Hewlett-Packard Countersues Apple in Copyright Case
Hewlett-Packard Co. Wednesday answered an Apple Computer copyright-infringement suit by filing a countersuit accusing Apple of making false copyright claims as part of an alleged effort to stifle competition.
The countersuit, filed in federal court in San Jose, asked the court to dismiss the copyright-infringement claims and to invalidate the disputed copyrights. The suit also accused Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., of anti-trust violations.
Hewlett-Packard’s countersuit was in reply to a March 17 suit by Apple, a legal dispute that could prompt courts to more sharply define intellectual property rights in the computer industry. Apple claimed that Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard infringed on Apple copyrights by developing a software product that uses video-display images that resemble certain features found on an Apple’s Macintosh personal computer.
Apple’s suit also named Microsoft Corp. as a co-defendant in the case. Microsoft countersued in April, claiming that a 1985 licensing agreement it reached with Apple allows it to use the video display features. The display in the Microsoft software and in the Hewlett-Packard product, which is called NewWave, contain “icons,” visual images that represent tasks, documents or applications. Like the Macintosh, the Microsoft product and NewWave employ a hand-held pointing device, known as a mouse, that activates programs and moves data by selecting various icons.
With major computer and software companies, including industry leader IBM, moving toward icon-based products, many in the industry were stunned by Apple’s suit.
Apple was not the original creator of the displays and should not have been given a copyright, according to the Hewlett-Packard suit.
“Apple dominates that marketplace,” said Jill Liscom, a spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard, “and they are trying to prevent others . . . from entering the market by obtaining copyrights that are not valid.”
Apple executives said they were studying the countersuit and had no immediate response.
