Adobe, Macromedia Kiss and Make Up

In a joint statement, Macromedia and Adobe said they have put aside their legal differences. Terms of the settlement were kept very confidential.

The Web graphics and publishing software makers said customers with products from either Adobe or Macromedia would not be affected by the settlement.

The two software makers have a bitter history over patents covering everything from Web graphics programs to video editing tools and other technologies. The companies had been scheduled to go to trial in June 2003 over still another patent infringement suit.

This spat involved U.S. Patent No. 5,546,528, granted in 1996. This covers Adobe's "tabbed palette" patent, which is Adobe's user interface for displaying multiple sets of information on the computer screen.

Adobe's original suit said Macromedia was given no right to employ such technology, which the plaintiff claims is scheduled to roll out as a feature in Macromedia's Flash 5.0 software. Macromedia counter-sued a few hours later.

In May, a jury ruled in favor of Adobe resulting in $2.8 million. In a different patent infringement suit lawsuit settled that month, Macromedia won $4.9 million from Adobe.

News source: Internet News