Copyrighting trivial code

[mark at mimsy.UUCP]

In article <1091 at midas.TEK.COM> herbw at midas.TEK.COM (Herb Weiner) writes:
>In Patent Number 4,464,652, Granted to Apple Computer on August 7, 1984,
>entitled Cursor Control Device for use with Display Systems, Pull-Down
>menues are covered by claim number 11.  Thus, it is not possible to
>duplicate Apple's Pull Down Menu Interface without infringing on this patent.

Well, my reading of this patent makes it pretty suspect.  It in fact
seems to patent any sort of thing which pops up on the screen when something
is pressed.  That includes a lot more look and feel than pull-downs,
and it also includes a lot of prior art that perhaps the patent examiner
did not know about.  A patent, like a copyright, is not much more than
standing to sue, and it looks to me like lots of apple's claims
won't stand up long.
-mark

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