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Billion-Dollar Question (4/10/98)
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Apple has finally publicly addressed the (snort) billion-dollar lawsuit filed against them a couple of months ago by some medical imaging company called Imatec. Faithful AtAT viewers will recall that Imatec is claiming that Apple's ColorSync software, poised to because a cross-platform standard, violates Imatec patents related to color calibration of computer equipment. In a press release, Apple reveals that not only are they prepared to "vigorously defend" themselves in court, but they're fighting back with a counterclaim intended to have Imatec's patents declared invalid.
Our legal department tells us that there are two basic avenues to take when defending oneself in a patent infringement case-- one can either deny that the patents were ever violated at all, or show that the patents should never have been granted to the plaintiff in the first place and are therefore invalid. Apple's taking the latter course, claiming that Rudolf Hell GmbH developed color calibration systems for computer equipment back in 1985, long before Imatec's patents were filed. Therefore, they claim, Imatec's patents never should have been approved.
If what Apple claims is true, then it sounds like Imatec stands a good chance not only of losing the billion-dollar claim, but also of losing the patents upon which they've based their case. Considering that they apparently don't have much more than that to lose, we wonder if they'll even push the case into court. Sounds like just another attempt to squeeze some cash out of a big company by hoping for an out-of-court settlement, and now that Apple's shown that that's not going to happen, well...
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SceneLink (614)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/10/98 episode: April 10, 1998: If Imatec was looking for an out-of-court settlement and a quick buck, Apple's shown that they're not playing that game. Meanwhile, eleven states prepare the Microsoft beat-down that the DoJ seems unwilling to dish out, and Microsoft denies claims that they were planning to run ads with fake customer testimonials to garner public support...
Other scenes from that episode: 615: Vigilante Mentality (4/10/98) And in other legal news, are you concerned about the kid gloves the Department of Justice seems fond of wearing as it pursues its antitrust movements against Microsoft? Yeah, well, so are eleven states, whose attorneys general are preparing for a possible separate attack on the software behemoth, intended to take bolder steps than this "you can't force people to include IE with your OS" goofiness... 616: Fictional Support (4/10/98) And in other Microsoft news (are these the cleanest segues you've ever seen, or what?), there's been a little doubt cast on the veracity of Microsoft's new print ads. We're talking about the new campaign Microsoft is planning to try and gain the support of the American public in its continuing antitrust struggles...
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