Patent ID: 7246329

Claim:
A method for managing menus associated with a graphical user interface that is displayed on a display unit wherein the graphical user interface includes a display of two or more objects, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: receiving a request from a user for a menu panel, wherein: the request is not associated with the user selecting any menu objects that are displayed on the display unit at the time of the request, the menu panel comprises two or more selection regions, each of the two or more selection regions is associated with one base menu, and at least one base menu includes two or more menu items; and in response to the request from the user: selecting, based on one or more criteria, one or more menu items for display in the at least one base the menus, wherein the step of selecting comprises selecting the one or more menu items for display in at least one of the base menus based upon which of the two or more objects is closer to the cursor when the request from the user is received, displaying on the display unit the menu panel, wherein the menu panel is displayed at a location based on a first position of a cursor when the user requests the menu panel, and displaying on the display unit a first base menu that is associated with a first selection region of the two or more selection regions.