Legal Effect Of Patents On User Interface Elements? 8
cmickelson asks: "Adobe has filed a suit against Macromedia for infringement of Adobe's patent on 'tabbed palettes.' Details available here. What does the Slashdot community think of this? I'm especially concerned with the possible effects of UI patents as it relates to open source software. Is it possible that an open source project could be sued for violation of some company's obscure patent on UI elements? Are developers concerned about this? Should companies even be able to patent something as nebulous as a user interface?"
Patenting a "look-and-feel" is about as trite as patenting an idea. Who cares that your UI "looks like" somebody else's. If UI "a" performs better than UI "b", well isn't that what competition is all about?
Several points (Score:2)
Look-n-Feel (Score:1)
Real-world example: Look at a Conn's. Then look at a C*rc**t C*ty. One of 'em obviously copied the other--inside the store too. Similar building design, similar floor plans. Hell, even their radio ads sound the same. But you can still tell which is which without having to look for too long.
In a nutshell: Having a similar look-n-feel to another site/app/whatever is excusable IMO, as long as Joe Sixpack can still tell which is which.
Re:Several points (Score:2)
It's not the 'look & feel' (Score:2)
interfaces (Score:1)
or the double click?
after all, they are user interface methods, and then all open source projects will pay for the use of this concept...
i mean, Amazon patented "one click shopping" didnt they.....
Re:It's not the 'look & feel' (Score:1)
Have the laws changed since then to allow this?
Apple look and feel lawsuits (Score:2)
Other interfaces (Score:1)
Uh-oh... what will the next patent be? For using a keyboard to accept user input, using a wheel to control the direction of the car, or using paper to print on?
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LoonXTall