4 ms·

patents: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=deQCAAAAEBAJ&dq=5778372 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=deQCAAAAEBAJ&dq=5... http://www.google.com/pate

patents: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=deQCAAAAEBAJ&dq=5778372 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=deQCAAAAEBAJ&dq=5... http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=JvQAAAAAEBAJ&dq=5889522 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=JvQAAAAAEBAJ&dq=5... http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=DwEJAAAAEBAJ&dq=6339780 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=DwEJAAAAEBAJ&dq=6... http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=oKgVAAAAEBAJ&dq=6891551 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=oKgVAAAAEBAJ&dq=6... http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=jJcVAAAAEBAJ&dq=6957233 http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=jJcVAAAAEBAJ&dq=6...

nkassis 16y ago
Doug Engelbart isn't listed on any of these patents, funny but I'm pretty sure his NLS system would make him the inventor of most of this.
sshconnection 16y ago
Warning: if this article already made you angry, reading the actual patents will turn your rage up to 11. These are some of the most general and obvious patents I've seen used in a lawsuit like this in a while.
- Capital 16y ago
  The question is are these methods general and obvious only because it's been the norm for almost 20 years? I would say, yes.
  - klochner 16y ago
    A more appropriate question may be whether those methods would be general and obvious in present day if they hadn't been invented 20 years ago. I would say, yes.
  - sshconnection 16y ago
    Display a loading image while waiting on a document? The only "innovation" that got them the patent was that they claimed displaying a smaller image on a smaller screen was somehow groundbreaking. Don't wait for a background image to finish downloading before displaying web page text? Who would think waiting was a great idea in the first place? I don't think either of these is somehow an feat of software engineering that should grant them the ability to extort money from companies creating innovative software in 2011.
klochner 16y ago
tl;dr: 1) partial pdf display to avoid image download 2) application task bar (+ hot key application switch) 3) "loading" gif 4) selecting text and resizing selection area 5) annotating pdfs by using a separate index file Pretty basic stuff, and Apple uses all these techniques. I wonder if they are already tithing.
- orangecat 16y ago
  Apple uses all these techniques. I wonder if they are already tithing. IIRC Apple and Microsoft have a cross-licensing agreement. Plus, it's in both their interests to kill Android and establish a duopoly without any pesky suggestions of user freedom. (For the same reasons, I'd expect Verizon to not have anything bad to say about AT&T swallowing T-Mobile).
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    The idea Microsoft will make Vista Phone 7 successful by suing every Android device maker is ludicrous at best. But it seems they will get away with getting some money for every Android sold. Sad, really.
mycroftiv 16y ago
I actually took the time to read those patents, and as broken as I thought the US patent system was, I didn't realize it was that bad. One of the patents is actually a patent on displaying a temporary loading animation when a browser is downloading rather than having a dedicated loading status indicator. Another patent is for displaying a document while the background image is downloading rather than waiting for the background image!
- famousactress 16y ago
  True story. I worked on Hewlett Packard's first digital camera project around '97 or so. We were getting ready to freeze the firmware when the final legal review turned up a patent that another company (don't remember who, wanna say Samsung?) had been granted. The patent covered menus on the back of a digital camera where the cursor moved across menu items when you pressed up and down. We were asked to scramble and make the menu move underneath a static cursor to avoid exposure. The best part was that the patent was granted sometime around 1980, if memory serves.

nkassis 16y ago

Doug Engelbart isn't listed on any of these patents, funny but I'm pretty sure his NLS system would make him the inventor of most of this.

sshconnection 16y ago

Warning: if this article already made you angry, reading the actual patents will turn your rage up to 11. These are some of the most general and obvious patents I've seen used in a lawsuit like this in a while.

Capital 16y ago
The question is are these methods general and obvious only because it's been the norm for almost 20 years? I would say, yes.
- klochner 16y ago
  A more appropriate question may be whether those methods would be general and obvious in present day if they hadn't been invented 20 years ago. I would say, yes.
- sshconnection 16y ago
  Display a loading image while waiting on a document? The only "innovation" that got them the patent was that they claimed displaying a smaller image on a smaller screen was somehow groundbreaking. Don't wait for a background image to finish downloading before displaying web page text? Who would think waiting was a great idea in the first place? I don't think either of these is somehow an feat of software engineering that should grant them the ability to extort money from companies creating innovative software in 2011.

klochner 16y ago

tl;dr: 1) partial pdf display to avoid image download 2) application task bar (+ hot key application switch) 3) "loading" gif 4) selecting text and resizing selection area 5) annotating pdfs by using a separate index file Pretty basic stuff, and Apple uses all these techniques. I wonder if they are already tithing.

orangecat 16y ago
Apple uses all these techniques. I wonder if they are already tithing. IIRC Apple and Microsoft have a cross-licensing agreement. Plus, it's in both their interests to kill Android and establish a duopoly without any pesky suggestions of user freedom. (For the same reasons, I'd expect Verizon to not have anything bad to say about AT&T swallowing T-Mobile).
- rbanffy 16y ago
  The idea Microsoft will make Vista Phone 7 successful by suing every Android device maker is ludicrous at best. But it seems they will get away with getting some money for every Android sold. Sad, really.

mycroftiv 16y ago

I actually took the time to read those patents, and as broken as I thought the US patent system was, I didn't realize it was that bad. One of the patents is actually a patent on displaying a temporary loading animation when a browser is downloading rather than having a dedicated loading status indicator. Another patent is for displaying a document while the background image is downloading rather than waiting for the background image!

famousactress 16y ago
True story. I worked on Hewlett Packard's first digital camera project around '97 or so. We were getting ready to freeze the firmware when the final legal review turned up a patent that another company (don't remember who, wanna say Samsung?) had been granted. The patent covered menus on the back of a digital camera where the cursor moved across menu items when you pressed up and down. We were asked to scramble and make the menu move underneath a static cursor to avoid exposure. The best part was that the patent was granted sometime around 1980, if memory serves.