Desktop computer cases

Not long ago, Forbes magazine published an article about a computer scientist at the University of California who has successfully sued several large companies for an unusual type of patent infringement. Allan M. Konrad, who teaches at Berkeley, says that he invented the technique by which a computer user requests information from a Web site and then receives the data--airline flights, hotel room costs, car rental fees, etc.--sometimes by reading it directly off the screen, sometimes by downloading from the Web site.

Forbes, which has a constitutional antipathy toward this type of litigation, reports that Konrad is suing 35 companies, including Ford, Hertz, and Marriott, and has reached out-of-court settlements with Motorola, Boeing, and Eastman Kodak. He is also being sued by Microsoft, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems, which claim that the method "Remote Information Service Access System Based on a Client-Server Service Model" was already in wide use before the professor filed his initial patent application in 1993.

Patent infringements involving concepts, access techniques, and even keystroke patterns such as this are relatively new. But as the Internet grows in size, popularity, and value, the business community can expect many more of these types of lawsuits to rear their ugly heads. The following is a random sampling of some of the more noteworthy cases currently being adjudicated across the U.S.

Computer users are often frustrated, baffled, and even frightened when they see the words, "This program has performed an illegal operation and will now shut down." In fact, most of the time the program does not close down at all, which only serves to confuse the issue. More puzzling still is the jarring use of the term "illegal," when "inappropriate command" or "cannot process inquiry" would be far more accurate. Now Sally Prescott, an El Paso, TX, freelance software designer, claims that she invented this perplexing message way back in 1987 when the Internet was still in its infancy.

"A bunch of us were sitting around having a few brewskies, trying to hack our way into NASA, when all of a sudden I thought it would be fun to dream up a message that would scare the living hell out of computer users every time they saw it on their screen," says Prescott. "The message is supposed to mean: You've just typed in a command that the program doesn't understand so it's shutting down. But I thought it would be a lot funnier to write a message that would make people think the Feds were outside with submachine guns and water cannons getting ready to bust in. Anyway, it's my message, my language, my code--and I expect to be paid for it."

Prescott is currently seeking an eighth-of-a-cent royalty every time the message appears on a computer screen anywhere in the world, thus assuring her an annual income of roughly $754 million for the rest of her life.

Richard Farrington, a graphics designer based in Hamilton, Ontario, has a slightly different legal complaint. He claims to be responsible for the grocery cart image that appears on many online retailing Web sites.

"Originally, retailers were talking about using pictures of paper bags or boxes or car trunks or even the backs of pick-up trucks," explains Farrington. "But I came up with the idea of the grocery cart. Without my invention, shoppers would have to make their purchases one at a time, which would be amazingly time-consuming and totally devoid of graphic elegance. That's why I'm seeking $235 million in damages from e-tailers."

Ironically, Farrington is not the only graphic designer who claims to have dreamed up the online shopping cart graphic. Melvin Tucker of Sarasota, FL, says that he invented the distinctive upscale shopping cart with shiny little black wheels and a gleaming red handle, which is much more "visually arresting" than Farrington's "generic, down-market" cart.

"I also invented the trash can that appears as a computer graphic on many online shopping sites," says Tucker, "And I am the inventor of the idea bulb that appears in many programs. It was my idea to make it 150 watts."

The success of these "inventors" in obtaining remuneration for their patents will determine whether such lawsuits will soon become a veritable tidal wave or will eventually slow to a trickle. For example, a Boston software designer now claims to have invented the term, "For additional information, click here." A Baltimore college professor says that in 1996 he patented the term, "Yes, I am 18 years old," which is used frequently by computer users who want to access Web sites containing sexually explicit materials, And a Juno, AK, woman says that she invented the term "dialog box," which was previously referred to as "communications interface." She is seeking $1.9 billion in damages from various software makers.

Perhaps the most contentious lawsuit of all involves the desktop graphic for "automatic phone dialer." Chaz Barrett, a Dallas hobbyist, says that it was his idea to make the phone a squat, old-fashioned device rather than a sleek hand-held unit, and to depict a finger dialing a number.

"Some of the original desktop graphics looked like battleships or hot dogs sitting on top of a canary-colored office building," explains Barrett. "Folks with bad eyesight couldn't tell what in heck those old graphics were supposed to mean, That's why I think I'm entitled to around $350 million."

Although these figures seem quite high, most of the litigants feel that they are being relatively generous. As Prescott explains it: "I also invented the message: 'The computer you are presently dialing is not responding. Please try again later.' If I held up the public for that one, you could start emptying Fort Knox into my driveway right now."