Judge Dismisses Most of Apple’s Copyright Lawsuit
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed most of Apple Computer Inc.’s $5.5-billion suit that accused Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. of illegally copying Apple’s Macintosh display technology.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that a large majority of Apple’s computer screen display symbols that were the focus of the suit were not protected by copyright law.
The oral ruling, largely a numerical list of dismissed claims, left courtroom participants not entirely certain how much of the suit had survived. But lawyers for Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard hailed the result.
“If it wasn’t a complete victory, it was certainly at least 95% of the way,” said David T. McDonald, a lawyer for Microsoft.
Hewlett-Packard’s attorney, Jonathan A. Marshall, said virtually all the claims against H-P had been dismissed, leaving only a dispute over two different screen wastebasket symbols.
“No jury could find substantial similarity (to Apple’s display) with respect to what’s left,” he said.
Apple’s lawyer, Jack Brown, left without commenting on the ruling, which could be appealed.
Walker scheduled another hearing May 12 to decide whether the displays remaining in the suit presented enough evidence of similarity to go to trial.
The suit jolted the computer industry when it was filed in 1988, three years after Apple had licensed Microsoft to produce the Windows program for IBM-compatible computers. Hewlett-Packard was licensed by Microsoft.
Apple accused its rivals of violating Macintosh copyrights with displays in an early version of Windows and in H-P’s NewWave. .
Walker did not fully explain his ruling. But Microsoft and H-P had argued that Apple’s window symbols either were too generic to be copyrightable, like a folder representing a computer file, or were derived from pictorial displays used earlier by Xerox Corp. or other companies.
Brown, arguing for Apple, countered that the entire appearance of the Macintosh window display could be considered unique and protectable, even if Walker found some of the individual symbols to be generic or derivative.
