2011/3/11 Cédric Beust ♔ <[email protected]> > > > On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 10:30 AM, Russel Winder <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Anyone can copy a UI anyway > > > Er... no. Tivo and Apple are two good examples showing that UI's can be > very, very protected. And by UI, I mean both the graphical and interaction > aspects. > > > -- > Cédric > > I was under the impression that multi touch was not a part of android solely because Eric Schmidt was on the board of Apple, once he resigned/left there was no problem in copying. Is there any practical limitation that prevents Android from copying the pixels rather than just general paradigm ? The only thing i can see that prevents Android is branding, they want to look different rather than any legal protection.
The only example i can think of a look being copied on a major scale and causing some problems is the Great Wall copy of the Fiat Panda. Even so it appears only Europe has done anything there is no mention of similar bans in other parts of the world that typically respect copyright, software patents, trademarks etc and similar laws. I have heard on the interwebs that GW have done similar copying for other car products in their line and yet that does not seem to hamper their exporting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Panda Chinese copy controversy On December 2006, Fiat considered taking legal action against Chinese<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China>automaker Great Wall Motor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_Motor> for the company's Peri <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_Peri>, which is a copy of the Panda's design.[12] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Panda#cite_note-11> In July 2008, Fiat successfully sued Great Wall and had the Peri banned from importation into Europe. In addition, the court order ruled for Great Wall to pay Fiat a 15,000 euro fine for the first Peri imported, and an additional 50,000 euros for every subsequent car that was imported.[13]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Panda#cite_note-12> However, on October 2009, Great Wall Motor sued Fiat, accusing the latter of espionage <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage>. In the lawsuit, Great Wall claims that "Fiat once instigated espionage to prowl into its research center and take photos of Peri small car that was still under developed -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
