Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!umd5!uvaarpa!virginia!kesmai!dca
From: dca@kesmai.COM (David C. Albrecht)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc
Subject: Re: Apple sues HP
Message-ID: <159@kesmai.COM>
Date: 13 Apr 88 18:52:03 GMT
References: <29300003@urbsdc> <6177@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Organization: Kesmai Corporation, Charlottesville, VA
Lines: 39

In article <6177@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>, david@elroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (David Robinson) writes:
> In article <29300003@urbsdc>, aglew@urbsdc.Urbana.Gould.COM writes:
> > 
> > ..> Apple vs. HP
> > 
> > I would like to start a suit against Apple for violating
> > the Xerox user interface. I would gladly contribute 50-100$
> > to it, and I bet there are many people out there who feel
> > similarly. Does anyone have any idea as to how to get this
> > rolling?
> 
> Not that I agree with Apple's lawsuit on its legal or ethical
> grounds but there is a LARGE misconception that Apple
> "stole" the Xerox user interface.  This is not true!   Apple
> signed licensing agreements with Xerox...

I was at the west coast computer show and had an interesting conversation
with a gentleman of the press who was employed by xerox for roughly 10
years.  On the subject of licensing, he said that he called the Xerox legal
department when this all came out and was informed that the ONLY license
which Apple has for anything is for Smalltalk (which HP got at the same time
by the way).  He also conjectured as to why Xerox has never tried to press
their rights to the concepts which Apple continually tries to claim.  In the
not too distant past Xerox got raked over the coals because they had the
Xerographic market locked up because they had most of the pertinent patents.
The patents were essentially taken away from them despite the fact that they
were certainly valid.  I suspect as attractive as the idea is, Xerox will
not want to get involved in a suit with Apple which will be unquestionably
expensive and protracted especially when none of their products are at
stake.

I too am getting rather tired of Apple trying to keep market share by holding
everyone else back through legal harassment instead of advancing their own
position through innovation.  Innovation requires talent,
harassment just requires lawyers and money.  An independent suit against
Apple would certainly be a great news getter and would properly drag their
image through the mud (which in my opinion it should be).  It is not clear
to me, however, whether such a suit would be legally supportable without Xerox.

David Albrecht