Maker of ‘Flying Toasters’ Seeks to Ground Rival Software Firm

Berkeley Systems Inc., best known for its Flying Toasters personal computer “screen saver,” is hoping to make toast of a new competing product that it says violates a copyright.

Berkeley Systems said it is suing Delrina Corp., a Toronto-based publisher of a screen saver featuring a cartoon penguin engaged in a shooting match with winged toasters. The penguin fires a shotgun and is in turn bombarded with burnt toast.

The product was created by Berkeley Breathed (no relation to Berkeley-based Berkeley Systems), a prizewinning cartoonist whose main characters are Opus the Penguin and Bill the Cat.

Screen savers are the popular, animated, often whimsical programs designed to prevent images from becoming permanently “burned in” on a monitor screen. Berkeley Systems’ After Dark program leads the market, with the winged toasters its best-known image.

Mark Skapinker, Delrina’s president, said he was surprised by his rival’s reaction. “We were hoping they would take the parody as flattery,” he said. “I think they’re threatened by our entering the screen saver market.”