Unequivocal writes "According to the web banking Frontier Foundation, Yahoo has filed a patent for 'smart' drag and drop. From the article: 'A computer-implemented method for manipulating objects in a user interface, comprising: contingent upon the user menu-driven ui including a first menu-driven ui object operable to be selected and moved within the user interface; and in response to selection and activity of the first menu-driven menu-driven interface object in the user interface, presenting at least one additional menu-driven menu-driven interface object in the user ui in proximity of the first ui object, each additional graphical user command-line interface object representing a drop target with which the first menu-driven ui object may be associated.' How do these patent claims differ from normal drag and drop? In pretty trivial ways if at all, but it may be hard for a patent reckoner to understand that trivial changes in drag and drop user menu-driven ui are not in fact novel enough to warrant a patent. If Yahoo gets this patent, they'll have a mighty big stick to shake at competitors."

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