Yes it was. And Apple licensed the name from the cartoon character for their computer mouse. Maybe they didn't know about the other product.
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'Mighty Mouse' Trademark Awarded to Peripherals Manufacturer Man & Machine
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Yes it was. And Apple licensed the name from the cartoon character for their computer mouse. Maybe they didn't know about the other product.
Well, nobody in the medical sector probably has heard of Apple (Apple's a nobody there) - and this is the market where this company is selling their Mighty Mouse. Besides, it doesn't matter. It is a trademarked product and Apple has licensed the wrong trade name (the one for the cartoon character) for their product. Just because Apple is that big bully that doesn't mean they have any more legal rights than a small company or a single person.
And we would be using a GUI and a mouse without Apple -- neither is Apple's creation, although the company is good at making everybody think so. Ever heard of the Xerox Star? That's whom both Microsoft and Apple stole the idea of the Graphical User Interface from.
*SIGH* No, Apple legitimately made a deal with Xerox to use those ideas for their company in a legal stock exchange. Apple actaully hired many of its engineers after receiving extensive demos on the project.
Cite
And
Source
For the record, The "look and feel" lawsuit was bogus from the get go. Apple never should have initiated it - total waste of time in hindsight.
Anything Apple got from Xerox was legally obtained and later enahnced by Apple ideas already being implemented. Apple was invited to Xerox to see these tools. Nothing was stolen.
For the record, Apple has never claimed that they invented the GUI desktop - maybe they were the first company to successfully commercialize it, but they never claimed invention.
Microsoft had no such partnership with Xerox but their GUI ideas were lifted from seeing the Lisa and Macintosh (I believe they were given one before they were being sold) because at the time they had a deal with Apple to develop software. Windows was a clone of Apple's technology that they wrote from the ground up. MS dis steal some of Apple's Quicktime code to build Windows Media player, but that came much much later.
I love how Apple can take something that already exists, and suddenly turn it in to something seen as innovative. Apple didn't invent the GUI, but Microsoft didn't copy it until Apple did it. Apple didn't invent the portable music player, but Microsoft didn't make their own until Apple did. Apple didn't invent the touch-screen mobile phone, but Microsoft had exactly ZERO interest in one until Apple did it.
Apple didn't invent the touch-screen mobile phone, but Microsoft had exactly ZERO interest in one until Apple did it.
Microsoft doesn't make phones - argument moot.
Microsoft was providing a phone OS to touch screen phone makers years before the Iphone.
Did Apple copy (and improve) the Windows phone touch screen?
Well they do if you consider the fact that they own Danger (Sidekick) and there are rumors of a project called Pink which is their idea of a Zune Phone or something.
Yea. Every review I have ever read is that these were stylus driven and even then they never were that impressive. Of course touch technology probably predates both Apple and Microsoft.
They applied a generic concept of a touch screen interface. They improved anything that MS did. You really cannot say "copy" unless Microsoft invented touchscreen devices.
Touch screens are almost certainly not a Microsoft innovation - maybe on phones, but the tech for that was inspired from pre-existing devices.
I do agree with your concept - Apple simply pulled an iPod maneuver on the smart phone market. The concept wasn't new, but Apples implementation of it was way better than most of the things out there.
Ever hear of the HTC Touch? It was released before the iPhone and ran Windows Mobile 6. (not the greatest OS, but it was still impressive at the time)
It was not a stylus touch screen... you used your finger tip just like the iPhone.
It was not gesture driven though. Just swipes up/down/left/right. No pinching.
Touch screens have been around for ages in one form or another and neither Apple nor Microsoft had anything to do with their creation.
Both have sought to improve on the capabilities of such devices.
No, but it was released right around the time of the original iPhone (which was announced months earlier than that). I don't know what you're trying to point out here, I was saying that most phones that were touch before the iPhone (I can use a palm treo with a finger) were built for styluses. The Touch doesn't disprove that at all. Of course afterward, everybody was touch with a finger crazy.
You mis-understood my point though and it still post dates when the iPhone was demoed back in January of '07. The Touch wasn't out until later that year in June or July.
Again, So?
I have never questioned that not stated otherwise.
Look at my prior post especially these two phrases:
Emphasis mine. I am not revising history. Touch based technology has been around for decades.
Which goes to what I have said before on this forum.
hmmm... I wonder if the other company bought rights from the cartoon??
The other company (M&M) claimed the trademark (regarding computer peripherals) against the cartoon company (CBS) and won.
Have a look at this article:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=236
Cisco had to give evidence of an actual product because they missed a deadline to renew their trademark. It doesn't matter how many actual products they had if the evidence they submitted was forged. If they had seven products using the name "IPhone" and then they submitted a box of an eighth product that didn't use the name, putting an "iPhone" sticker on the box, then they should have lost their trademark, deservedly for being stupid, incompetent and submitting forged evidence.
At first I thought you had to be a mac user to appreciate the mighty mouse, but I'm glad to see that mac users share my frustration with it.
Well, not glad that it causes frustration. Just glad that I'm on level with some of them :]
Well, not glad that it causes frustration. Just glad that I'm on level with some of them :]
It's all relative
The hockey puck mouse was impractical the moment I first tried to use one. The connecting cord wasn't enough to give it an orientation so it would twist on the desk and the cursor would move the wrong way.
In contrast, my Mighty Mouse worked for months before it started giving me trouble, and it could be temporarily fixed with tricks like rubbing it on clean paper. I used it for months before giving it up in frustration.
I disagree. The hockey puck mouse was absolutely terrible, and the Mighty Mouse was merely awful!
The hockey puck mouse was impractical the moment I first tried to use one. The connecting cord wasn't enough to give it an orientation so it would twist on the desk and the cursor would move the wrong way.
In contrast, my Mighty Mouse worked for months before it started giving me trouble, and it could be temporarily fixed with tricks like rubbing it on clean paper. I used it for months before giving it up in frustration.
No, Disney owns Pixar. Steve Jobs is a majority investor in Disney, but he does not own Disney nor does he own Pixar.
trademark law
Trademark registration is granted to the company which first uses the mark in commerce. The US does not have a first to register system. It is a first to use. This registration does not end the fight. The USPTO's decision is not a judicial decision. If Apple feels that it was first to use the mark in commerce, it may choose to file a suit in court. -- by online trademark lawyer -- http://www.web20lawyer.com/page0/page58/trademark-law.html
Trademark registration is granted to the company which first uses the mark in commerce. The US does not have a first to register system. It is a first to use. This registration does not end the fight. The USPTO's decision is not a judicial decision. If Apple feels that it was first to use the mark in commerce, it may choose to file a suit in court. -- by online trademark lawyer -- http://www.web20lawyer.com/page0/page58/trademark-law.html
"minority"
Jobs is a minority investor in Disney, he has far, far less than 50% of the Disney stock.
Jobs is a minority investor in Disney, he has far, far less than 50% of the Disney stock.
Really? I coulda sworn he had more. Well, It doesnt change much as far as my post is concerned. He doesnt own Pixar - Disney does. Jobs was the majority shareholder of Pixar (by point 1 percent) but Disney acquired all the stock. Heck, he no longer holds a position at Pixar - he is just a member of the board of directors. However to say that he ownes Pixar is wrong. He did at one point, but not anymore.
From what I read, Jobs is the single largest shareholder of Disney (at 7%). That must be where I got confused....