Batu69 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Microsoft now claims it owns the design of a slider Microsoft claims it owns the design of this slider Microsoft has recently been awarded a new design patent that the company used to sue Corel, claiming the company benefited from its technology without authorization. But let’s take one thing at a time. First of all, the patent. The design patent, numbered D554,140, basically states that Microsoft is the owner of the slider you can see in the photo attached to the article. This is the very same slider that the company uses in its Office productivity suite to allow users to zoom in or out documents, but it has also been implemented in a wide variety of Microsoft and non-Microsoft products. Then, the consequences of using a patent without authorization. Microsoft has recently sued Corel, accusing the Canadian corporation of using its design patents without authorization. Redmond says that several applications such as Corel Write, Corel Calculate, and Corel Show violate nine different Microsoft patents, four of which are design patents and include the aforementioned slider, plus the ribbon. But Microsoft’s lawsuit doesn’t come out of the blue. In fact, Microsoft’s lawsuit is a response to another lawsuit started by Corel in July and claiming that Redmond infringed several of its patents and that “WordPerfect has been reduced to minimal market share as a result of Microsoft’s aggressive actions.” In other words, Corel claims that its software failed to succeed because of Microsoft stealing their patents. Fight fire with fire As a result, Microsoft has decided to start its very own lawsuit against Corel, accusing the company of infringing on its patents. So basically, the two companies are accusing each other of the same thing, but Microsoft is more confident it’ll win. “Microsoft's lawsuit is in direct response to the meritless claims made by Corel earlier this year in a Utah court. We are confident we will be successful,” a company spokesperson said earlier this month. “Stupid patent of the month” The Electronic Frontier Foundation called Microsoft’s new design patent “the stupid patent of the month” and explained that the company now uses it as a way to go after Corel and possibly other competitors. “Putting aside whether Microsoft’s design was actually new and not obvious in 2006 (when Microsoft filed its application), whether Microsoft needed the patent incentive in order to come up with this design, and whether it is even desirable to grant a company a government-backed monopoly on a graphical slider (we don't think so, that's why this is a stupid patent), the scope of damages for design patent infringement has the potential to become a powerful tool to shut down legitimate competition based on the mere threat of a lawsuit,” EFF wrote. Microsoft hasn’t yet issued a public comment on these allegations, but we’ve reached out to the company for a statement and will update the article when a response is offered. Article source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 What did we learn today? Microsoft has patented the slider bar And Redmond's using it to ask for all profits from Corel's Home Office Microsoft has capped off a bumper year of epic patent stupidity all round with an award from the EFF for claiming ownership of a simple slider bar design. The design patent ... Some of Redmond's finest work apparently Graphical slider bars like this – used for setting audio volume, fill color, or the zoom scale of a document – have been around since the dawn of the mouse because it's obviously the most efficient way of adjustment. But in 2007 Microsoft was granted design patent D554,140 [PDF], giving it rights to the concept. On December 18, Microsoft cited the design patent, along with eight others, in a lawsuit against Corel (remember them?) for copying the design style of Redmond's Office suite in the Canadian firm's Home Office software. "If Corel is found to infringe even one of Microsoft's design patents through even the smallest part of Corel Home Office, current Federal Circuit law entitles Microsoft to all of Corel's profits for the entire product. Not the profits that can be attributed to the design. Not the value that the design adds to a product. All of the profit from Corel Home Office," said Vera Ranieri, staff attorney at the EFF. Microsoft lawyers aren't stupid – the slider patent is the least of the nine cited in the case. The real focus of the legal challenge is on copying the design of the Microsoft Office ribbon bar. Corel's customers had the choice of a "Microsoft Office Mode" when setting up the software, and as a result Redmond wants all of the profits from the software as damages for patent infringement. Other patents cited in the case include tabbed groupings of menu functions, the use of Help windows overlaying a document, writing arithmetic functions in Excel, and panel and text sizes in the Home Office interface. And, of course, the slider patent. "Corel has thus deliberately capitalized on the ready familiarity and rich functionality of the Microsoft interfaces and has taken advantage of Microsoft's years of effort and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in those interfaces," the lawsuit reads [PDF]. "Microsoft has warned Corel on multiple occasions regarding its blatant copying of the Microsoft interfaces. Despite those warnings, Corel has continued its infringement unabated. Corel's own actions are thus directly responsible for this lawsuit." In addition to damages, Microsoft is asking that all its legal fees be paid off by Corel as part of any settlement. The lawsuit is still ongoing, and Microsoft has requested a jury trial in the Northern District of California. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batu69 Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 What we learn today? Yes, we learn a lot about Microsoft today, one of we can see today is Microsoft got: Microsoft Awarded “Stupid Patent of the Month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 5 minutes ago, Batu69 said: What we learn today? Yes, we learn a lot about Microsoft today, one of we can see today is Microsoft got: Microsoft Awarded “Stupid Patent of the Month I didn't see it was already posted . Since you seen it before me learn to use the report button no one is perfect you who post topics others do all the time calling me out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batu69 Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Relax my bro! I don't mean it. Sorry I not use report button, my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Just now, Batu69 said: Relax my bro! I don't mean it. Sorry I not use report button, my bad. no problem i reported it already . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted December 31, 2015 Administrator Share Posted December 31, 2015 Threads merged due to articles from different sources. Somehow the original thread missed me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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