Fallout From Japanese Patent On Help Icon

MeridianOnTheLake writes "The Tokyo District Court has ordered the destruction of Ichitaro, a software product that is the only serious competitor in Japan to Microsoft Word, and has been on sale since 1985. The ruling is based on the claim of a competitor, Matsushita, that the use of a help icon to invoke a help function infinges on one of their patents. "We are a global enterprise and we are just following international practice to enforce our IP rights," Kitadeya (Matsushita) said." Here's more on the story, as covered by Bloomberg and The Japan Times.

Where have I seen that before?

[Mr2001]

Matsushita declined to say whether it thinks any other software vendors may be infringing its patent.

Gee, do you think there might be any other software out there that uses a help icon? *cough* *coughwindowsmacoswordexcelaccesspowerpointwordper fect--* *sputter* *choke*

Now if only someone had patented "Clippy"

[Kymermosst]

If only someone would sue Microsoft for Clippy, we could finally be rid of the biggest annoyance in Microsoft Office.

we're not alone

[ianmalcm]

Proof that the US patent and court systems arent alone in their noncompetitive lunacy.

Hopefully Nintendo does not sue /. for use of that Linux penguin icon, which is an obvious ripoff of Super Mario 64's snow level character.

Re:Now if only someone had patented "Clippy"

[jd]

Clippy may be liable under EPA guidelines, as it certainly pollutes desktops.

Dear Godzilla

[stephenisu]

In the enclosed envelope is a map of all Japanese Patent Offices.
They told me to tell you that your mother is a dishonorable dirty woman.

attatchment [jpomap.png]

Wait a sec

[deusexcrottsma]

Those bastards probably stole Clippy, too. Not that I ever tolerated Clippy's presence on the screen. In fact I hated him with a passion. But it's the principle of the the thing. Can't have Clippy ravaged and transmuted into a multitude of Japanese variants. He's the American Satan, not some overseas, sandal-wearing, fish-monger.

Re:Dear Godzilla

[ceeam]

Godzilla's mother is a woman??? Uhm, it's not Ripley by any chance, right?

Re:Now if only someone had patented "Clippy"

[Anonymous Coward]

Not with Chimpy McFlightsuit in the white house he ain't.

OH COME ON

[Tab is on Slashdot]

Did it have to be "fallout"?

Japanese Tongue Twister About Patents

[Anonymous Coward]

Tokyo tokkyo kyoka-kyoku kyou kyuukyo kyoka kyakka.

Translation: The Tokyo patent office hurriedly rejected the permission today.

Re:It's not the thing, it's the method

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone else smell the hand of Bill Gates, or is it just me?

If you wish to spend the weekend smelling the hand of Bill Gates that is up to you. But you don't need to share it with all of us ;)

Re:The Japanese

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, thanks! While we're are it, Blacks have a good sense of rhythm. Indians smell like curry. Filipinos wear flashy clothes.

Re:Even more filler?

[rafael_es_son]

Humans have been killing each other since societal organization indirectly caused overpopulation. We must be new here. It must be normal.

Just humans as usual. ;)

Re:For those wondering...

[Decameron81]

That said, the patent itself isn't regarding a Help Icon. It is the function where you first click on the help icon/button, and then on the particular function you need help with.

In court, Just System insisted that the Matsushita Patent was for a help ICON, which is usuall an item on the desktop, much like a file or folder, whereas the Just System Ichitaro used a button. The second point was that the "help" key on a keyboard already performed said function, and taking the keyboard to a GUI analogy did not require any insight, but was rather an obvious move as more and more keyboard functions were moved to the GUI.

This is yet another demonstration of how important patents are in the world of computer software. They are here for a reason and that is to protect those companies that spend their money on research and development. Surely Matsushita spent a lot of their resources in developing this advanced help technology and deserve a lot more than seeing some other company make unauthorized use of it. It doesn't matter wether Just System wrote from scratch their own implementation because they are plainly copying an IDEA, which surely is a great loss for whoever came up with it.

We should also thank patents because they help make courts throughout the world a better place. When we spend our time fighting for our rights to make exclusive use of certain icons and functions we do not have the time to commit serious crimes. An even further step could be to bring to court more trivial matters like unauthorized clicking of buttons by end users.

Patents also teach us about the importance of being selfish. Don't get me wrong: usually being selfish is seen as a bad thing; but to some extent you have to worry about yourself as well. I really appreciate it that our governments are starting to realize how important it is to have full control over anything you might have ever thought.

Ideas need to be protected.

Re:Patents must be published

[pmc]

We really need some sort of system so that people remember the spelling.

damn panasonic

[Anonymous Coward]

i guess they really pushed your button!

Re:Now if only someone had patented "Clippy"

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually hold the patent for Clippy but I'm too ashamed to sue anybody.

You know, I'm getting a bit tired of this

[wirefarm]

"Clippy" is gone.
There should never be a need for you to see it ever again.
I haven't actually seen it in years.

In fact, the only place I ever hear about it anymore is here on Slashdot, where the merest mention of it seems to garner endless chuckles and mod points.
Can't we just let the damned, detestable, yet mercifully short-lived abomination fade into obscurity with his ill-conceived yet now mostly forgotten friends "MS Bob" and "MS SQL Server"?

Dead horse, meet stick.

Thanks for your kind consideration.

Re:It's not the thing, it's the method

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, Bill Gates is to Slashdotters what Satan is to the evangelicals- this all powerful, ubiquitous incarnation of darkness, whom all evil acts in the world can be blamed on.

Well, I'm not going to make any wild accusations or anything... but tell me, has anyone ever actually seen Satan and Bill Gates in the same room?

Re:Now if only someone had patented "Clippy"

[sideshow Pablo]

NO!

Microsoft didn't take clippy far enough. He should have been intergrated in the OS itself. Users would have to ask clippy for permission to run any applications.

blink-blink

"It appears your trying to run an open source program. I know your not a commie so I'll just go ahead and remove that for you."

Re:Patents must be published

[Anonymous Coward]

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