Prior art

The following prior art references were identified as being cited in US Patent 7770122. The most relevant reference explicitly mentioned within the text of US7770122 for its prior art system is U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,219 to Sayed.

Most Relevant Prior Art

1. U.S. Patent No. 7,610,219 B2 (Sayed)

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent 7,610,219 B2, titled "System and method for automatically designing and hosting web pages," issued October 27, 2009, to Sayed.
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: October 27, 2009.
  • Filing Date: April 1, 2004.
• Brief Description: The patent describes a method and system for automatically designing and hosting web pages using a hierarchical template structure. Users select a template, enter content into predefined regions, and the system dynamically generates HTML and associated style sheets. It supports customization through drag-and-drop operations and allows for elements like image galleries, guest books, and contact forms. The system aims to simplify web page creation for non-technical users.
• Potential Anticipation of US7770122 Claims (under 35 U.S.C. § 102):
  The Sayed patent appears to anticipate many aspects of US7770122, particularly its core inventive concept of codeless website development and hosting using templates.
  • Claims 1, 14 (Method and System for operating a computer system for hosting a codeless website): Sayed's system teaches providing a user computer with a web page having a design area (content regions/templates), receiving input for content and attributes, and automatically generating and publishing web pages to a server for display to visitors. This directly anticipates the fundamental process and system.
  • Claims 2, 15 (Movable, resizable, and formatable boxes): Sayed's mention of customization and drag-and-drop operations for elements within templates implies the ability to move, resize, and format content regions/boxes.
  • Claims 3, 16 (Specific attributes like colors, fonts, borders): The dynamic generation of HTML and associated style sheets, as described by Sayed, inherently covers the definition and modification of visual attributes such as background color, border color, font style, size, and color.
  • Claims 10, 23 (Local/global visible boxes): Template-based web design systems, such as Sayed's, often support the concept of elements having different scopes (e.g., global elements appearing on all pages vs. local elements specific to one page), even if not explicitly using the "local/global" terminology.
  • Claims 11, 24 (Mouse-over effects): The generation of style sheets in Sayed's system would facilitate the implementation of dynamic visual effects, including mouse-over actions.
  • Claims 12, 13, 25, 26 (Quick/slow translational motion and resizing): Sayed's teaching of drag-and-drop operations for customization implies user control over the position and size of elements. The distinction between "quick" and "slow" motion/resizing is primarily an implementation detail of such interactive controls rather than a distinct new concept.
  • Claims 4-9, 17-22 (Specific general facilities like webmail, registration, chat, RSS, marquee tags): While Sayed's abstract mentions "contact forms" and a general ability to create functional web pages, it does not explicitly detail the specific suite of "general facilities" (webmail, user registration, login, password reset, chat box, RSS feeds, send page, advertisement hosting, or marquee tags) with dedicated control buttons and backend support that US7770122 emphasizes. US7770122 argues that prior art systems like Google Sites and Yahoo Site Builder lacked these specific facilities. Therefore, while Sayed provides a strong foundation, the explicit provision and integration of these specific, user-configurable facilities without requiring coding, as detailed in US7770122, could be a distinguishing feature. However, the underlying capability to add interactive elements or forms might still be broadly anticipated.

Other Cited Prior Art

2. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0106950 A1

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0106950 A1, titled "System and method for web page creation using objects and templates," published May 10, 2007, to Beato et al.
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: May 10, 2007.
  • Filing Date: November 7, 2005.
• Brief Description: This publication discloses a system for creating web pages using a graphical user interface where users can select templates and drag-and-drop web page objects (text boxes, images, links, etc.) into predefined regions. The system automatically generates the underlying code (HTML, CSS) for the web page, which can then be published.
• Potential Anticipation: This reference anticipates the general method and system of template-based, codeless web page creation, including the use of visible objects, user interaction (drag-and-drop), attribute definition, and automatic code generation and publishing. It is highly relevant to Claims 1-3, 5-6, 11-16, 18-19, 24-26 of US7770122, covering the fundamental building blocks and customization aspects.

3. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0003348 A1

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0003348 A1, titled "Computer-based method and system for creating a web site," published January 1, 2004, to Furlong et al.
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: January 1, 2004.
  • Filing Date: June 28, 2002.
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a content management system (CMS) that allows users to build and maintain websites without programming knowledge. It features a user interface for selecting templates, adding content to sections, and customizing the site's appearance. The system generates necessary web pages and manages the site structure.
• Potential Anticipation: This reference broadly anticipates the concept of codeless website creation and management using templates and a user interface for content and appearance customization. It is relevant to the general method and system of US7770122, particularly Claims 1-3, 10, 11, 14-16, 23, 24 relating to template-based design, content input, attribute customization, and site structure.

4. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0183883 A1

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0183883 A1, titled "System and method for creating dynamic web pages," published July 31, 2008, to Miller et al.
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: July 31, 2008.
  • Filing Date: January 29, 2007.
• Brief Description: This publication presents a system for creating dynamic web pages with user-defined layouts. It offers a graphical user interface where users can select elements, arrange them, and populate them with content. The system generates the code for dynamic web pages that can interact with backend databases, emphasizing user control over layout and dynamic content.
• Potential Anticipation: Miller et al. anticipates the creation of dynamic web pages through a GUI, allowing users to arrange and populate elements with content, and interact with backend databases. This is relevant to the core method and system of US7770122, especially Claims 1-3, 14-16, concerning interactive design, content input, layout, and the dynamic nature of the resulting web pages.

5. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071373 A1

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071373 A1, titled "System and method for generating a website," published March 31, 2005, to Fano et al.
• Publication/Filing Date:
  • Publication Date: March 31, 2005.
  • Filing Date: September 29, 2003.
• Brief Description: This publication describes a system for generating a website from user-provided content. Users define the structure and appearance by selecting templates and adding various content types (text, images, media). The system automatically generates and publishes the website code, enabling non-technical users to create and manage their online presence.
• Potential Anticipation: Fano et al. anticipates the general concept of codeless website generation using templates, user-defined structure and appearance, and automatic code generation and publishing. It is relevant to Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 14-16, 18, 19 of US7770122, covering template-based design, content input (including images), and the overall process of making a website available.