🚀 go-pugleaf

rjc@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Richard Caley) writes:
>In article <1991Oct30.202317.4156@m.cs.uiuc.edu>, John Coolidge (jc) writes:

>jc> If you're sincere in the belief that Apple has not brought any
>jc> innovation to the market, then you shouldn't be worried about their
>jc> lawsuit. Their claims rely only on work done at Apple, and so if they
>jc> win we will only lose the right to reuse things are aren't innovative
>jc> and are therefore not worth cloning anyway.

>So, they aren't trying to claim the desktop, the trashcan, pull down
>menus, the menu bar etc etc etc? I don't like 'em, but they are in the
>`look and squirm' that apple claims to own. I don't think any of them
>are original, but since when did that ever stop a lawyer :-).

Pull-down menus are definitely original with Apple. The desktop
interface is not (although a specific layout may be); similarly, while
the idea of a trashman is not original nor protectable, a specific
design is just as protectable as a painting, drawing, or illustration.

>It doesn't matter if they can win or even if they expect to, they can
>_still_ prevent other companies from using these ideas by
>intimidation. This is not nice, that is why assault is a crime as well
>as battery.

This is why software patents are just as much a threat to the industry,
litigation or not. What's more, failure to litigate is a defense in
copyright, but not in patent 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.
You may redistribute this article if and only if your recipients may as well.