Microsoft's patent loss rattles tech community

[sime]

Hum,

comments...

http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/03/HNmicrosoftsloss_1.html?business

Sime

[Pissed_Macman]

Microsoft trying to assimilating everything in sight? How is this news?

[mobrien_12]

quote:Originally posted by Macman: submissive pillock:
Microsoft trying to assimilating everything in sight? How is this news?

Did you read the article?  Some small company claims to have patented the concept of web browser plugins.  This is another BS software patent case, where a company patents an obvious idea, does absolutely nothing with it, waits for other to implement it, then sues them.

MS is not in the wrong here, except for the fact that they really really screwed up their legal defense and failed to show prior art.

Who will be next?  Netscape?  Mozilla?  Opera?

No, I'm betting it will be Apple.

[ September 06, 2003: Message edited by: M. O'Brien ]

[solarismka]

M$ steels 100% of their shit anyways.  No wonder they know absolutly nothing from their own OS!

[jasonlane]

quote:Originally posted by M. O'Brien:


Did you read the article?  Some small company claims to have patented the concept of web browser plugins.  This is another BS software patent case, where a company patents an obvious idea, does absolutely nothing with it, waits for other to implement it, then sues them.

MS is not in the wrong here, except for the fact that they really really screwed up their legal defense and failed to show prior art.

Who will be next?  Netscape?  Mozilla?  Opera?

No, I'm betting it will be Apple.

[ September 06, 2003: Message edited by: M. O'Brien ]

Yup, this wasn't M$'$ fault for once
     

but they still get everything they deserve, a small peice of me thinks there partly to blame for this whole fiasco / Status Quo in the first instance    :confused:  


Apple??? Do you think so??? The one thing that may keep Apple out of this sort of trouble is the fact that they are truly innovative, not "borrowers" or thiefs.

I guess it could happen to anyone right.

[ September 06, 2003: Message edited by: Zardoz ]

[mobrien_12]

Yeah, MS deserves what it got.  They were trumpeting their commitment to licencing IP when they paid SCO millions.  

And I'm still pissed off about how they bought a bunch of 3d rendering patents that had already been licenced royalty-fre to OpenGL and then tried to use it to hijack OpenGL.

I do think Apple will be next.  Little pissant companies like this make software patents, wait for people to indepenently implement the obvious idea, keep quiet for years, then ask for money.  MS is the perfect target because it has a lot of money.  

Who else is producing a browser?  Netscape and Opera don't have deep pockets.  Apple has safari, and it's doing ok so it seems to be the next logical target, even though they actually do alot of innovative stuff.

[ September 06, 2003: Message edited by: M. O'Brien ]

[Doctor V]

And this was the only time I actually wanted M$ to win (I don't think they really wanted to).  The charge against them was total BS.  How can you claim ownership to a concept as general as applications in web browsers?

  :confused:  V  :mad:

[Refalm]

Who's next? Netscape/Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror/Safari, QNX Voyager?

I agree Doctor V, this is total bullshit. And to think Europe get's the same stupid law too.