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Microsoft sues Salesforce

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Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#11

Post by bhiggins »

roc wrote: post #10
rfrey wrote: post #2

Sues on violation of 9 patents. 1. Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data 2. System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu 3. Method and system for stacking toolbars in a computer display 4. Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications 5. Aggregation of system settings into objects 6. Timing and veloci…

I've come to terms with the fact that even here on HN, many people still mistake a summary for a legal definition of the invention covered. But I had held out hope that this wasn't the sort of place where one could condemn patents by title alone, let alone the sort of place where a false argument like that would find approval. No point is bolstered by pretending the titles have any bearing on the legal or philosophic…

Nice troll.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#12

Post by rfrey »

roc wrote: post #10
rfrey wrote: post #2

Sues on violation of 9 patents. 1. Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data 2. System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu 3. Method and system for stacking toolbars in a computer display 4. Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications 5. Aggregation of system settings into objects 6. Timing and veloci…

I've come to terms with the fact that even here on HN, many people still mistake a summary for a legal definition of the invention covered. But I had held out hope that this wasn't the sort of place where one could condemn patents by title alone, let alone the sort of place where a false argument like that would find approval. No point is bolstered by pretending the titles have any bearing on the legal or philosophic…

Nobody mistakes a title for a summary, or a summary for an exhaustive 40 page patent.

Nobody mistakes an academic article title for an abstract, or the abstract for the text, or the text for the data, either. But that doesn't stop us from mentioning articles by title.

I thought it would be helpful to list the patents since they are not listed in the original article and one has to scan a 10 page pdf to find them. I'm not sure what you would prefer. Don't list the patents? Full text? Links to full text? Please educate me on proper summarization of a patent lawsuit.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#13

Post by jimfl »

rfrey wrote: post #2

Sues on violation of 9 patents. 1. Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data 2. System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu 3. Method and system for stacking toolbars in a computer display 4. Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications 5. Aggregation of system settings into objects 6. Timing and veloci…

It seems like anyone doing automatic software updates is in violation of "Method and system for identifying and obtaining computer software from a remote computer."

When a user accesses the remote update service, an update service computer conducts an automatic inventory of the computer software on the user computer. The data collected from the inventory of the user computer software is then used to make comparisons to database entries from a database on the update service computer. The database entries contain information about computer software available on the update service computer. The comparison is conducted to identify software available from the remote update service that might be appropriate for installation on the user computer (i.e. new computer software, new versions of existing computer software, patches or fixes for existing computer software, new help files, etc.). After the comparison is completed, the update service computer makes the computer software stored at the remote update service computer available to the user.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#14

Post by papachito »

roc wrote: post #10
rfrey wrote: post #2

Sues on violation of 9 patents. 1. Method and system for mapping between logical data and physical data 2. System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu 3. Method and system for stacking toolbars in a computer display 4. Automated web site creation using template driven generation of active server page applications 5. Aggregation of system settings into objects 6. Timing and veloci…

I've come to terms with the fact that even here on HN, many people still mistake a summary for a legal definition of the invention covered. But I had held out hope that this wasn't the sort of place where one could condemn patents by title alone, let alone the sort of place where a false argument like that would find approval. No point is bolstered by pretending the titles have any bearing on the legal or philosophic…

Software patents are always ridiculous.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#17

Post by jimfl »

After thinking about this a little more, it seems like the complaint has to be leveled against SF's Development Platform, since many of these techniques are used in very many online services and applications. The language of the complaint also suggests this:

The Defendant has been and/or is directly infringing the ... patent by, among other things, making, using, offering to license or licensing in the United States, offering to sell or selling in the United States, products and/or services, including various web applications and services and the hardware and software running these applications and services, that embody or incorporate, or the operation of which otherwise practices, one or more claims of the ... patent.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#18

Post by rbanffy »

papachito wrote: post #16
stuntmouse wrote: post #6

The future of the Microsoft tax.

Yeah, I could understand that if Microsoft was a dying company but last time I check they are still making billions record profits. So why? Because salesforce is doing integration with google apps?

They are a dying company. They just have too much inertia.

It will take a while. Desktop software will be irrelevant shortly, as will the personal computer as we knew it. Companies will redeploy internal desktop apps as web apps, first to their own servers, then for cloud platforms like GAE.

Microsoft is doomed. This is its future.

Re: Microsoft sues Salesforce

#19

Post by stuntmouse »

papachito wrote: post #16
stuntmouse wrote: post #6

The future of the Microsoft tax.

Yeah, I could understand that if Microsoft was a dying company but last time I check they are still making billions record profits. So why? Because salesforce is doing integration with google apps?

As jimfl posted, I think they are feeling threatened by "enterprise" apps built on the Salesforce platform.
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