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Apple Wins iTunes Interface Patent

Posted by pudge on from the get-yer-patents-here-no-reasonable-offer-refused dept.

phalse phace writes "There aren't too many details, but C|Net's news.com.com is reporting that Apple was issued a patent for its iTunes software interface on May 4. If you remember, Apple recently applied for a patent for its iPod interface as well."

5 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Groan... by grub · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Not trying to be funny, but has the command line been patented yet? It seems that many companies are trying to get a piece of a very limited "interface pie". You never know, one day some scummy group may claim that DOS, xterm, command.com, a unix console and my old Wyse 60 terminal infringe on their IP.

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  2. Ignorance about UIs by faust2097 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Designing a novel, useful, original UI is as difficult as any other aspect of product development in the business world. If I can patent the design of a remote control [which wouldn't send the /. crew up in arms] why is it such a logical stretch to patent the interface for a software product that has the same type of functionality? In the case of the iPod the interface is both hardware and software. Doesn't Apple deserve the benefit of developing it just like a carmaker would for a braking system or a drug company for a new medicine?

    UI design is [b]hard[/b] and good solutions require careful development.

    1. Re:Ignorance about UIs by faust2097 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The interface is not the graphics, it's the underlying structure of the way the user interacts with the software. The graphics make a difference but UI design is the act of problem solving and creating solutions for how users interact with the information. There's plenty of unusable software out there with shiny buttons and nice icons.

      In the case of iTunes the solution was the multi-paned interface in which an information hierarchy is established from general to specific through the browse parts of the window [moving from general > specific with 'results' filtered at the bottom.

  3. Software patents = Land grab by ites · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Software patents are fast becoming the 21st century equivalent of a land grab, in which those with the muscle are laying claim to a resource that has up to now been firmly in common ownership.

    There is only one possible outcome, I believe. This is that every corner of IT knowledge finishes as "property", whatever its origins. This would spell the end of independent software development and (rapidly thereafter) the end of innovation. We are clearly within sight of the day when writing _any_ software without legal backing in the form of a dossier of defensive patents becomes a dangerous sport.

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  4. Re:Are the defensive patents? by TheAntiCrust · · Score: 4, Insightful
    As an example - if someone made a car that looked very much like a Jaguar, but cost a third as much and had more commodity parts under the hood, and started selling it as the Panther. That's very obviously wrong, and even those theme-makers will probably agree.
    I disagree. Since it has lesser parts in it, the consumer is getting what they pay for. If all they want is a car that looks nice, then why should they have to go spend all that money on the Jaguar when all they want is a nice looking A to B car?