Posted 08/24/08 at 04:19:55 PM by Paul Lilly

Lest there be any lingering doubt that everything in the free world can be patented, Microsoft has managed to add 'Page Up / Page Down' to its portfolio. Specifically, US Patent 7,415,666 states:

A method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed. In one implementation, pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key/button allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and navigate to that same location on the next or previous page. For example, if a user is viewing a page starting in a viewing area from the middle of that page and ending at the bottom, a Page Down command will cause the next page to be shown in the viewing area starting at the middle of the next page and ending at the bottom of the next page. Similar behavior occurs when there is more than one column of pages being displayed in a row.

We're computer enthusiasts and not legal beagles, but that sure sounds like Microsoft owns the Page Up and Page Down functionality on your keyboard, perhaps paving the way for some interesting royalty demands if the patent goes unchallenged. Think about the number of keyboards, both already sold and those currently being manufactured, and it's easy to see why granting such an obvious patent is troublesome.

Anyone know if the arrow keys have been patented yet?

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15

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microsoft, keyboard, legal, patent, page up, page down

Posted 07/24/08 at 09:07:43 AM by Chris Moody

Last year a company called Anascape brought a lawsuit against Nintendo and Microsoft, claiming the companies violated several of its patents on game controllers. Microsoft’s deep pockets settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Nintendo decided to continue the fight, but lost. A jury awarded Anascape $21 million in damages.. The judge has refused to give Nintendo a new trial and threatens to halt sales of GameCube controllers, Wavebirds, and Wii Classic controllers until Nintendo puts up the money or posts a bond so it can continue fighting.

With Sony losing a similar suit to Immersion and Microsoft caving in, it doesn’t look good for Nintendo to win its case.

ArsTechnica looked deeper into Anascape and its patents. They found that Anascape doesn't have a web site. All of its patents belong to Brad Armstrong of Carson City, Nevada. Searches for Anascape’s offices haven't turned up anything. Anascape's lawyer Doug Cawley claims that the company wants to enter the game controller business, but Nintendo has "clogged the market”.

What else did ArsTechnica find? Make the jump to see.

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4

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microsoft, sony, nintendo, patent, Patent Infringement, game controllers, Anascape

Posted 10/18/07 at 10:36:52 AM by Erin Simon

After a blogger files for reexamination, Amazon's One-Click patent is invalidated by the PTO.

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Internet, online, patents, law, patent, amazon, pto, invalidation, reexamination, busted, shopping

Posted 09/16/07 at 09:10:21 PM by Erin Simon

A company has filed suit against a number of media and hardware producers alleging that they infringed its patent in the idea of putting music in a playlist. Really!

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3

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lawsuit, patents, law, infringement, antitrust, patent, playlist, prior art, sherman act