Apple Files Patent for Translucent Windows

jpkunst writes "John Kheit at Mac Observer reports on US Patent Application No. 20040090467, published on May 13, 2004, in which Apple filed a patent application for 'Graduated visual and manipulative translucency for windows.'" Begin the hunt for prior art! It's a challenge to find a non-Apple translucent window that isn't just a snippet of desktop wallpaper pasted in the background.

Comments

nVidia's nView Desktop Manager

[Bagels]

Computers with nVidia cards can have transparent windows when the windows are dragged - as well as transparent drop-down menus, etc. Definitely prior art on this one, and I wouldn't be surprised if nVidia themselves challenged Apple over this one.

Prior art in KDE

[Baloo Ursidae]

For the record, I'm looking through a transluscent konsole at a photograph of a brown bear that makes up my desktop background.

Re:Software patents are evil

[Baki]

In fact Apple is the company "we" have always had problems with. The FSF, for a long time, has boycotted Apple because of their "look & feel" lawsuits.

One might say Apple has invented the concept of software patents, and thus has been one of the few companies to have been boycotted by the free software community; this in contrast to MSFT, of which one may say many bad things but not (yet) that they have been using patents in evil ways.

Even though the boycott ended in 1995, I have always remained very suspicious w.r.t. Apple, and once more they affirm their "culture".

uh.. aterm fits that description

[josepha48]

aterm has been around for years as a translucent xterm variation. So there is prior art as aterm goes back to the late 1990's.. I'd have to read the patent though.

Apple holds a patent on translucent windows

[yo]

FYI, Apple patented translucent windows quite a while ago...

6,072,489

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1= PT O2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r =12&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=6,072,489&OS=6,072, 489&RS=6,072,489

I've got your prior art:

[Goobermunch]

Try any number of FPS computer games, including Star Wars Galaxies Online, which includes transparent, moveable windows.

--AC

Re:RTFP!

[ThisIsFred]

BTW, Blender 3D uses translucent windows, so add that to the prior art list, should anyone attempt to enforce a patent on that visual design (not a concept, therefore not patentable IMHO).