Google, Apple, Microsoft Sued Over File Preview

ClaraBow writes with this excerpt from MacWorld: "A small Indiana company has sued tech heavyweights Microsoft, Apple, and Google, claiming that it holds the patent on a common file preview feature used by browsers and operating systems to show users small snapshots of the files before they are opened. ... Cygnus's owner and president Gregory Swartz developed the technology laid out in the patent while working on IT consulting projects, McAndrews said. The company is looking for 'a reasonable royalty' as well as a court injunction preventing further infringement, he said. ... Cygnus applied for its patent (#7346850) in 2001. It covers a 'System and method for iconic software environment management' and was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office in March of this year."

Wonderful

[Anonymous Coward]

claiming that it holds the patent on a common file preview feature used by browsers and operating systems to show users small snapshots of the files before they are opened

The page [patentstorm.us] for this patent at patentstorm.com shows users a small snapshot of the patent before it is opened.

Re:Two words:

[McFadden]

Why not surprise those you around you with a lawsuit this Christmas? The gift that just keeps on giving.

Re:Two words:

[sgbett]

Weight of money does not necessarily add credance to a particular viewpoint.

What they are patenting is now considered obvious, perhaps not at the time, but given that it was only granted recently (ie after several independant parties had made this discovery, thus making it "obvious" in its field) its hard not to see this as just another patent troll.

patent troll patent

[phrostie]

doesn't this infringe on the patent troll patent?

Re:Wonderful

[MichaelSmith]

I worry about sites that have a 'preview' option before posting content, they must be next ...

We should all agree not to preview for the time being, lest sourceforge get sued.

Re:Economy is in deep shit, this is a symptom

[MichaelSmith]

In fact various stores and also porn sites would be great at showing prior art to this BS patent.

Yes I can confirm from personal experience that porn sites in the mid 1990's used thumbnails.

I wonder if....

[s0litaire]

...I can copyright the procedure to engage in ludicrous legal actions on flimsy evidence between parties. 1) Read slashdot 2) Contact lawyers 3) Profit... 4) Sue myself 5) ... :D:D

I got dibs on malloc and free!

[babernat]

I'm going to run out and patent malloc and free separately. Of course I would make more money off of malloc than free. :)

Who needs it?

[martin-boundary]

Who needs file preview anyway? I just use less(1). You can get used to it. I don't even see the control codes. All I see is blonde, brunette, redhead...

Re:Perfect time to know what Obama's take

[Foobar of Borg]

now we're going to have 4 years of latent, homo-erotic references to Obama

Um, I think you're the only one that sees anything homo-erotic in the OP's post. I wonder what that could signify? (not that there's anything wrong with it)

Re:Economy is in deep shit, this is a symptom

[MyHair]

Yes I can confirm from personal experience that porn sites in the mid 1990's used thumbnails.

Sorry, this patent is for right-handed previews only.

Re:So once the big guys are down...

[Anonymous Coward]

No. Patents are for encouraging innovation.

Re:Two words:

[Anonymous Coward]

To me, this sounds like you have NO FUCKING CLUE how to read a patent. READ THE FUCKING CLAIMS. The claims define the metes and bounds.

It's like you picked up your god damned DEED on your HOUSE and saw that it said "This property is located in Colorado" and thought to yourself "HOLY SHIT! I JUST BOUGHT THE ENTIRE FUCKING STATE OF COLORADO!"

No, numbnuts. NO. Just NO.

Why is Slashdot so full of fucking idiots?