Patent 8458485 was granted and assigned to Microsoft on June, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Utilizing an image on a computing device to serve as a template for locking/unlocking the computing device. The image includes a plurality of portions that are defined and thereafter identified and presented to a user via a touch screen. A user selects portions/zones that are defined within the image in a specified sequence and this sequence is stored as a lock/unlock code for unlocking the computing device. In an embodiment, in addition to the specified sequence of selections, a movement or sequence of movements may be also be stored as part of the lock/unlock code.