does this affect in any way to linux desktop development? as we speak, redhat seems to honor patent rights, so they don´t deliver media players etc. in their fedora-project. so, is fedora going to lose double click-options?

I don't see how you can patent your preferences. I mean you set this click style in your config in most cases. But I suppose they did. This will not affect linux desktop development in my opinion.

May be we can patent the words 'double' and 'click' before Microhard get them patented.

I wonder how MS will get on against the likes of Nokia et al, Nokia being the largest mass producer of mobile phones of course, that use this sort of keypress detection routines within their firmware, as do most of the cellphone manufacturers. That's without even starting on the large medical equipment makers, dvd, vcr, microwave ovens etc etc etc, and the car industry. MS must have really lost the plot.

Once my patent on the use of toilet paper goes through, we are all safe. I will simply threaten to sue Bill Gates everytime he uses it without paying royalties if he pushes his "patent" rights.

What is this country coming to?

its coming to a capitalist monopoly based country, were legal battles are fought by giving the most money to the jury/judge/government and where we the people are slaves to one big corporation that has anyone planing to start up a business without there help executed in the public

i think M$ could patent the use of the computer in America and get away with it

i hope they lose this patent, as its a very old idea , hell next they'll try to patent the use of clicking things on the screen to open these mystical boxes called "windows" that display information/picture/text and let people click in them to do things

The patent will also affects every single OS ever made on earth that use GUI. Even MacOS X. Even SCO Unix. Even ... infinity loop. They patent the things that are generally common sense that even a cow know how to double click. The patent on double click is totally illogical and the most stupid patent ever that I think the guys in the patent office are totally stupid and lack of common sense. And if they ever want to have that kind of patent, it should go to Xerox Lab for the idea of using mouse to interact with applications.

My friend lives on a dirt road. The property his home is on was inherited.
He decided to sell his home, during the process his property had to be surveyed.
The survey showed that the road he lived on, witch continued on past his house to more homes up the road came well up onto his property for a stretch of about100 feet.
He contacted the county about straighting the road so it would'nt come onto his property and discovered that because the road had been on his property for more than x amount of years without him or the previous owners filing a complaint or otherwise showing their desire to retain possession of that portion of their property it had now became public domain and no longer could be included in the survey as his property.
He had lost all rights to that portion of his property because everyone used it free of charge without his or others complaint over the years.

Maybe like the same should apply to the double click?

Read the patent.

MS is not patenting the double-click.

They are patenting a method of using different styles of input (quick click, click and hold, double click, etc.) on the same button to activate different actions.

They refer to a button, not a mouse click.

All of the claims reference a 'limited resource computing device' - ie. pda, cell phone, etc., not a computer.

The inputs themselves (including the double click) are far from patentable for many reasons.

Finally, just because the USPTO OK's something, doesnt mean it will hold up in court.

I distrust M$ as much as the next guy, but this "sky is falling" crap only increases their influence.

fatman: first off a toaster has more computing power then windows

2) the patent is still gesture recognition, something that has been around for years, just look at movies, even on educational programs a few years old there is gesture recognition

this is like me patenting the idea of having a fan on your head that can make you fly

those laws about land are called adverse possession. it's called right of way by non law people. it takes seven years. you can never get adverse possession by permission. if you find that somebody in the past gave permission for the road, it isn't adverse. it is adverse now though. try to prove somebody gave permission for the road.

patents are granted if there is any doubt that it might be valid. everybody was double clicking years ago. easy to prove prior art for a computer mouse. the handheld device and holding down the mouse probably gave the patent office some doubt, so they granted. how aboutholding down a space bar,and then it repeating after a little bit. that's been around more than 20 years.

Check out the below URL's they refrence when Both Mac OS and Window 1.0 were released.


windows 1.0

Mac OS 1.0

Mac 128K

(I'm not 110% sure if Mac OS 1.0 anything like 7.5 [the 1st Mac OS I used] but its the best I can find with out trying realy hard)

P.S. I used Google.

I think Richard Stallman gave some lecture on IP laws (he hates the IP term btw). I'm too lazy to find the link, but I'm pretty sure it's easy to find. Anyway... Patents last for 20 years. A short enough time for manufactoring, a enternity in computing. I don't think there's anything like adverse possession, but the courts do look at you funny if you try to enforce it with one year left on the clock. Companies try to patent as many things as they can mainly out of self-defense- to try to prevent somebody else patenting onto them. Then they go to other companies and say "We'll let you use ours if you let us use yours." This is known a cross-liscensing.

You can get a patent overturned for prior art, but if you're up against a big company, they can drag things out so long that it might be easier just to let the patent out. It could be that MS could use this as a bludgeon, but more likely their just covering their asses.

Trademarks, however you do have to defend, or they'll go generic. Which is why MS attempted to 0wnz0r Mike Rowe.

There is no way in hell that MS can patent a double click and if they do then I will have to reconsider my idea for
a copyright on a program called Broken Windows Repair that makes windows run like linux and a new Operating System called Doors, It has handles that you click on and they open up.lol
Well seeing how the mouse pointing device was invented by xerox and the windows style operating system was
created by apple it seems like MS should be paying royalties to both companies for using their ideas.