elund@pro-graphics.cts.com (Eric Lund) (07/03/90)
INFO World; Volume 12, Issue 27; July 2, 1990
LOTUS TRIUMPHS IN LOOK AND FEEL SUIT
Paperback Software Infringed on 1-2-3 Copyright, Judge Declares
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Lotus' victory in its 3-year-old copyright
infringement suit against Paperback Software could have a far-
ranging impact on software development, and ultimately on all PC
users, analysts said last week.
Last Thursday U.S. District Judge Robert E. Keeton said that
Paperback Software's VP-Planner and VP-Planner Plus infringed on
Lotus' 1-2-3 copyright in copying the commands and the way users
interact with the spreadsheet. Lotus' companion complaint
against Mosaic Software Inc. was not addressed in the decision.
Judge Keeton ruled that "[The menu structure of 1-2-3 is]
an original and nonobvious way of expressing a command
structure. Accordingly, the menu structure, taken as a whole,
including the choice of command terms, the structure and order of
those terms, their presentation on the screen, and the long
prompts, is an aspect of 1-2-3 that is not present in every
expression of an electronic spreadsheet."
Analysts said the ruling could affect other existing look
and feel lawsuits and bring about others. "The Pandora's box is
open and we're going to have lots and lots of lawsuits -- I don't
think that's good for the industry," said spreadsheet pioneer Dan
Bricklin, who was an expert witness in the Lotus case.
Chris Williams, marketing director at Fox Software, said
that Ashton-Tate's suit against them will not be affected by this
ruling because that case deals with functionality rather than
appearance.
"Our suit is not a clone suit. It revolves more deeply
around the language issues," Williams said. "In an effort to
keep compatible, we have kept keystrokes, but no one's house is
clean in that area. Dbase and Fox understand the Wordstar
keystrokes."
Several analysts speculated that Lotus will now turn its
legal guns on other, larger competitors, namely Borland
International, the Scotts Valley, California-based publisher of
Quattro Pro.
Borland spokesman Dick O'Donnel downplayed that liklihood,
claiming that Quattro-Pro is "an original product with its own
menus and command structure." Lotus counsel Thomas Lemberg would
not comment on plans for other litigation.
Lotus advocates claimed the ruling sets a precedent that
goes beyond the look and feel issue by protecting the menu
structure of a program. "Basically, we got everything we
wanted," said Larry Graev partner with O'Sullivan, Graev, and
Karabell, Lotus' New York-based law firm. "The judge makes it
clear that what is protectable is Lotus' entire menu. [Keeton]
also makes it very clear that he's not protecting the screen but
the command structure and the interface. He's moving away from
look and feel. It's a monumental case."
On the other hand, some observers said Keeton's ruling was
very narrow. "It really doesn't decide anything functional,
other than how it appears on the screen," said Dan Siegal, an
intellectual property attorney with Irell & Manell, in Menlo
Park, Caligornia. "In short, this case is protecting look, but
not feel."
Specific damages have yet to be determined in the case, and
Paperback intend to appeal the decision pending Keeton's final
judgment, according to attorney David Guberman of Sherin and
Lodgin, in Boston.
Richard Stallman, president of the Cambridge-based League of
Programming Freedom, proclaimed the ruling "a disaster for all
users of computers and especially for anyone who wants to program
them."
The ruling could have a chilling effect of software cloners.
"Cloning is basically the training ground for most people,"
Brickling said. "It's like painting; you paint the masters first
to work on your technique."
"I think this will have a chilling effect on developers,"
said Paul Goodman, a partner in the New York-based law firm
Elias, Goodman, and Shanks. "It's the user who loses here."
Eric W. Lund #==== ARPA/DDN: pro-graphics!elund@nosc.mil
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