Apple Granted Design Patent on CoverFlow
Media player programs that bear a "substantially similar" appearance are subject to change
The United States Patent and Trade Office awarded Apple with a range of patents including their patents for the MacBook Air superdrive and video-encoding system used in iChat, all of which pretty standard. But the patent to take note in the open source community is a design patent for CoverFlow, the visual way users parse through music and video on the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and in iTunes.
A design patent differs from a utility patent because it covers the appearance of an intellectual property, not how the property itself functions. In other words, any program that looks "substantially similar" to CoverFlow is eligible for legal action.
Programs and devices affected by the patent include Cover Flow, a similarly named (note the space) open source Flash script, MediaFlow, an add-on to Songbird and a variety of media players on mobile devices, such as the Motorola Droid, Nokia N900, Nokia Symbian^3, should Apple decide said interfaces are too similar.
CoverFlow was developed by Steel Skies and bought by Apple in 2006. As of this writing, Apple has not pursued legal action.
Comments
comments powered by Disqus
News
-
The First Point Release For Ubuntu 22.04 is Now Available
Canonical has released the first point upgrade for Jammy Jellyfish which includes important new toolchains and fixes.
-
Kali Linux 2022.3 Released
From the creators of the most popular penetration testing distributions on the planet, comes a new release with some new tools and a community, real-time chat option.
-
The 14" Pinebook Pro Linux Laptop is Shipping
After a considerable delay, the 14" version of the Pinebook Pro laptop is, once again, available for purchase.
-
OpenMandriva Lx ROME Technical Preview Released
OpenMandriva’s rolling release distribution technical preview has been released for testing purposes and adds some of the latest/greatest software into the mix.
-
Linux Mint 21 is Now Available
The latest iteration of Linux Mint, codenamed Vanessa, has been released with a new upgrade tool and other fantastic features.
-
Firefox Adds Long-Anticipated Feature
Firefox 103 has arrived and it now includes a feature users have long awaited…sort of.
-
System76 Refreshes Their Popular Oryx Pro Laptop with a New CPU
The System76 Oryx Pro laptop has been relaunched with a 12th Gen CPU and more powerful graphics options.
-
Elive Has Released a New Beta
The Elive team is proud to announce the latest beta version (3.8.30) of its Enlightenment-centric Linux distribution.
-
Rocky Linux 9 Has Arrived
The latest iteration of Rocky Linux is now available and includes a host of new features and support for new architecture.
-
Slimbook Executive Linux Ultrabook Upgrading Their CPUs
The Spanish-based company, Slimbook, has made available their next generation Slimbook Executive Linux ultrabooks with a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU.
Re:
Under the design patent pretty much any interface that appears substantially similar to CoverFlow can be subject to a patent infringement claim, but filing a claim is up to Apple's discretion.
The other Apple OS applications