On Thu, Feb 26, 2004 at 10:38:46AM -0500, Bob Woodside wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 07:55:11 -0700
> Michael Wilkinson <mike_at_towerravens.com> wrote:
>
> > There is Microsoft Patent for a virtual desktop in the works, have you
> > guys seen this:
> >
> > http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220030189597%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20030189597&RS=DN/20030189597
>
> IANAL, as they say, but here are my initial observations on this patent
> application (the full text of the application may be grabbed in PDF form
> from http://www.pat2pdf.com/20030189597.pdf).
>
> 1) This is, as yet, only an application, published after a standard 18
> month waiting period.
>
> 2) The "invention" claimed is a detailed description of Microsoft's
> MSVDM (Virtual Desktop Manager) component of their Power Tools
> collection for Windows XP. This is readily seen in the supporting
> artwork.
>
> 3) The application does not put a lock on the entire idea of
> virtual desktop cum pager. The supporting drawings acknowledge prior art
> in this area (albeit somewhat anonymously). You'll see recognizable KDE
> and GNOME panel images (complete with GNOME pager) on page 2 (Figs. 1A -
> 1C).
>
> 4) So far as I can tell, the gist of the claimed invention is their
> method for interacting with the pager - zooming to full-screen, etc.
> While I consider this entirely too trivial, frivolous, and obvious to be
> worthy of a patent, I'm no patent expert (of course, I doubt that many
> patent experts are also software experts). They may well be able to get
> by with this one, though some of the individual claims may get denied or
> modified. This is the aspect that concerns me most, for fear of overly
> broad interpretations of the claims in the future, should the patent be
> granted.
>
It does remind me though of the 3ddesktop project. Although the
interface is not exactly the same and with 3ddesktop you can't drag
windows from one desktop to another, it does zoom out and show you all
desktops at once in a nice 3D interface.
> 5) This *may* well be a purely defensive patent application,
> to prevent some rapacious, litigation-happy company from charging them
> with IP violations for their MSVDM tool. They do have some history of
> being targeted by companies whose main product seems to be IP
> litigation.
>
>
> I'll be curious to see what the FSF's take on this is.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Bob
>
>
>
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Received on Thu Feb 26 2004 - 15:54:49 GMT