Apple Sued For Using Tabs In OS X Tiger

rizzo320 writes "AppleInsider is reporting that an Illinois-based company and its Nevada partner have filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc., alleging that Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' infringes an interface patent relating to the OS's nearly universal use of tabs. The suit was filed in the patent troll's and forum shopper's favorite venue: Marshall, TX. The patent in question is 5072412, which was originally issued to Xerox in 1987, but is now owned or licensed to IP Innovation LLC and its parent Technology Licensing Corporation. 'Category dividers triggered by Spotlight searches, as well as page tabs in the Safari web browser, bear the closest similarity to the now 20-year-old description' of the patent, according to the article. IP Innovation is requesting damages in excess of $20 million and an injunction against future sales and distribution of Mac OS X 10.4. Software patent reform can't come soon enough!"

Maybe

[gblackwo]

What a joke. Maybe they should go and get the manilla folder people in on this too, because of their ingenious system of tabbed browsing.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

what a mess

[FudRucker]

i think all software patents should be banned, whos next? Opera or mozilla/firefox web browser? fluxbox?

maybe even closed source software should be outlawed and make ALL software mandatory opensource...

this is getting ridiculous...

Why so late??

[Jugalator]

Oh wait, I guess it took them 2 years to learn how to write a letter.

Re:Cashcows

[walt-sjc]

Oh come now... It can be rephrased much more simply...

It's like a 3-ring binder, but "on the internet!"®©

All rights reserved. "on the internet!" is a registered trademark of Patent Trolls Inc.

Re:Useful timing

[walt-sjc]

A month or so after the one programmer left at apple finishes the iPhone.

Re:The Apple Lisa had tabs!

[Catil]

Tabbed UI, Agostino Ramelli, circa 1588. Screenshot [kirchersociety.org], story [kirchersociety.org].

Re:Mozilla?

[Professor_UNIX]

That doesn't make the patent system any less broken.

I think you're missing out on the point of patents. When the framers of the Constitution set up the trademarks, copyrights, and patent law it was specifically for a case like this. They imagined that old man Wilcox would invent an idea and patent it, but without any resources to develop his idea, he'd sit on his patent and wait. Then when rich old Farmer Gray took his new farming device to market 15 years later and proved to be a financial hit at the farmer's markets Wilcox would swoop in unveiling his submarine patent and demand a piece of the action, if not take over the device entirely from Gray! Early capitalism at its finest.

Re:Mozilla?

[empaler]

Can you lose rights to a patent for not protecting it?

IANAL, but no.

However, if you don't go after infringements in a timely fashion (e.g. wait for the patent to become an industry standard, or wait for the target company to become successful), then you risk losing rights.

Sooo... Yes?

Re:what a mess

[QuantumG]

Hey, nice job. I like the way you got em nodding then slipped that little gem in there.

Well done.

Re:Marshall, TX

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you should be entitled to a jury of peers. Even in tech cases. Meaning a jury of engineers and not a jury of joe stupid.

And in murder cases you should have a jury of murderers.

Re:Mozilla?

[Bastard of Subhumani]

Greetings! You are in flagrant breach of numerous patents, trademarks and copyrights owned by my clients, Nike. [nike.com] To avoid further escalation send 28 million dollars immediately to: Account 10986754, Bank of Nigeria, Zurich CH.

Re:These guys really invented tabs!

[tehwebguy]

Now I understand what people mean when they say "Software patents fuel innovation"..

They REALLY MEAN "Software patents fuel IP Innovation LLC"

Re:Cashcows

[h2g2bob]

Your suggestion is (paraphrasing):

PatentTroll: Give me $20m
Apple: Why?
PatentTroll: We'll sue MS with it
Apple: OK then.

Wait, does that sound like SCO?

Re:Cashcows

[servertary]

Modern society rewards ruthless cleverness far more than intelligence plus morality. Back in the day I would have run my Trusty Bastard Sword of Attorney Slaying© right through the court system. Damned savages...

Re:The Apple Lisa had tabs!

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you fool, for the simple reason that "different" doesn't imply different all in the same way. Thanks for dragging me down to your level with your unimaginable literal-mindedness, though. It's been a real eye opener.