Neowin.net - Microsoft Faces Another Patent Lawsuit

Microsoft Faces Another Patent Lawsuit

Posted by malebolgia on 10 February 2004 - 15:35 · 32 comments & 2712 views

By know everyone is familiar with the popular “autoplay” feature in Windows. Whenever you insert a type of storage media Windows prompts you with a list of applications to run what’s ever on it. Back in May 2002 a very small company known as TV Interactive Data claimed Microsoft infringed on its four US patents. Now a meeting has been setup to hopefully find a solution that will satisfy both groups. The crew over at PCWorld has an article explaining in further detail this story.

Microsoft faces a trial in a patent infringement suit over the "autoplay" feature in Windows that automatically starts an application after storage media is loaded into a PC. Little-known TV Interactive Data (TVI) of Los Gatos, California, sued Microsoft in May 2002, seeking damages and an injunction barring Microsoft from further infringement. Microsoft flagged the case in its quarterly regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission on Friday.

TVI charges Microsoft infringes on four of its U.S. patents, three entitled "host device equipped with means for starting a process in response to detecting insertion of a storage media" and one entitled "method for starting up a process automatically on insertion of a storage media into a host device." The patent numbers are 5,597,307; 5,795,156; 6,249,863; and 6,418,532. Additionally, TVI charges that Microsoft patent 6,366,966, entitled "method and system for automatically running a program" interferes with the TVI patents as it covers a TVI invention, according to case records filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Microsoft denies infringement and claims TVI's patents are invalid, according to court records. This is a common response in patent infringement cases.

News source: PCWorld

Thanks to configure for his watery help in this article.

Hide additional information

About the Author
Full name: Unknown
Forum name: vet

malebolgia
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline

Total votes: 0

Bookmark on del.icio.us

Advertisement

#1 Posted by kioria on 10 Feb 2004 - 15:38: Jeebus! stop teh cries

#2 Posted by dreamthief on 10 Feb 2004 - 15:42: WTF.... even autoplay is patented? this is stupid

(1 reply) #3 Posted by lostspyder on 10 Feb 2004 - 15:42: documented conversation in TVI HQ:
*knock knock knock*
"Hey boss we gotta talk"
"Im kinda buisy..."
"its important"
*shuffle shuffle whisper:'jenny go hide in the closet'*
"OK!"
"ahh man fiscal earning numbers are down 75.754%"
"damn how can we get more money"
"hey i read about this other company suing microsoft"
"yeah that sounds excelent, what can we sue them for"
"hrmm mabie we have a patent somewere they broke, well go look for it"
"hey how about that autoplay pattent that is a completly generic idea, that our monkey bragade came up with!"
"yeah ill call out lawer joe bob and buck jaw"

Last edited by 37629 on 10 Feb 2004 - 15:53

(2 replies) #4 Posted by busdude on 10 Feb 2004 - 15:59: Autoplay has been around since Windows95. Where were they 9 years ago when it came out?

(1 reply) #5 Posted by bluebsh on 10 Feb 2004 - 16:07: umm auto play was first introduced with Win95, no other system that i saw at the time had it... besides like VCR's which of course auto played when the thape wasnt able to be recorded on *rolls eyes* and these people had 9 almost 10 freaking years to say something... they need a statute of limitations of patent claims like criminal cases... after like 5 years of the tech being on challanged it should be up for grabs... because almsot 10 years between when it came out and when its filed as an infringment is rediculous

#6 Posted by bluebsh on 10 Feb 2004 - 16:09: from what else i see in these claims, this would also make Intels plug-n-play technology invalid also... it follows the same idea's.. plug it in and the system's driver detection automaticly starts up...

#7 Posted by bradford108 on 10 Feb 2004 - 16:47: By this logic, isn't a boot disk invalid as well? Also every single plug-n-play device (USB, firewire, etc.)?

I think the US Patent office has no idea what they are doing where software development is concerned.

#8 Posted by no-sweat on 10 Feb 2004 - 16:56: my autoplay doesnt even work

#9 Posted by dougkinzinger on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:00: Oh man. Not another....I'll see if my patent-attorney-lawyer-for-Microsoft friend has any goods to share.

(3 replies) #10 Posted by Cryton on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:01: This kind of patent is retarded and I don't understand why they are patent-able in the first place. I think i'm going to patent breathing out. You can all breath in as much as you want, but everytime you breath out you owe me some $$.

#11 Posted by raid517 on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:11: Hey comeon - if you guys had the chance to make a few zillion dollars, wouldn't you do it? Or do you love MS that much?

These patents date from the early 90's - so predate windows 95.

And yes this does cover VCRs, DVDs, PC's and just about every other atoplay device you can think of.

These guys have really got it covered - and soon they will be richer than any of our wildest dreams.

Lucky SOBs is all I can say...

GJ

#12 Posted by KXM on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:38: This is just silly.

#13 Posted by Grappa on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:47: I regret to inform all of you that you are in violation of the patent I hold on the motion your fingers make when you're typing on a keyboard.

The good news is, I accept Paypal.

G

#14 Posted by Midnight Mick on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:52: When the shoe is on the other foot Microsoft is quick enough to get the Laywers in - remember that.
It's all about business, not about being nice.

Believe me, MS doesn't want Cheerleaders, all they want is your money, so stop sucking up!

#15 Posted by StarfireCT on 10 Feb 2004 - 17:57

QUOTE

WTF.... even autoplay is patented? this is stupid

Even the gummy looking buttons on the caption bar of an Apple window are patented. This is no surprise.

#16 Posted by markjensen on 10 Feb 2004 - 18:37: OK... Let me change the wish I made yesterday:

I wish for no more MikeRoweSoft.com news, and no more lawsuits!

(1 reply) #17 Posted by corrosive23 on 10 Feb 2004 - 18:45: They should sue apple because apple was using **** like this when windows was still trudging through dos.

(1 reply) #18 Posted by BonkedProducer on 10 Feb 2004 - 21:34

Optiplex:

QUOTE

Microsoft is where da money's at homie

That's exactly the problem - courts are not supposed to be about making money - it seems that these days companies have forgotten how to do that, they just sue someone when they have the opportunity to do so to make a quick cash grab. F*** innovation if that's what the world has come too.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=justice:

QUOTE

jus·tice n.
1. The quality of being just; fairness.
2. The principle of moral rightness; equity.
3. Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness.
4. The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.
5. Law. The administration and procedure of law.
6. Conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason: The overcharged customer was angry, and with justice.

The fact of the matter is the patent office has become the new cash cow because it is overburdened, and has no ability to do the correct research for prior art claims. Why aren't they suing Sega and Nintendo - they both used media that made their system display products with no prompting from the user, or even further back, let's try Coleco and Atari. Heck, those may pre-date the VCR.

The simple fact is it is far to easy to gain a patent if you have the bucks to do so. I don't think that patents should be protecting anyone anymore because their purpose is long dead - they used to keep the little guy from getting ripped off by the mega-corp. Now it's the other way around, it's a way for someone to cash-in long after their actual product was a complete failure in the marketplace and someone else did something remotely similar that was able to gain marketshare.

Further, if we're going to have to put up with this patent BS shouldn't the effect on the average consumer be taken into account, along with the fact that the infringement should be in the same marketplace? Seriously, these guys didn't make computer operating systems - so how can a computer operating system compete with their product directly.

This stuff, and the copyright BS all make me wonder who these laws are really protecting, and if its time to see some new laws on the books correcting these problems, sure it won't happen Joe Consumer can't afford to give his congressperson free ski trips with on-the-house drinks and prosititutes - but one can dream.

#18.1 Posted by lostspyder on 10 Feb 2004 - 22:41: umm no patents are hugly important. You dont think scientist that have breakthroughs should be able to sell there ideas, rather then as soon as they publish is have it striped away by a megacorpiration. Patents should be givven out less freely. Have some discresion in the distorbution of patents.

#19 Posted by BonkedProducer on 10 Feb 2004 - 21:49: Oh and to add to that last comment, I'm looking down at Microsoft here too because they patented the same "concept."

#20 Posted by dangerballs on 10 Feb 2004 - 22:50: Well, I guess this means my girlfriend can't use my thumbdrives as her dildos anymore

#21 Posted by xSuRgEx on 10 Feb 2004 - 23:16: all this fuss over what comes up when you insert a (media type) , kinda reminds me of the "hyperlink" thing , you guys remember that one

#22 Posted by redvamp128 on 10 Feb 2004 - 23:40: What saddens and shocks me about it is that VCR's have done this as well as BETA's (Don't mean the OS beta but beta cassette tapes) Also DVD's and CD players. So actually those are the companies that is clear prior patents ... plus it is also an integral part of the way an Os in installed by cdrom-as well as part of the bios-( belive those hold patents on that technology) Just think booting from a floppy is a type of autoplay...Clear Prior Patent... I think the patent office should start looking over thier more recent patents.

Last edited by 1551 on 10 Feb 2004 - 23:48

#23 Posted by EnderDX on 10 Feb 2004 - 23:56: THe autorun that is being discusses is the one where once you insert a cd it does the following:

1) Starts reading a bit of the cd
2) Brings up a menu, asking you what you would like to do with the cd

this isnt anything to do with autorun.inf, its the fact that WinXP harasses you with that list of tasks you can do when you put that cd in.

[1]

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Scroll to the Top