Ex Parte CAPPS et al - Page 2




          Appeal No. 2002-1041                                                        
          Application 08/866,402                                                      

                                     BACKGROUND                                       
               The invention relates to a system, method, and computer                
          instructions on a computer usable medium for visually indicating            
          that a key on a display screen has been selected.  Although the             
          invention is disclosed in connection with a touch screen display,           
          only one claim requires this feature.  When a key is selected,              
          the size of the key on the screen enlarges or "splats" and the              
          appearance changes to indicate a depressed key, e.g., by                    
          decreasing the size of the bevels of the key graphic.                       
               Claim 20 is reproduced below.                                          
               20.  In a system having a processor, a display for producing           
               a visual representation of a plurality of keys, a position             
               sensing subsystem for providing signals indicating that an             
               area on the display has been selected by an operator and a             
               memory for storing programming instructions for controlling            
               the operation of the system, an apparatus for providing                
               improved visual feedback to the operator that an area in the           
               visual representation has been selected, said apparatus                
               comprising:                                                            
               (a)  a circuit responsive to signals provided by said the              
               position sensing subsystem to provide an key-identifying               
               signal indicating that a particular key in the visual                  
               representation of said plurality of keys has been selected             
               by the operator; and                                                   
               (b)  display control logic responsive to the key-identifying           
               signal to alter the visual representation of the selected              
               key by enlarging said the visual representation and by                 
               changing said visual representation to have the appearance             
               of a depressed key, said altered visual representation                 
               providing visual confirmation of the key selection.                    
               The examiner relies on the following references:                       
               Greanias et al. (Greanias)  4,686,332     August 11, 1987              
               Volk et al. (Volk)       5,687,331   November 11, 1997                 

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