! !
06-04-2004, 04:55 PM
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/34234.html
Microsoft Patents Handheld Computing Clicks
... Microsoft may be trying to replicate the success that IBM, Xerox and others have had in producing thick portfolios of patents they then license to their customers.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has won a patent related to the timing of button-clicks on handheld computers and similar devices, sparking concerns among some companies and industry observers that the software giant will attempt to reap licensing fees for what many view as a common practice.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. 6,727,830 to Microsoft in late April. It spells out a "method and system" for enabling a user to call up different versions of an application depending on how buttons on a "limited resource computing device" are manipulated.
For instance, a single click might call up the default version of an application, pushing and holding the button could cause an alternative version to be activated, and still different functions could be activated by a "double-click."
Microsoft said the patent application refers to devices that run on its Pocket PC platform.
Microsoft Patents Handheld Computing Clicks
... Microsoft may be trying to replicate the success that IBM, Xerox and others have had in producing thick portfolios of patents they then license to their customers.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has won a patent related to the timing of button-clicks on handheld computers and similar devices, sparking concerns among some companies and industry observers that the software giant will attempt to reap licensing fees for what many view as a common practice.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. 6,727,830 to Microsoft in late April. It spells out a "method and system" for enabling a user to call up different versions of an application depending on how buttons on a "limited resource computing device" are manipulated.
For instance, a single click might call up the default version of an application, pushing and holding the button could cause an alternative version to be activated, and still different functions could be activated by a "double-click."
Microsoft said the patent application refers to devices that run on its Pocket PC platform.