Path: utzoo!dptcdc!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!apple!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!captkidd
From: captkidd@athena.mit.edu (Ivan Cavero Belaunde)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Jonathan (Apple patents)
Message-ID: <10690@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 18 Apr 89 20:13:51 GMT
References: <530@umiami.miami.edu> <7423@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <16381@cup.portal.com> <7483@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <6806@saturn.ucsc.edu> <1476@wasatch.UUCP> <1833@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: captkidd@athena.mit.edu (Ivan Cavero Belaunde)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 35

In article <1833@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> rampil@cca.ucsf.edu.UUCP (Ira Rampil) writes:
>Yes Matilda, there are patents.  I know, I saw one.
>It was a patent issued to Bill Atkinson representing Apple.
>The patent covered a new algorithm for handling arbitrary
>rasterized regions.
>Hypothesis:  Anyone wanting to legally rip off the ROMs should
>find another way to handle the patented algorithms--Good Luck.
>Ira Rampil
>Department of Anesthesia
>UCSF

This raises an interesting point regarding the Apple/Microsoft lawsuit:
would the overlapping windows used by MS in Windows 2.0 violate Apple's
patents, since the region capability of the toolbox is vital to updating
overlapping windows?  Would Apple be able to use this (keep in mind the
case is a copyright/look-and-feel case, and then the patent violation
might not be relevant) in court?  How do other companies' interaces (ie
OpenLook and NeXTStep) handle window updating?  I would think that the
amount of horsepower these other machines can command would allow them
to use older (and possibly less efficient algorithms) for updating
overlapping windows, instead of rasterized discontinuous possibly-irre
gular regions.  Anyhow, this is all speculation and random ramblings.

-Ivan

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