A law suit has emerged, that could have a sweeping impact on multiple software majors and a host of smaller graphical suite-makers. This law suit has been filled by Cygnus Systems and accuses major companies like Adobe, Google, and Microsoft of having violated their patent by using thumbnails, which Cygnus claims it invented.
To this purpose they have patented a broad-base technology which states "a method and system for storing, navigating, and accessing files within an operating system through the use of a graphical thumbnail representing the video display of the active document within the active application."
This directly affects just about every other graphical software that utilizes thumbnails. Be it Apple’s cover flow or Windows explorer, the number of software that utilizes this particular feature is too vast to list. It even shows up in hardware like mobile phones, iPods, PMPS and all sorts of other devices. If this case goes to court and goes in favor of the company, they could very wind up as one of the richest on the planet. In such cases normally not only is the victor entitled to current expenditures and costs, it can also sue for past damages caused by the use of their patent.
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