Apple threatened to sue Sun in 2003 over user interface design issue

Apple threatened to sue Sun in 2003 over user interface design issue

Sun Microsystems' former CEO, Jonathan Schwartz, says that Apple CEO Steve Jobs threatened to sue Sun for infringing on its intellectual property in 2003 for a user interface design.

According to "CNET" (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000215-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&t...), Jobs delivered his threat to Sun personally, Schwartz said, calling his office to say the graphics in Sun's operating system 3D interface, Project Looking Glass, were "stepping all over Apple's IP," and that if Sun commercialized it, "I'll just sue you."

Sun countered with its own patent portfolio, according to "CNET." With Apple, Schwartz raised the similarities between Apple's Keynote presentation software and Concurrence, software from Schwartz's start-up Lighthouse Design, which Sun acquired, the article says. And he pointed to Sun's operating system patents, relevant given its Unix history and the fact that Apple's Mac OS X uses Unix technology. "Steve was silent," Schwartz said.

 
AAPL
$282.52
Apple Inc.
-1.23
MSFT
$24.38
Microsoft Corpora
-0.11
GOOG
$525.62
Google Inc.
-0.17
MacTech Search:
Community Search:
See All

Introducing the App Hall of Fame!
App discoverability continues to be a real issue. With the fast churn of apps in the App Store, an app has only a few weeks of promotional life in it before it‚Äôs largely forgotten. There are a few things developers can do to fix that, but those... | Read more »
Gobliiins Are Coming
In the midst of the huge Q4 launch schedule, the cult classic, Gobliiins, as well as the rest of the trilogy, are being ported to the iPhone in all of their original glory. The Goblins trilogy was a quirky Atari/Amiga game series from the early 90‚Äôs... | Read more »
myPhoneDesktop – Chrome to iPhone Extens...
Anyone who has used myPhoneDesktop knows that it is a fantastic tool for streamlining your onscreen workflow. Instead of having to type line after line into your phone directly, you can use myPhoneDesktop to type from your computer directly into... | Read more »
Classes Review
Developer: Dustlab Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 2.4.7 iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5 stars | Read more »
AutoVerbal Talking Soundboard Pro helps...
Being able to speak and communicate with others is something that many of us take for granted. It‚Äôs not so easy for many folks though, in particular for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, as well as those who have suffered various brain... | Read more »
Pocketbooth Review
Developer: Project Box Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0 iPhone Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 4.17 out of 5 stars | Read more »
Get Your Roast Right With ‘Time To Roast...
Roasting meat, in the cooking world, is about as simple as it gets. The greatest roast recipe I‚Äôve ever found is from Michael Ruhlman‚Äôs website, with the recipe titled, ‚ÄúThe World‚Äôs Most Difficult Roasted Chicken Recipe.‚Äù | Read more »
See All

  • Generate a short URL for this page:



All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.
Greetings, and welcome to the new MacTech web site! Our home page is designed to be your Industry Dashboard -- so you can have a snapshot of all that's relevant in the industry in one easy location. Many readers tell us that because the information is updated so frequently, they are now checking the site multiple times a day. Here's a quick run down of the features on the new web site, which can be subtle. We truly hope you register so that we can keep you up to date about new features as they are implemented. And, please use the BETA button in the top right to provide us any feedback, suggestions or bugs. We love to hear from you.