patent

eBay, MercExchange end 'Buy it now' patent feud

Editor's note: This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. PST to add comments from MercExchange and correct the company's description and number of employees.

It had to climb all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and back again, but a long-running patent dispute between eBay and a three-man e-commerce technology company finally appears to be over.

Since 2001, the Virginia-based MercExchange had been at war with the auction giant. It alleged that the Silicon Valley company's online auction interface--namely, its "Buy It Now" feature, which allows users to purchase items without … Read more

Torvalds gives props to Microsoft for sharing

Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project that's among the best-known open-source threats to Windows, has words of praise for Microsoft's announcement last week that it would share some previously hard-to-get technology with open-source programmers.

"I may make fun of Microsoft occasionally, and yeah, I think they do stupid things at times, but I think this one was a step in the right direction," Torvalds said in an e-mail.

"Could it have been even more? Sure. But give them credit for at least seeming to open up a little, even if it probably was … Read more

Wal-Mart, Target under RFID patent attack

Behind the scenes, Wal-Mart and Target use radio-frequency identification tracking systems to help them keep their shelves stocked, but that method could face new complications if an ongoing patent lawsuit doesn't go their way.

The suit, filed back in August 2006, accuses the megaretailers and Gillette of infringing on a U.S. patent covering an "inventory control system" that employs radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to track the presence or absence of items and keep them from colliding. The patent belongs to a Houston man named Ronald Bormaster, who assigned it to Houston-based RFID World, which does not … Read more

Open-source fans mixed on Microsoft move

Open-source fans can be a skeptical bunch, but I've seen their collective opinions shift--for example in the gradually diminishing loathing for Sun Microsystems as that company stopped deriding Linux and started moving its portfolio to open-source software.

So it's not a surprise that various representatives had a mixed reaction to Microsoft's move Thursday to share details of its technology with open-source programmers.

The move could make it easier for many projects to work well with Microsoft products and potentially replace them--for example the Thunderbird e-mail software could communicate better with Microsoft Exchange servers and also displace Microsoft … Read more

Microsoft's open-source patent threat still intact

Microsoft made major concessions Thursday that should make it easier for open-source software to dovetail with or even replace Microsoft products, but a major caveat means the company's legal threats remain alive and well.

Microsoft announced a number of moves that could significantly improve its relationship with the open-source world. Among other things, the company said it will share communication protocols that govern how Microsoft software products communicate; pledged not to sue open-source programmers for developing software that uses those interfaces; and launched an Open Source Interoperability Initiative to improve how well open-source software works with its own.

Although … Read more

Microsoft's openness pledge: What's the reality?

I've taken some flak from the anti-Microsoft crowd for my positive report on Microsoft's openness pledge. I stand by my position but think it's also worth taking a deep breath (all of an hour later :-) and recognizing Microsoft's position for what it is.

This is not manna from heaven. It's surely self-interested on Microsoft's part, as Mary Jo of ZDNet suggests (OOXML vote coming up next week, anyone?). This might be a little too cynical, however, as this has been in the works for months.

So let's give the company a little credit. It's a great step in the right direction, but it's not manna. Here's why:… Read more

Let's be clear: Microsoft's pledge is not a blanket covenant not to sue [UPDATE]

Ina Fried reported that Microsoft was covenanting "not to sue over open source." This, unfortunately, is only half-true. Microsoft did agree not to sue open-source developers, but it had already promised that before. [NOTE: My memory was a little fuzzy on this. See below.] It also said it would provide access to its IP to commercial open-source companies at fair rates, which is also not news.

In other words, there is no some news in Microsoft's announcement as it pertains to patents and open source. None. Or very little.

UPDATED: What I failed to mention was that Microsoft's original pledge was more constrained to developers in the OpenSUSE.org community and to "non-compensated developers." In other words, developers too poor to worry about. :-)

So, the fact that Microsoft is now opening up to any open-source development and non-commercial distribution is important, though not significantly more than it originally promised. It's still designed to limit non-commercial distribution, which is effectively what the original proposal called for. I understand Microsoft's stance on this. I just wish that it would change it.… Read more

Apple seeks patent on MacBook trackpad power chords

Apple could be readying a notebook trackpad that lets you practice your Rock Band form while using your Mac.

A patent application unearthed by MacRumors.com seeks protection for multitouch technology similar to that introduced by Apple on the MacBook Air's trackpad. This time, however, MacBook users could use as many as four fingers positioned in "chords" to execute different tasks in Mac OS X, such as bringing all the application windows to the front or opening up the Dashboard.

This could even be extended to individual tasks within applications, such as cut and paste. Those were … Read more

Apple patent shows Google Maps working on older iPods (maybe)

AppleInsider has uncovered a patent filing from Apple (located here) that's a cross between what we've known as an "enhanced podcast" and the step-by-step driving directions found on the maps application that is on the iPhone and iPod touch.

In short, the design specified in the patent would let users grab driving directions (presumably from Google) and have them combined with voice activated commands that would advance the directions forward. The data would be packaged in the form of a Podcast that could be downloaded and put on the player like any other audio file.

The … Read more