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From: boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Apple/Microsoft Lawsuit
Keywords: Apple Microsoft Windows GUI Look-and-Feel Lawsuit
Message-ID: <1990Dec10.025440.14202@world.std.com>
Date: 10 Dec 90 02:54:40 GMT
References: <763@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM> <1990Dec9.073046.23818@world.std.com> <1990Dec9.185536.5273@julius.cs.uiuc.edu>
Distribution: na
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 51

coolidge@cs.uiuc.edu (John Coolidge) writes:

>boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) writes:
>>Maybe you feel
>>that all GUIs violate Apple's divine right to the graphical interface. If so,
>>please remember that it was originally created by Xerox, at the time 
>>part-owner
>>of Apple. Apple never paid a cent for it. A belated Xerox suit against Apple,
>>claiming a divine right to the graphical interface, was laughed out of court
>>earlier this year.

>This is not true. Apple was never partially owned by Xerox.

From "West of Eden: The Loss of Innocence at Apple Computer" by Frank Rose,
New York: Viking Penguin, 1989, page 47:
"After years of hedging [Xerox] had finally okayed development of an office
computer based on PARC research, but personal computers for office workers
seemed pretty radical in 1979.  The action was in low-cost home computers,
and it looked to them like the best way to get into it was by buying into 
Apple.  But they couldn't get in just for the asking; Apple stock was too much
in demand for that.  So in exchange for being allowed to buy 100,000 shares, 
Xerox agreed to open the doors of its Palo Alto Research Center to Apple's
vice-president for research and development, Steve Jobs.
  Jobs' tour of Xerox PARC turned out to be a signal even in the history
of personal computing. (...)"
Rose proceeds to describe Jobs' encounter with PARC's prototype Alto computer,
which inspired him to start working on what ultimately became the Lisa and
the Macintosh, the first affordable GUI-based microcomputers.

>Apple paid Xerox a percentage of the revenue on every Macintosh sold
>between 1984 and 1989 as payment for their use of Xerox's research. 
>I'm not sure what the percentage was; I believe it was a few percent
>of net profit.

I was not aware of that.  Could any Apple readers of this clarify whether
such payments took place?  It seems to me that if Apple did pay Xerox for
the use of its research, then Xerox would not have any legal standing in
its attempt to seek compensation (which failed and is now on appeal), for
the same reason that airline insurers attempt to settle with families of
crash victims before the families bring wrongful-death suits: once you
willingly take compensation for something, you cannot seek higher
compensation through the courts unless you can prove duress or fraud in
the original settlement.

Boris Levitin
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Audience & Marketing Research              wgbx!boris_levitin@athena.mit.edu
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(The opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily coincide 
with those of my employer or anyone else.  The WGBH tag is for ID only.)