Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site uwmacc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!rick
From: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist)
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari,net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: DRI agrees to change GEM
Message-ID: <1536@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 7-Oct-85 14:22:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1536
Posted: Mon Oct  7 14:22:16 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Oct-85 06:25:10 EDT
References: <3208@nsc.UUCP> <87@druhi.UUCP> <2750@vax4.fluke.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@maccunix.UUCP (Rick Keir)
Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 24
Xref: linus net.micro.atari:1228 net.micro.mac:2859

In article <2750@vax4.fluke.UUCP> moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) writes:
>Apple copyrighted the idea of "pull-down" menus about six months ago, i.e.
>the method of moving a on-screen pointer to the top of the screen and having
>the menu drop down.  GEM (at least on the ST) has menus which come close to
>fitting this description.  I was surprised to see this kind of a patent,
>also, but apparently Apple's lawyers made the claim quite solid, as can be
>seen by DEC's agreement to alter GEM without a fight.

I'm sure that Jeff knows that GEM is made by DRI, not by DEC.
(E-I-E-I-O, or something....  Don't you love alphabet soup?).

I'm not tremendously surprised -- there were a number of lawsuits
over PAC-MAN* several years ago, alleging that the maze/muncher/powerdots
layout was copyrightable.  The owners of PAC-Man were winning them
(largely thru out of court settlements), right up till the bottom
dropped out of the home video game market.  

* Disclaimer: PAC-MAN is a trademark of someone or other, who
probably has a lawyer on my trail even now....
-- 
"What if they gave a net.flame ... and nobody came?"
Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC
1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick