Mac, Google, Microsoft Patent Infringers, LLC Ping!
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Posted on 12/06/2009 1:52:37 AM PST by Swordmaker
The big three in technology – Google, Apple, and Microsoft – have been sued by a Michigan-centered networking company. On Wednesday, this company alleged that the three aforementioned companies were in violation of a patent. This patent is owned by the Michigan company is focused on the use of document preview thumbnails, commonly referred to as icons, used in operating systems.
This Michigan company, Cygnus Systems focuses their lawsuit on specific programs made by Google, Apple, and Microsoft. The programs in question are Google’s Chrome, Apple’s iPhone, Mac OS X, and Safari, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (8) and Vista programs. These are all programs that are widely used around the world. Thus, the lawsuit is receiving a lot of publicity not only because the company’s are technology giants but also because the programs are widely used.
When asked to respond to press reports and articles, the lawyers for Google, Apple, and Microsoft were not yet able to respond to the inquiries.
Cygnus describes the patent covered technology they are suing over as “methods and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of one or more computer files.”
Cygnus’s owner Gregory Swartz filed the lawsuit in the US District Court located in Arizona, where he lives. The lawsuit comes as a surprise because it has not only seen the light of day but affects commonly used products and pieces of technology.
The Michigan company was given their patent during the month of March in 2008. The patent was initially applied for back in 2001 and is reported to have been a continuation of the earlier application.
In the lawsuit, Cygnus is looking for damages for the technology’s use. Additionally, the company wants a permanent injunction against the companies using the technology so that further alleged infringement will no longer occur. In addition to this lawsuit, Cygnus is saying that they may also need to go after other groups that have used the technology. For smaller groups and organizations, it could mean the end of products both in development and those already released.
This high profile lawsuit is one that has many users of the aforementioned technology worried. It could mean that the technology giants may have to pay out large settlements to the Michigan company and it could curb or alter future versions of existing products.
No matter the outcome, this lawsuit is expected by many to either be settled out of court or to go on for quite some time. The technology heavyweights have high profile lawyers on retainer and are expected to battle the suit or to work out a settlement that will protect their products both released and those in development.
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Now that I looked deeper into the patent on this story, this looks as if it might be a rehashing of old news from last year... not a new lawsuit filing.
I haven’t read the whole article or the patent, but the summary is blatantly wrong - it’s referring to thumb nails not icons. Using thumb nails dates back to at least 1993 (XV). XV is an image browser for X11 that sadly ran afoul of the Unisys GIF patent and had to be frozen to remain legal.
Software patents suck. Big time.
“methods and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of one or more computer files.”
That's exactly what my 1993 source tree of XV did. I don't know how long it had been incorporated into the source.
How do these guys get off using the name Cygnus anyway? That's the software company that is now merged into RedHat and maintains GCC and friends.
Bad news all around. Those guys have a stolen name and a patent that clearly has prior art. Unless this is the XV guy (and that work was Open Source), they do not have a leg to stand on.
Hey how come Linux gets a pass.
Nobody to sue and suing RedHat is a Bad Idea because they own the Cygnus Software name.
I first saw this technology on a Linux system in 1995, well before the 2001 file date.
Not me... and I know...
O.K. Sorry and maybe the article was corrected after it was posted here. I'm usually skeptical regarding claims of patent trolls - OMG Microsoft has patented sudo! (They have not). This one doesn't pass. Thumb nails have been used for a very long time and long before 2001. XV probably didn't have a very large user base, but it was sure out there.
It's sad too. XV was a wonderful graphics viewer. Better than any I've seen since.
It would seem that the proper way to fix this is to attack their patent as indefensible due to prior art...
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