[Developer]

Graduated visual and manipulative translucency for windows

"Methods and systems for providing graphical user interfaces are described. overlaid, Information-bearing windows whose contents remain unchanged for a predetermined period of time become translucent. The translucency can be graduated so that, over time, if the window's contents remain unchanged, the window becomes more translucent. In addition to visual translucency, windows according to the present invention also have a manipulative translucent quality. Upon reaching a certain level of visual translucency, user input in the region of the window is interpreted as an operation on the underlying objects rather than the contents of the overlaying window"

This sounds a little bit like WindowShade X where a window can be made temporarily transparent to reveal what's behind. Apple's new pantent is also similar to a new feature of Microsoft's Office 2004 where palettes automatically become transparent after a certain amount of inactivity.

Will these companies get in trouble with Apple now?

[Rosyna]

No. The patent covers windows going transparent because they are idle and coming back to life when something is unidled in it.

Basically sounds like focus follows mouse. and active windows become transparent.

[Developer]

Originally posted by Rosyna:
No. The patent covers windows going transparent because they are idle and coming back to life when something is unidled in it.

Sounds exactly like what Office 2004 does.

[Rosyna]

Apple and MS can use any of the other's patents or copyrights without paying. This was part of the agreement that was signed with their $150 Million "settlement".

[gorickey]

Originally posted by Rosyna:
Apple and MS can use any of the other's patents or copyrights without paying. This was part of the agreement that was signed with their $150 Million "settlement".

Rosyna:

Hey there, just wondering why Unsanity.org isn't being "blogged" up that much anymore? It's been awfully quite for awhile...anything going on?

Thanks.

[Ryan Becker]

Originally posted by gorickey:
Rosyna:

Hey there, just wondering why Unsanity.org isn't being "blogged" up that much anymore? It's been awfully quite for awhile...anything going on?

Thanks.

Is Rosyna an Unsanity employee!? I absolutely LOVE anything and everything they do! lol

-Ryan

[Wiskedjak]

I would be very surprised if Unsanity and MS didn't already have their uses of transparency patented. Apple isn't the only company that makes copious use of patent lawyers.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by Rosyna:
Basically sounds like focus follows mouse. and active windows become transparent.

Sounds more like what Windows XP does with some windows. For instance, when you work with the input method selection window, it's solid; after you leave it alone for a while, it becomes transparent enough that you can actually read text behind it. That was what it made me think of, anyway.

[Developer]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
Sounds more like what Windows XP does with some windows. For instance, when you work with the input method selection window, it's solid; after you leave it alone for a while, it becomes transparent enough that you can actually read text behind it.

Interesting. If you look at the figure in the patent, that's exactly the example Apple has given in the patent.

Originally posted by Rosyna:
Apple and MS can use any of the other's patents or copyrights without paying. This was part of the agreement that was signed with their $150 Million "settlement".

I thought that since expired.

[spambot]

the date on the application is november 5 2003; there was almost certainly a preliminary application a year before that (november 5 2002); any public disclosure by any party (issues of who was first are irrelevant here) of claimed material more than a year before that date (november 5 2001) would make those claims un-patentable. as a point of reference, this is after the release of X.1. [there are conditions under which these date calculations might not apply; i don't care to dig up whether this application is such a one]

the claims are very broad, covering everything from the bezel behavior described in the news-clip-quoted description (the fade-out on idle that eject/brightness/volume control do, or the new iphoto) to varying the opacity of a window with a slider control, and click-through transparent windows. without looking far i easily have prior art for a number of the claims just sitting on my hard disk. for example, early betas of Net Monitor predating november 2001 have slider control of window transparency with click-through past a certain transparency threshold. this alone knocks out several of the claims. i'm too busy right now, but i think it would be fairly easy to put together a portfolio of prior art that would cover most of the claims. some of the combinations of features claimed might still be patentable, though.

it's possible the pto (patent & trademark office) will grant patent on all claims in the application. it's very unlikely they will throw it out wholesale. i would expect patent to be granted eventually after some of the more absurd claims have been dropped. expect the patent to be granted around 2006.

now let's assume patent is granted on all claimed material.
it would then be within apple's power to demand royalties from all third party mac developers whose software infringes the patent, like Net Monitor's transparency slider and click-through, and Adium's event bezel. this seems extremely unlikely -- nay, downright implausible to me. but i am not a veteran mac developer; when it comes to developer relations i have only my common sense, and common sense, law, and corporate behaviour often have nothing to do with each other, so i will say no more on the topic.
who do i think it plausible apple would go after?
1. third party windows developers who offer software to make windows look and behave like the mac. there's a sense in which these people are apple's ultimate enemies, and apple has gone after them before for copyright stuff. i label them "most likely target".
2. microsoft or linux. the former depending on what various agreements the companies may have. the latter depending in apple's mood. in particular linux windowing system developers who make their linux machines look/act like the mac os (as 1, above) are likely targets.
3. maybe interface design on next-generation video game consoles? not many console games use 'windows', though, and the claims are all about 'windows'.


...
actually, this is more than a little weird. cause the news item is about a patent application, with a filing date of November 2003. but the published application is word for word identical to a patent filed december 1999 and granted december 2003. link
i don't have time to try to make anything of this strangeness with two identical applications 4 years apart, except the obvious note that for those who care, finding prior art for a patent filed in 1999 will be significantly more difficult. but to maybe assuage the fears of those who are worried by this, invoke the question, "have we heard of apple filing any patent infringement lawsuits about this yet? has apple sued you yet?"

edit: fine i lied. the two documents are only almost word-for-word identical. still, this news item really is sort of non-news.

[mitchell_pgh]

I read the patent, but I think it had more to do with varying levels of transparency per screen directly dependent upon the last time the window was active.

I think it's rather original, but I haven't seen what Microsoft or Unsanity does.

[gatekeeper]

As original as a shopping cart ... ON TEH INTERNET !!

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by gatekeeper:
As original as a shopping cart ... ON TEH INTERNET !!

hitting the wine rather early aren't we?

[dru]

Originally posted by Rosyna:
No. The patent covers windows going transparent because they are idle and coming back to life when something is unidled in it.

Basically sounds like focus follows mouse. and active windows become transparent.

Not quite. It covers sending clicks through the transparent window to the control below, not *just* timed transparency.

[Person Man]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I think it's rather original, but I haven't seen what Microsoft or Unsanity does.

I can't speak for Microsoft, but I can speak to what Unsanity does.

You know how Quartz makes it possible to make things like windows transparent? You know how you can make the Terminal window transparent?

Well, the transparency thing is an API in the operating system. And it's a public one, I believe. Which means that Apple lets any developer use it.

Unsanity, in their WindowShadeX program, lets you make any window transparent. Using Apple's API for that. I don't think Apple would go after any developers for patent infrinfement using Apple's API.

[lookmark]

I believe the patent describes a new notification system from Apple (which is long overdue). Pop-up windows that update you on system (or application) events that grow increasingly transparent if not clicked on immediately, and can be clicked-through until clicking on a certain window elements (or hovering over it for a few seconds) to re-activate them. Neat.

Not as sure this would be used in the general UI (such as for palette windows, or even click-to-focus), but I could possible future iterations of it.

I also suspect that Apple will have a difficult time defending this patent in court if they're granted it. The last time someone tried to sue over a GUI element was Adobe vs. Macromedia, what look what a mess that turned out to be. I hope Apple doesn't go down that route -- unless so they're so explicitly ripped off that they have to.

BTW, as I understand it, the so-called "technology sharing" agreement between MS and Apple officially ended in summer 2002.