denbeste@bbn.com (Steven Den Beste) (03/21/88)
With regards to the Apple vs. HP/Microsoft suit, Commodore need not fear. Apple won't be coming for Commodore next. Remember that Apple is a licensee from Xerox, where the entire concept was developed - they have no legal right to sue anyone who comes up with a workbench-like user interface, they can only sue when their own products are closely imitated, which is what they intimate in their suit. The Amiga interface is substantially different in important ways from the Apple interface, nor do any of the Commodore-supported application programs imitate Macintosh programs. There are really only two features of Workbench which spring to mind as being potential dangers, and they really aren't because they are *improvements* rather than *emulations*. Imitation of a copyrighted feature is grounds for suit, but improvement on a copyrighted feature is emphatically not. PULLDOWN MENUS: Xerox, Sun and Apollo all use "popup" menus - the menu appears where-ever the mouse pointer is. The Lisa and Mac use a menu bar and pull-down menus. Amiga does, too - but whereas the menu bar on the Lisa and Mac are always present, the menu bar on the Amiga is only there when you push the right hand mouse button. At other times, that part of the screen is available for other use. This is arguably an improvement (not for Mycomputerisbetterthanyours but in front of a judge) and as such is not an infringement. SCROLL BARS: When a window represents a larger area than can be displayed, both Amiga and Mac have scroll bars - but where the Mac scroll bar icon is always the same size, the Amiga scroll bar icon is proportional to the amount of the whole that you can currently see. Again, arguably (in front of a judge) an improvement and thus not infringement. The remainder of the interface is so different that the suit would be thrown out in pretrial motions. Steven C. Den Beste, Bolt Beranek & Newman, Cambridge MA denbeste@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP) harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (03/25/88)
In article <22361@bbn.COM> denbeste@BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste) writes: >The Amiga interface is substantially different in important waysfrom the Apple >interface, nor do any of the Commodore-supported application programs imitate >Macintosh programs. While this may be true, I would not put it past Apple to sue anyway in an attempt to harass or delay Commodore if they feel like it. (which they periodically seem to). However, I think EA could sue apple for copying the outlined/filled circle/ellipse/box/etc. gadgets out of DPaint and using them in the draw program for Mac II. I saw them demonstrate these *new* features at Comdex with a chuckle of how neat they were. (see!, click on this side and you get a filled box, on this side and you get an outline box, yuk,yuk, ain't that neat!). Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170