Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!bsu-cs!mithomas From: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Michael Thomas Niehaus) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Apple vs. Microsoft: Press Release & commentary Message-ID: <8459@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> Date: 28 Jul 89 00:02:11 GMT Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, IN, USA Lines: 65 COURT ISSUES FURTHER RULING ON APPLE'S 1985 AGREEMENT WITH MICROSOFT CUPERTINO, California-July 25, 1989--Apple Computer, Inc. said today that the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California, has ruled that a 1985 agreement between Apple and Microsoft, Inc. gives Microsoft a license to use individual visual display elements from its original Windows product, version 1.0, in version 2.03. The court ruled, however, that two major visual differences between Windows version 1.0 and version 2.03 -- the visual displays associated with overlapping windows, and a change in the appearance and manipulation of icons -- are not licensed under that agreement. The court previously ruled in March, 1989 that Windows 2.03 in its entirety is not licensed. Today's ruling confirms that, and further establishes that important parts of 2.03 are unlicensed. The court said it would now proceed to determine whether Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard Corporation's use of unlicensed displays, in combination with the licensed Windows 1.0 visual displays, infringes Apple's audiovisual copyrights. The ruling, which addresses a license agreement between Apple and Microsoft, has no effect on the validity of Apple's Macintosh copyrights. "When Microsoft moved from tiled to overlapping windows in version 2.03, it made a fundamental change that significantly altered the overall appearance of its Windows product," said Edward B. Stead, vice president and general counsel. "The result is a product that appears more similar to the Macintosh and one which we contend infringes Apple's copyrights. Under the court's ruling, that change is unlicensed." "With today's ruling on the contract issue behind us, we are eager at last to move on to the essence of the case, which is the issue of copyright infringement," said Stead. "We do not believe the ruling should have a significant effect on Apple's ability to show that Windows 2.03 and Hewlett-Packard's NewWave infringe Apple's copyrights." Apple brought suit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard on March 17, 1988 for infringement of Apple's copyrighted audiovisual works by two products: Microsoft's Windows 2.03 and Hewlett- Packard's NewWave. The audiovisual appearance of Macintosh is one of the elements that makes it unique and distinctive in the marketplace, and in computer parlance, extremely "user friendly". In May 1988, Microsoft requested that the case be bifurcated, or divided into two parts. The first part was to determine the scope of the 1985 license; the second part will address copyright infringement. The two companies had entered into the 1985 agreement to resolve a dispute that had arisen at that time concerning possible copyright infringement of Apple's audiovisual works by Microsoft Windows version 1.0. Judge William W Schwarzer's decision today completes review of the contract issue. A subsequent phase of the case will address the issue of copyright infringement. --------- On a separate note... In this week's ComputerWorld, a lawyer from HP is quoted as saying that this is a major blow to Apple's case. He was very optimistic. However, I don't see how this could be a good sign for HP or Microsoft. We shall see. -Michael -- Michael Niehaus UUCP: !{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mithomas Apple Student Rep ARPA: mithomas@bsu-cs.bsu.edu Ball State University AppleLink: ST0374 (from UUCP: st0374@applelink.apple.com)