🚀 go-pugleaf

mathew@mantis.co.uk (To the Ground) writes:
>thomas@duteca.et.tudelft.nl (Thomas Okken) writes:
>> An unsubstantiated speculation, indeed. Just like the speculation that if
>> Apple wins the Microsoft/HP suit, it will proceed to sue everybody else into
>> the ground.

>Well, the trend so far is that they attacked DR, succeeded, and went on
>to attack Microsoft.  They may indeed stop after succeeding against Microsoft,
>but I don't see any reason why they shouldn't carry on going after fresh prey,
>since that's what they've done in the past.

Because they cannot. Apple sued Microsoft and HP immediately upon the
appearance of Windows 3 and NewWave; to have failed to do sue would have
allowed a legal defense of failure to prosecute the claim. Because Apple
has not sued over, for instance, X, Motif, OpenLook, NeXTStep, the Amiga
and Atari interfaces, Open Desktop, and the many other interface
constitutes a significant legal barrier to later recovery. The fact that
they don't have sufficient legal resources (if indeed they do not, which
I doubt -- merely initiating an action is very inexpensive compared to
the later costs of following through) to begin a suit against
infringments would not affect their being barred from recovery. If Apple
intended to claim that these other interfaces infringed their
copyrights, they would have been forced to sue by now. The slippery
slope argument that an Apple victory would lead to cascading lawsuits
simply ignores the realities of copyright law.

--John

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John L. Coolidge     Internet:coolidge@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP:uiucdcs!coolidge
Of course I don't speak for the U of I (or anyone else except myself)
Copyright 1991 John L. Coolidge. Copying allowed if (and only if) attributed.
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