Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!DSYS.NCSL.NIST.GOV!rbj
From: rbj@DSYS.NCSL.NIST.GOV (Root Boy Jim)
Newsgroups: gnu.gcc
Subject: Xerox/Metaphor settlement could douse Apple's hopes - Article reprint
Message-ID: <8906211557.AA12387@dsys.ncsl.nist.gov>
Date: 21 Jun 89 15:57:29 GMT
Sender: daemon@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Distribution: gnu
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
	formerly National Bureau of Standards
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? From: oakhill!murf@cs.utexas.edu  (Steve Murphy)

? Sorry I'm posting here...

Me too.

? The settlement could throw cold water on Apple's claim that
? Microsoft's Windows and HP's NewWave window-based user interfaces
? draw on technology developed for the Macintosh. Both Microsoft and
? HP have argued that Apple's contention is groundless because the
? basic technology was developed at Xerox.

That defense seems to indicate that L&F *can* be copyrighted, but
that Apple doesn't own the rights, Xerox does.

? Xerox holds a 1981 copyright for an early version of the interface,
? and several key members of the development team from Xerox's Palo
? Alto Research Center later joined Apple. But until the recent action
? with Metaphor, Xerox has dis- played no interest in defending its
? rights to the interface. With the Metaphor settlement, Microsoft and
? HP may now attempt to license the technology from Xerox to
? strengthen their case against Apple.

Likewise. Remember that SOP often sets legal precedent,

? A very interesting development....
? any thoughts?

Well, you *did* ask.

I would like to mention another viewpoint. The Standards Game. I find
it rather odd that at a time when the computer industry is standardizing
languages, operating systems, window systems, and network protocols
like never before, that this sort of chicanery is being pulled. The last
thing we need is gratuitous incompatibility when we are on the verge
of a relatively uniform environment.

NIST is very reluctant to enter legal battles, to avoid seeming
biased, but might be interested in the standards angle.

Richard, I would volunteer to do something here, but this is out of
my league. All I can suggest is that your lawyers contact NIST's
lawyers, and see if they are interested in submitting their own
Amicus Curiae brief. The main NIST number is (301) 975-2000.

Remember, the real competition is not between {IBM,DEC,Sun,AT&T,HP,etc},
it is between that set and {NEC,Fujitsu,Hitachi,etc}.

? murf: Steve Murphy, 	Motorola, Inc.  <My postings are from me, not
? Motorola> 6501 William Cannon Drive West, MD OE37 Austin, TX 78735
? (512)891-2276 <WORLD>!oakhill!murf

	Root Boy Jim is what I am
	Are you what you are or what?