微软起诉邦诺书店

    邦诺书店（Barnes & Noble, Inc.）在其Nook电子书阅读器上采用的Android操作系统与微软的专利有关。昨天，微软公司（Microsoft）就此事在美国国际贸易委员会（U.S. International Trade Commission）及美国华盛顿西区地方法院（U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington）向邦诺书店以及富士康国际控股有限公司（Foxconn International Holdings Ltd）、英业达公司（Inventec Corporation）提起诉讼。

    该诉讼的有趣之处在于，微软声称，邦诺书店采用的谷歌公司（Google）Android操作系统侵犯了其专利组合：

    有助于用户自然互动的技术是移动设备成功的关键。

    •人们还希望无须触动应用程序主窗口就能直接访问命令窗口，并能用tab键在各屏幕间切换以找到他们所需的信息。微软的专利能使用户打开新的，用tab键控制的窗口。（美国专利号 5,889,522）

    打开新建窗口tab键？

    我们的技术有助于提高网络浏览的速度并让用户了解其下载状态。

    •快速浏览网络是设备的关键特性。本案中所涉的一项专利可使设备在网页背景仍处于渲染状态时就显示出网页内容，让用户更快地与网页展开互动。（美国专利号 5,778,372）

    在图片处于下载状态时就显示网页内容？

    •用户还想了解其下载任务的状态。微软的一项专利可在网页内容显示的顶部提供下载状态的信息。(美国专利号6,339,780)

    下载状态栏？

    我们的创新技术有助于提高用户与文档和其他电子内容互动的能力。

    •选择文本的能力是运用文档的关键。我们的一项专利可使用户选择文本，通过重点标示查看所选内容，并能任意向前或向后扩展选择的文本。(美国.专利号. 6,891,551)

    选择文本？真是滑稽，微软自己的Windows Phone 7至今还不能选择文本用于剪切和粘贴。

    •用户还希望给电子书和其他文档加注。微软的一项专利可让用户无须改变所在文档就插入并查看注解，同时可以选择注解并显示文档相关部分。(美国专利号 6,957,233)

    加注并无须改变所在文档。这又是一个雕虫小技。

    我明白，专利并非儿戏，但上述这些不仅微不足道，还很容易规避，至少可以轻易忽略。不过，这却引发了一些有趣的结果。也许，正如我已经探讨过的那样，邦诺书店之所以没有打造一款完完全全的Android平板电脑，就是因为该公司不想再进入微软的攻击范围。

    而作为另一家采用Android操作系统的厂商，摩托罗拉公司（Motorola）几年前已停产采用微软系统的产品，该公司也因为上述这些以及其他专利成为微软诉讼的目标。不过涉及到专利时，摩托罗拉公司可不是笨蛋，它已经提起过反诉了。而三星公司（Samsung）和宏达电（HTC）由于同时生产Windows和Android系统的设备，暂时算是逃过一劫。

    微软此次要传达的信息很明确：“我们没法子打败Android，只好打官司，不管这些专利听起来有多傻。”

    译者：清远

    Microsoft (MSFT) today filed legal actions against Barnes & Noble, Inc.(BKS), Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., and Inventec Corporation in both the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington over patents related to the Android operating systems on which its Nook eBook readers are based.

    The fun part is where Microsoft says Barnes and Noble violated its patent portfolio with its Google (GOOG) Android OS:

    Technologies that enable natural user interaction are key to the success of mobile devices.

    oPeople also expect to be able to access command windows without interfering with the application's main window, and to be able to tab through various screens to find the information they need.Microsoft's patents enable the opening of a new, tabbed control window. (U.S. Patent No. 5,889,522)

    Opening a new window tab?

    Our technologies help speed up web surfing and keep users informed of download status.

    oSurfing the web quickly is a key device feature.One of the patents in this case enables devices to show the content of a page even while the background is still rendering, allowing users to interact with the page more quickly. (U.S. Patent No. 5,778,372)

    Showing the content of a page while an image is loading?

    oUsers also want to know the status of their downloads.A Microsoft patent provides information about download status on top of the content display. (U.S. Patent No. 6,339,780)

    The download status bar?

    Our innovations facilitate users' ability to interact with document and other e-content.

    oThe ability to select text is critical to working with documents.One of our patents enables users to select text, see what is selected via highlighting, and expand the selection in either direction as desired. (U.S. Patent No. 6,891,551)

    Select text? Comically, Microsoft's own Windows Phone 7 can't yet select text for cutting and pasting.

    oUsers also want to annotate e-books and other documents.A Microsoft patent allows people to insert and review annotations without changing the underlying document, and to select annotations and be brought to the related portion of the document. (U.S. Patent No. 6,957,233)

    Annotations without changing the underlying document. Again, trivial.

    I understand that patents are a serious game but these seem to be not only trivial but easy to circumvent and at worst easy to omit. It does however bring up something interesting. Perhaps the reason Barnes and Noble doesn't actually build a full Android tablet, as I've discussed before, is because it doesn't wan to be further into Microsoft's patent crosshairs.

    Motorola (MMI), another manufacturer of Android OS devices, which stopped producing Microsoft products a few years ago, is also in Microsoft's litigation sights with these and other patents. Motorola, is no slouch when it comes to patents and has sued back. Samsung and HTC, which produce both Windows and Android devices have been spared for the moment.

    The message Microsoft is sending here is clear. "We've got no other way to fight Android but to litigate, no matter how silly the patents sound".