Anaya Nolan
In 1988, Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, alleging copyright infringement on the visual graphical user interface (GUI) elements of its Lisa and Macintosh operating systems. Apple claimed that Microsoft's Windows 1.0 and Hewlett-Packard's NewWave screen displays violated their copyrights. The case centred around the idea of a look and feel copyright, with Apple arguing that Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard had copied the overall appearance of their GUI. The court rulings were largely based on the original licensing agreements between the companies, and the specific elements covered by these licenses. The court concluded that Apple could not claim copyright infringement on basic GUI elements such as windows, icons, and menus. The case established that the analytic dissection of user interfaces is vital to copyright decisions, avoiding a broader precedent on look and feel copyrights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Type of case | Copyright infringement lawsuit |
| Plaintiff | Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) |
| Defendant | Microsoft Corporation |
| Date filed | March 17, 1988 |
| Apple's objective | To prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using visual graphical user interface (GUI) elements similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems |
| Court ruling | Apple could not get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface or the idea of a desktop metaphor under copyright law |
| Court's reasoning | Most of the GUI elements were licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement, and the remaining elements were not copyrightable as they were unoriginal to Apple or were the only possible way to express a particular idea |
| Outcome | Apple lost all claims except for the ruling that the trash can icon and folder icons from Hewlett-Packard's NewWave windows application infringed its copyrights |
| Settlement | In 1997, all lingering infringement questions were settled in direct negotiations. Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer its default browser |
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What You'll Learn
Apple's GUI elements were licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement
Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation was a copyright infringement lawsuit filed on March 17, 1988, in which Apple sought to prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using graphical user interface (GUI) elements similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems. Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft was filed only a few months after Microsoft released Windows 2.0, which was a significant improvement over the first version. Apple alleged that Microsoft had copied Macintosh's visual displays without a license.
Apple listed 189 GUI elements, and the court decided that 179 of these elements had been licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement. The court outlined five ideas that it identified as basic to a GUI desktop: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects. The court established that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only claim rights to their precise expression.
The court's ruling was based on the original licensing agreement between Apple and Microsoft for Windows 1.0, which allowed Microsoft to make future products resembling Macintosh. Apple had agreed to license certain parts of its GUI to Microsoft for use in Windows 1.0, and in return, Microsoft agreed to continue developing its Mac products and not release Excel for any other platform for two years.
The lawsuit ended on February 21, 1995, when the Supreme Court denied Apple's petition. In 1997, three years after the lawsuit, all lingering infringement questions were settled in direct negotiations.
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Most remaining GUI elements were not copyrightable
The Apple vs Microsoft lawsuit of 1988 was a copyright infringement case. Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) sought to prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using visual graphical user interface (GUI) elements that were similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems.
Apple listed 189 GUI elements, and the court ruled that 179 of these elements had been licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement. Most of the remaining 10 elements were not copyrightable—either they were unoriginal to Apple, or they were the only possible way of expressing a particular idea.
The court outlined five ideas that it identified as basic to a GUI desktop: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects. Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on the precise expression of them.
The court also pointed out that many of Apple's claims failed on an originality basis, as Apple had licensed many of its representations from Xerox. Copyright protection only extends to the original expression, and the court ruled that Apple could not get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface or the idea of a desktop metaphor under copyright law.
The case established that the analytic dissection (rather than the general "look and feel") of a user interface is vital to any copyright decision on such matters.
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Xerox sued Apple for infringing copyrights Xerox held on its GUI
In the midst of the Apple v. Microsoft lawsuit, Xerox sued Apple, alleging that the Macintosh GUI was heavily based on its own. Xerox had invited the Macintosh design team to view their GUI computers at the PARC research lab, and these visits were very influential on the development of the Macintosh GUI.
Xerox's lawsuit appeared to be a defensive move to ensure that if Apple v. Microsoft established that "look and feel" was copyrightable, then Xerox would be the primary beneficiary, rather than Apple. The court ruled that Xerox "had waited too long to file a copyright infringement case and had to resort to a weaker charge of unfair competition".
The district court dismissed Xerox's claims without addressing whether Apple's GUI infringed Xerox's. This was because the case would require a standard of "virtual identity" between Windows and the Macintosh at trial for Apple to prove copyright infringement. Apple believed this standard to be too narrow and believed that a more broad "look and feel" was all that should be necessary at trial.
Apple argued that while the individual components of the GUI were not original, the complete GUI was. However, the court rejected these arguments because the parts were not original. The court outlined five ideas that it identified as basic to a GUI desktop: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects.
The court established that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on the precise expression of them.
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Apple's claims failed on an originality basis
Apple's argument that the "total concept and feel" of its interface as a whole was original, even if individual elements were not, was rejected by the court. The court ruled that Apple could not get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface or the idea of a desktop metaphor under copyright law. The court concluded that because individual elements of the Macintosh program could be legally copied, Apple would have to demonstrate that the overall appearances of Windows and NewWave, taken as a whole, were virtually identical to the Macintosh display to prove infringement.
Apple's claims also failed because they were based on ideas and expressions that were licensed to Microsoft in the original Windows 1.0 agreement. The court ruled that the license agreement permitted Microsoft to make future products that resembled Macintosh even more closely than the original Windows 1.0.
Apple's claims failed, in part, because they were not original and the court ruled that the analytic dissection of a user interface, rather than the general "look and feel", is vital to any copyright decision on such matters.
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Apple could not make copyright claims on basic GUI ideas
Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation in 1988, claiming copyright infringement on its graphical user interface (GUI) elements. Apple claimed that Microsoft copied its Lisa and Macintosh operating systems' visual GUI elements.
The court outlined five ideas that were deemed basic to a GUI desktop: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects. The court ruled that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on their precise expression. This was because, according to copyright law, ideas cannot be copyrighted, only their expression can be.
The court also pointed out that many of Apple's claims failed on an originality basis. Apple had licensed many of its representations from Xerox, and copyright protection only extends to the original expression. Apple argued that while the individual components were not original, the complete GUI was. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that the parts were not original.
The court concluded that Apple could not get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface or a desktop metaphor under copyright law. The court's ruling was based on the original licensing agreement between Apple and Microsoft for Windows 1.0, making the case more of a contractual matter than a copyright law issue.
In summary, Apple could not make copyright claims on basic GUI ideas because copyright law only protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Additionally, many of Apple's claims lacked originality, and the court's ruling was based on the existing licensing agreement between the two companies.
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Frequently asked questions
Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation was a copyright infringement lawsuit filed on March 17, 1988, in which Apple sought to prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using graphical user interface (GUI) elements that were similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems.
The court ruled that Microsoft's Windows and Hewlett-Packard's NewWave screen displays did not violate Apple's copyrights in its Macintosh screen display. The court also pointed out that many of Apple's claims failed on an originality basis, as Apple had licensed many of its representations from Xerox.
The court ruled that Apple could not get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface or the idea of a desktop metaphor under copyright law. The court also established that Apple could only make copyright claims on the precise expression of five basic GUI elements: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects.
The case established that the analytic dissection, rather than the general "look and feel", of a user interface is vital to any copyright decision on such matters. It also set a precedent for future copyright infringement cases involving user interfaces and graphical displays. Additionally, the case resulted in Apple making Internet Explorer its default browser, which was seen as a setback for Netscape.
