Copyrighting trivial code

[herbw at midas.UUCP]

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In article <536 at cti.cti.UUCP> eric at cti.UUCP (Eric Black) writes:
> I see people
> being careful to avoid pull-down menus, using pop-up, pop-down, hold-down,
> all sorts of other things.  This strikes me as being silly.
In Patent Number 4,464,652, Granted to Apple Computer on August 7, 1984,
entitled Cursor Control Device for use with Display Systems, Pull-Down
menues are covered by claim number 11.  Thus, it is not possible to
duplicate Apple's Pull Down Menu Interface without infringing on this patent.
Remember, Patents do (and should) offer a stronger form of protection than
copyrights.
                                  -- Herb Weiner (...!tektronix!midas!herbw)