Xref: utzoo misc.legal:4416 comp.sys.ibm.pc:13888 comp.sys.mac:14587 comp.sys.apple:5008 comp.sys.atari.st:8703 comp.sys.hp:638 comp.sys.amiga:16934
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!ubvax!weitek!aimt!breck
From: breck@aimt.UUCP (Robert Breckinridge Beatie)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.apple,comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.hp,comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Apple Challenges HP New Wave, MS-Windows, Potentially OS/2 PM
Message-ID: <698@aimt.UUCP>
Date: 30 Mar 88 06:24:46 GMT
References: <4328@b-tech.UUCP>
Organization: AIM Technology, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 18
Keywords: Apple Mac HP Microsoft Windows OS/2 New Wave Frivolous Litigation
Summary: copyrighting a "meta-interface"?

In article <4328@b-tech.UUCP>, zeeff@b-tech.UUCP (Jon Zeeff) writes:
> I think a solution to these "look and feel" suits is for products to be
> shipped with a user selectable interface.  The user could arrange the menus
> and select the icons that he wants to use.  If he happens to select something
> that looks like someone else's interface, it's not the developers problem.

OK, but then would the "meta-interface", i.e. the method of defining the
"user interface", be copyrightable?  Of course, this is getting kind of
silly.

By the way, isn't that just what HP did with New Wave?  I had the impression
from an article I recently read that HP has a user adjustable interface.  The
default interface doesn't resemble the Mac that closely, but Apple was able,
by adjusting the interface, to produce a very mac-like environment.  It sounds
as if the HP people did quite a job.
-- 
Breck Beatie
{uunet,ames!coherent}!aimt!breck
"Sloppy as hell Little Father.  You've embarassed me no end."