lee Yee, Julie Francis Goodwin, Jean Luter Stout, Peter Rowland Eastwood, Daniel Ming-Te Hsieh, Connie Yudip Au