Neil Hughes
Hopewell Culture and Design this month sued the companies claiming violation of U.S. Patent No. 7,171,625, entitled "Double-Clicking a Point-and-Click User Interface Apparatus to Enable a New Interaction with Content represented by an Active Visual Display Element." The patent was first filed for ownership in 2002 by assignee Actify, Inc., based in San Francisco, Calif.
The patents notes that double-clicking has been a feature of computers for some time, but it "has not been used to effect user input to a Web browser that uniquely corresponds to the double-click input."
With regard to Apple, Hopewell believes the company's mobile devices are in violation of the '625 patent. Specifically named in the suit are the iPhone and iPad, which it says have software that allows a user to "double click or double tap a visual element representing interactive content and interact with a second version of the interactive content."
Aside from naming the iPhone and iPad, the lawsuit makes no mention of what about iOS in particular it believes is in violation of its patent.
Also named in the suit is Adobe, as Hopewell hopes to prove to a court that its Adobe Reader software is in violation of the '625 patent. From HTC, the Droid Eris, Droid Incredible, Hero and EVO smartphones are specifically listed.
Also a target of the lawsuit is Finnish handset maker Nokia, as Hopewell believes its mobile devices, including the N900 and N97 are in violation of the cited patent. The remaining defendants in the suit are LG Electronics, Motorola, browser maker Opera, Palm, Quickoffice, and Samsung.
Hopewell aims to receive "adequate" damages from the numerous technology companies it is targeting. The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, a region known for favorable outcomes in patent lawsuits.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
70 Comments
They just HAD to get one more patent lawsuit before the end of the year
A new patent lawsuit takes aim at a number of major technology companies, including Apple, HTC and Nokia, over a patent related to selecting interactive content with a double-click or double-tap....
This sounds like the "inventor" of the double-click is trying to extend it to the double-tap, so he can get paid all over again. Shameless.
It clearly doesn't apply. The title alone: "Double-Clicking a Point-and-Click User Interface Apparatus to Enable a New Interaction with Content represented by an Active Visual Display Element."Implies an "apparatus" (mouse) with which you "click." Tapping with your finger instead of a mouse is entirely different.
Only this particular court (Texas ), would have even entertained the case at all.
"Double-Clicking a Point-and-Click User Interface Apparatus to Enable a New Interaction with Content represented by an Active Visual Display Element."
So... trying to patent the CONCEPT of double-clicking.
Yeah. This will get laughed out of the courtroom. I just wish I was the judge to do the laughing.
Not again...
Not to be rude, but are you a throwaway account designed to make fun of solipsism?
Are you serious? Wow.
Hopewell Culture and Design this month sued the companies claiming violation of U.S. Patent No. 7,171,625, entitled "Double-Clicking a Point-and-Click User Interface Apparatus to Enable a New Interaction with Content represented by an Active Visual Display Element." The patent was first filed for ownership in 2002 by assignee Actify, Inc., based in San Francisco, Calif.
Hopewell aims to receive "adequate" damages from the numerous technology companies it is targeting. The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, a region known for favorable outcomes in patent lawsuits.
Agreed. Both companies are based in California, and the suit is filed in Texas? That's a signature mark of a patent troll right there. Another: If you don't have one of the top three hits pointing to their site on a search engine for the organization. Any organization that can afford to pursue in court should have web site. The top ten hits I found were concerning this and other lawsuits.