Community Responses on the Adobe/Macromedia Lawsuit

Here are some memorable quotes from discussions of the decision in favor of Adobe in the ongoing Adobe/Macromedia dispute:

Michael Dinowitz (CF-Talk):

Lawsuits are a standard in these days of intellectual property. MM has a suit against Adobe. There will be an appeal on the Adobe win. We'll all be dead and dust before dollar one changes hands on this or any product is removed from the shelves.

 

Larry Lyons: (CF-Community)

GoLive vs. Dreamweaver; Illustrator vs. Freehand; ImageReady/Photoshop vs. Fireworks, LiveMotion vs. Flash, etc.

Macromedia and Adobe are going head to head on most of their product lines, especially for the web, and MM is hammering Adobe. So as I said, if you cannot beat them in the market place, eviscerate them in court.

 

Michael Haggerty (CF-Community):

For that matter, Apple sued Microsoft over look and feel concerns for their operating system. I know that about five years ago, that case had not been settled but had been going on for over a decade.

Without starting up any talk about monopolies...

What this Adobe ruling sets the precedent for is Amalgamated Plastic Products, developers of the first trapezoidal round edged plastic trashcan (TREP), to finally go after Microsoft for infringing on its copyright with the use of the 'Trash Can' featured prominently on the desktop of each Windows installation. Often, I find myself wondering when APP is going to try to enforce its copyright and patent protection, where Windows clearly replicates the look and feel of their product through the use of the desktop interface.

Being able to drop documents into the 'Trash Can' directly simulates the distinctive look and feel of TREP without even giving credit to the manufacturer for having developed the idea in the first place. The TREP interface, which it is non-mechanical and requires no electricity, is clearly a valuable idea possessing worth in the marketplace and, by using it without paying royalties to the patent holder, Windows is causing damages in that the TREP interface COULD BE utilized to perform similar functions to its use in Windows. One case where this is true is in the disposal of files. As computers often possess a connection to a printer either locally or via a network, users COULD BE using TREP to dispose of files manually instead of within the Windows product.

These are the reasons for intellectual property laws, in that they keep other companies from profiting from the work of the original patent holders.

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