This person holds a number of similar patents from the looks of it:
Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
11–20 of 141 posts
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#12If anyone is looking for an alternative: I put together a grid based window manager without an UI some months ago.
https://github.com/janten/keypad-layout
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#13The patent describes something very like Moom's "Grid" feature (I think the «select more than one selectable region» bit is the key restriction).
So if the patent stands up, I suppose they'd have the option of just removing that feature.
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#14Interesting, I guess there's so much prior work around* it should be easy to dismiss the patent. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager
Please go read the patent, it describes an "apparatus and method" that is much more advanced than traditional tiling window managers. The patent doesn't even compare to simple terminal based tiling of sub-shells. It also describes a GUI to control the positions, and describes in detail how it's supposed to work. There is a section "Description of the Related Art" in the patent which makes references to existing (at t…
> Please go read the patent, it describes an "apparatus and method" that is much more advanced than traditional tiling window managers.
I read/skimmed the patent, I cannot find anything described which is obviously novel. Care to provide a quote of these particular features?
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#15Interesting, I guess there's so much prior work around* it should be easy to dismiss the patent. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager
Exactly! The first thing I thought of when I read the title of the patent was the tmux session I had opened in my terminal. Given how GNU/Unix Screen has been available for thirty years I doubt this patent will hold up in court.
> The first thing I thought of when I read the title of the patent was the tmux session I had opened
Looking at these screenshots[1] and these diagrams[2] I can't possibly agree that this is what you're doing with tmux.
[1]: http://web.archive.org/web/20110309004337/https://manytricks...
[2]: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/US20130219331A1/...
> I doubt this patent will hold up in court.
I don't think a judge would be amused by that defence either.
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#16What's the best way to prevent patent trolls from suing you? Or is it more like hoping to just have luck and not get sued?
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#17Interesting, I guess there's so much prior work around* it should be easy to dismiss the patent. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager
Please go read the patent, it describes an "apparatus and method" that is much more advanced than traditional tiling window managers. The patent doesn't even compare to simple terminal based tiling of sub-shells. It also describes a GUI to control the positions, and describes in detail how it's supposed to work. There is a section "Description of the Related Art" in the patent which makes references to existing (at t…
>There is a section "Description of the Related Art" in the patent which makes references to existing (at that time, year 2008) approaches and why they are not good enough
In that section, it mostly compares itself to Microsoft Windows' stacking (not tiling) window manager. There's no comparison to ANY of the already existing tiling window managers.
It was filed on June 2nd, 2008.
There were a ton of tiling oriented windows managers in place for many, many, years prior. Many of them supported automatic layout, and many supported a variety of grid layouts as depicted in the patent.
Here's a video from 1987, 21 years prior to the filing of this patent, showing the Siemens RTL tiling window manager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFd0FDv3fQc You can see the selected layout in the upper left hand corner of the screen. The video itself shows the user choosing where new windows will land, and the automated tiling/fit.
As mentioned earlier, a ton of other tiling window managers existed well before the filing of this patent. Many of them with automatic tiling, and several grid layout options. I don't see anything in the patent that sounds novel to me.
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please go read the patent, it describes an "apparatus and method" that is much more advanced than traditional tiling window managers. The patent doesn't even compare to simple terminal based tiling of sub-shells. It also describes a GUI to control the positions, and describes in detail how it's supposed to work. There is a section "Description of the Related Art" in the patent which makes references to existing (at t…
> Please go read the patent, it describes an "apparatus and method" that is much more advanced than traditional tiling window managers. I read/skimmed the patent, I cannot find anything described which is obviously novel. Care to provide a quote of these particular features?
A judge is not going to skim the patent. They will patiently read each and every independent claim, and evaluate whether Moom implements any of them.
In evaluating claims 1 and 2 (¶9) I imagine that a judge will get to this screenshot[1] and compare it to this diagram[2] and ask the authors of Moom for their justification. This justification can indeed be that it isn't novel, but I do not think the judge is likely to accept it because the patent examiner did indeed grant the patent.
In evaluating claim 3 (¶17) it may be that Moom is not infringing, but it is difficult to tell from screenshots and a video.
[1]: http://web.archive.org/web/20110309004337/https://manytricks...
[2]: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/US20130219331A1/...
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#19I was about to complain loudly about bullshit patents, but then I took some time to read the actual patent (make sure to look at the images too!), and it turns out that this patent describes a method that is very similar to what Moom does (judging by screenshots). This is not a case of the overly broad patents that we usually complain about, this is a very precise patent.
Re: Moom removed from sale due to patent violation claim
#20Software patents don't exist in Europe. So they can probably just add some small-print that says "please don't download this if you are outside of Europe".
(IANAL)