This patent was asserted by Microsoft Corp. against TomTom.
#103German Federal Patent Court declares FAT patent of Microsoft null and void
Applies to Claims 1
Last updated: 2 months ago
Summary / Description
Summary / DescriptionArticle describing how this patent was overturned in Germany in 2007.
 
Basic Information
Type of Prior ArtOnline Publication
 
URLwww.heise.de/english
 
Author/CreatorStefan Krempl and Robert W. Smith
 
TitleGerman Federal Patent Court declares FAT patent of Microsoft null and void
 
Publication DateMarch 2, 2007
 
Publisher
 
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Additional Information
 
Notes / To Do
Notes
 
Excerpt
The Federal Patent Court has declared a Microsoft patent on the file allocation system File Allocation Table (FAT) invalid for the Federal Republic of Germany. The claim in question is the protection claim granted by the European Patent Office under EP 0618540 for a "common namespace for long and short filenames." This in turn is based on the US patent No. 5,758,352. At the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO) the patent is protected under DE 69429378. According to a recently published decision (PDF file) by the 2nd Division of the Federal Patent Court bearing the file number: 2Ni 2/05 (EU) and dated October 26, 2006 the claims made are "not based on inventive activity."
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Claims
Long file name associated with short file name

In a computer system having a processor running an operating system and a memory means storing the operating system, a method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: (a) storing in the memory means a first directory entry for a file wherein the first directory entry holds a short filename for the file, said short filename including at most a maximum number of characters that is permissible by the operating system; (b) storing in the memory means a second directory entry for a the file wherein the second directory entry holds a long filename for the file and wherein the second directory entry includes an attributes field which may be set to make the second directory entry invisible to the operating system and the step of storing the second directory entry further comprises the step of setting the attributes field so that the second directory entry is invisible to the operating system, said long filename including more than the maximum number of characters that is permissible by the operating system; and (c) accessing the first directory entry with the operating system.
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The patent was overturned in Germany in 2007.
The patent was overturned in Germany in 2007.
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