14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has finally been granted a patent to protect the Windows 8 Metro interface, after the company originally filed for it in September 2011, more than one year before the launch of the operating system.
Documents published on the official website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) show that Microsoft is trying to protect its Start screen design from being stolen with specific legal papers.
According to these details, the Start screen is made of “a front view of a display screen with graphical user interface showing the new design” and “a front view of a display screen with graphic user interface showing an alternative embodiment, which is in color.”
“The broken line showing of the remained of the display screen is for environment purposes only and forms no part of the claimed design,” the document adds.
The original Start screen design debuted in Windows 8 in October 2012 and was improved one year later with the debut of Windows 8.1 with new customization options and minor tweaks here and there.