IP Innovation L.L.C. and Technology Licensing Corporation (collectively, "Plaintiffs") have brought a patent-infringement action against Red Hat, Inc., and Novell, Inc., alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Numbers 5,072,412; 5,533,183; and 5,394,521. The patents concern a user interface that has multiple workspaces. The Plaintiffs' complaint identifies as accused products "Red Hat Linux system," the "Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop," and the "Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Server."
UPDATE: THESE THREE PATENTS WERE INVALIDATED BY THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT, EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, ON APRIL 30, 2010, IN THE ABOVE REFERENCED ACTION.
UPDATE: THESE THREE PATENTS WERE INVALIDATED BY THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT, EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, ON APRIL 30, 2010, IN THE ABOVE REFERENCED ACTION.
Summary / Description
| Summary / Description | Sidekick was one of a number of Terminate Stay Resident programs that overlaid the current workspace with a new window. Providing multple concurrent workspaces. |
Basic Information
| Type of Prior Art | Online Publication |
| URL | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si... |
| Author/Creator | |
| Title | |
| Publication Date | January 1, 1983 |
| Publisher | |
| Directions to Document Location | |
| Additional Information | |
Notes / To Do
| Notes | |
Excerpt
'SideKick was an early Personal Information Manager (PIM) software application by Borland launched in 1983 under Philippe Kahn's leadership. It was notable for being a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program, which enabled it to load into memory then return the computer to the DOS command prompt, allowing the user to load another application program, but still activate SideKick using a hot key combination (by default: Ctrl-Alt). This approach allowed instantaneous task switching in the otherwise-single-tasking DOS operating system, and its window-based interface echoed (in text format) that of the Apple Macintosh, and anticipated the eventual look of Microsoft Windows 2.0. It featured a personal calendar, text editor (with WordStar-like command interface), calculator, ASCII chart, and address book/phone dialer.'
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SideKick
Relevance
Claims
Linking data structure
The system of Claim 1, further comprising a first linking data structure linking the first workspace data structure to the display object means and a second linking data structure linking the second workspace data structure to the display object means; the control means further being for accessing the first linking data structure after accessing the first workspace data structure to cause the display to present the first workspace including the first display object; the control means further being for accessing the second linking data structure after accessing the second workspace data structure to cause the display to present the second workspace including the second display object.
Relevance
Dos remained in the data state it was left. Sidekick did not have it's data state changed by data switching which implies that they both had their own data structures.
Dos remained in the data state it was left. Sidekick did not have it's data state changed by data switching which implies that they both had their own data structures.
Claim Chart
All
User input means
The system of Claim 1, further comprising input means for receiving signals from a user; the signals from the user including a first signal requesting an operation affecting the first display object and a second signal requesting an operation affecting the second display object; the display object means further being for receiving the first and second signals from the input means; the display object means responding to the first signal by generating a first response, the display object means further responding to the second signal by generating a second response, the display object means further generating the first and second responses so that the second display object is perceptible as the same tool as the first display object when the second workspace is presented after the first workspace.
Relevance
The input was either a DOS prompt or the Sidekick program
The input was either a DOS prompt or the Sidekick program
Claim Chart
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Display transition
The method of Claim 29 in which the substep of causing the display object means to cease generating the first display object and to begin to generate the second display object comprises the substeps of:
causing the display object means to change from generating the first display object to generating an invisible display object; and
causing the display object means to change from generating the invisible display object to generating the second display object.
Relevance
This is exactly what the Sidekick display switch did.
This is exactly what the Sidekick display switch did.
Claim Chart
All
Switch signal response
The method of Claim 24 in which the step of responding to the switch signal comprises the substep of causing the display to cease presenting the first workspace and to begin presenting the second workspace rapidly enought that the user perceives a change of location from the first display object to the second display object.
Relevance
Sidekick had a hot key defined that allowed one to switch to it.
Sidekick had a hot key defined that allowed one to switch to it.
Claim Chart
All
User interface with mulitple workspaces
A system comprising:
a display;
first and second workspace data structures relating respectively to first and second workspaces that can be presented on the display; each of the first and second workspaces including a respective set of display objects; each of the display objects being perceptible as a distinct, coherent set of display features; the display objects of each respective set being perceptible as having spatial positions relative to each other when the respective workspace is presented on the display;
display object means for generating first and second display objects; the first workspace data structure being linked to the display object means so that the first display object is in the respective set of display objects of the first workspace; the second workspace data structure being linked to the display object means so that the second display object is in the respective set of display objects of the second workspace; and
control means for accessing the first workspace data structure to cause the display to present the first workspace including the first display object; the control means further being for accessing the second workspace data structure to cause the display to present the second workspace including the second display object; the display object means generating the first and second display objects so that the second display object is perceptible as the same tool as the first display object when the second workspace is presented after the first workspace.
Relevance
Provided a windowing environment into multiple a process that kept data state for each application.
Provided a windowing environment into multiple a process that kept data state for each application.
Claim Chart
Some
Display objects as windows
The system of Claim 9 in which the first and second display objects are windows and the internal display objects are characters in a text.
Relevance
See above excerpt
See above excerpt
Claim Chart
All
Changing display objects
The method of Claim 24 in which the step of responding to the switch signal comprises the substep of causing the display object means to cease generating the first display object and to begin to generate the second display object.
Relevance
Sidekick used a hot key combination to switch between it and dos environments.
Sidekick used a hot key combination to switch between it and dos environments.
Claim Chart
All
Storing display organization data in linking data structure
The method of Claim 34 in which the substep of storing display organization data comprises storing display organization data in a linking data structure linking the first workspace data structure and the display object means, the organizing substep comprising accessing the linking data structure to retrieve the display organization data.
Relevance
Sidekick had its own data structure that was not affected by switching. It
Sidekick had its own data structure that was not affected by switching. It
Claim Chart
All
Display characteristic data
The system of Claim 2 in which the first linking data structure includes first display characteristic data indicating a respective display characteristic of the first display object and the second linking data structure includes second display characteristic data indicating a respective display characteristic of the second display object, the control means further being for accessing the first display characteristic data while accessing the first linking data structure to cause the display to present the first display object with its respective display characteristic; the control means further being for accessing the second display characteristic data while accessing the second linking data structure to cause the display to present the second display object with its respective display characteristic.
Relevance
Just as there data state did not change after task switching neither did the display characteristics.
Just as there data state did not change after task switching neither did the display characteristics.
Claim Chart
All
Maintaining display object means in continuous state
The method of Claim 24 in which the step of responding to the switch signal comprises the substep of maintaining the display object means in a continuous state.
Relevance
This is what Terminate Stay Resident meant.
This is what Terminate Stay Resident meant.
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Display switchback
The method of Claim 24, comprising the further steps of:
while the display is presenting the second workspace, receiving a return signal from the input means, the return signal requesting a switch back from the second workspace to the first workspace; and
responding to the return signal by causing the display to cease presenting the second workspace and to begin presenting a redisplayed form of the first workspace.
Relevance
Sidekick had a hot key defined that allowed one to switch to it.
Sidekick had a hot key defined that allowed one to switch to it.
Claim Chart
All
