View source for Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.

{{Short description|1994 copyright infringement lawsuit}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox U.S. Courts of Appeals case
  |Litigants=Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation
  |CourtSeal=Seal of the United States Courts, Ninth Judicial Circuit.svg
  |Court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]
  |ArgueDate=July 11, 
  |ArgueYear=1994
  |DecideDate=September 19,
  |DecideYear=1994
  |FullName=Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Co.
  |Citations=35 [[F.3d]] [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/35/1435/605245/ 1435]; 63 USLW 2259, 1994 [[CCH (company)|Copr. L. Dec. (CCH)]] ¶ 27,301, 32 [[U.S.P.Q.2d]] 1086
  |Prior=
  |Subsequent=
  |Holding=
  |Judges=[[Ferdinand Francis Fernandez]], [[Pamela Ann Rymer]], [[Thomas G. Nelson]]
  |Majority=Rymer
  |JoinMajority=a unanimous court
  |LawsApplied=
}}
'''''Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation''''', 35 F.3d 1435 ([[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|9th Cir.]] 1994),<ref name=courtopinion>{{cite court |litigants=Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. |vol=35 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=1435 |court=9th Cir. |date=1994 |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/35/1435/605245/ |access-date=2018-02-08 }}</ref> was a [[copyright infringement]] lawsuit in which Apple Computer, Inc. (now [[Apple Inc.]]) sought to prevent [[Microsoft]] and [[Hewlett-Packard]] from using visual [[graphical user interface]] (GUI) elements that were similar to those in Apple's [[Apple Lisa|Lisa]] and [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] [[operating system]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manolution.com/2011/06/microsoft-vs-apple-the-history-of-computing-infographic/ |title=Microsoft vs. Apple: The History of Computing (Infographic) |access-date=2013-04-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612131928/http://www.manolution.com/2011/06/microsoft-vs-apple-the-history-of-computing-infographic/ |archive-date=2013-06-12 }}</ref> The court ruled that, "Apple cannot get patent-like protection for the idea of a graphical user interface, or the idea of a [[desktop metaphor]] [under copyright law]...".<ref name=courtopinion/> In the midst of the ''Apple v. Microsoft'' lawsuit, [[Xerox]] also sued Apple alleging that Mac's GUI was heavily based on Xerox's.<ref name="xeroxs uesapple">Fisher, Lawrence. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/15/business/company-news-xerox-sues-apple-computer-over-macintosh-copyright.html?scp=3&sq=apple+xerox&st=nyt Xerox Sues Apple Computer Over Macintosh Copyright], The New York Times, Dec. 15, 1989.</ref> The district court dismissed Xerox's claims without addressing whether Apple's GUI infringed Xerox's.<ref>''[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3538913398421433687&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr Xerox Corp. v. Apple Computer, Inc.]'', 734 F. Supp. 1542 (N.D. Cal. 1990).</ref> Apple lost all claims in the ''Microsoft'' suit except for the ruling that the trash can icon and folder icons from Hewlett-Packard's [[NewWave]] windows application were infringing. The lawsuit was filed in 1988 and lasted four years; the decision was affirmed on appeal in 1994,<ref name=courtopinion /> and Apple's appeal to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] was denied.

==Background==
Apple Inc. had agreed to license certain parts of its GUI to Microsoft for use in [[Windows 1.0]], but when Microsoft made changes in [[Windows 2.0]] adding overlapping windows and other features found in the Macintosh GUI, Apple filed suit. Apple added additional claims to the suit when Microsoft released [[Windows 3.0]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Television/Pirates-of-Silicon-Valley-19599.html |title=Pirates of Silicon Valley - Fun Facts and Information |publisher=Funtrivia.com |access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Gerald Urquhart |url=https://www.msu.edu/course/lbs/126/lectures/Pirates.html |title=Pirates of Silicon Valley |publisher=Msu.edu |access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref>

Apple claimed the "[[look and feel]]" of the Macintosh operating system, taken as a whole, was protected by [[copyright]], and that each element of the interface (such as the existence of windows on the screen, the rectangular appearance of windows, windows could be resized, overlap, and have title bars) was not as important as all these elements taken together. After oral arguments, the court insisted on an analysis of specific GUI elements that Apple claimed were infringements. Apple listed 189 GUI elements; the court decided that 179 of these elements had been licensed to Microsoft in the Windows 1.0 agreement and most of the remaining 10 elements were not copyrightable —either they were unoriginal to Apple, or they were [[Idea-expression divide|the only possible way of expressing a particular idea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newmaconline.com/tech-giant-showdown-microsoft-vs-apple_2010-06-02/ |title=Tech Giant Showdown: Microsoft vs. Apple |access-date=2013-04-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105232645/http://www.newmaconline.com/tech-giant-showdown-microsoft-vs-apple_2010-06-02/ |archive-date=2013-11-05 }}</ref>

Midway through the suit, [[Xerox]] filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming Apple had infringed copyrights Xerox held on its GUI's. Xerox had invited the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] design team to view their GUI computers at the [[PARC (company)|PARC]] research lab; these visits had been very influential on the development of the Macintosh GUI. Xerox's lawsuit appeared to be a defensive move to ensure that if ''Apple v. Microsoft'' established that "look and feel" was copyrightable, then Xerox would be the primary beneficiary, rather than Apple. The Xerox case [[PARC (company)#Adoption by Apple|was dismissed]], for a variety of legal [[Reason (argument)|reasons]],<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3D91E38F937A15750C0A966958260|title=Most of Xerox's Suit Against Apple Barred|date=1990-03-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2008-12-01 | first=Andrew | last=Pollack}}</ref> most notably that [[Xerox]] "had waited too long to file a copyright infringement case and had to resort to a weaker charge of unfair competition".<ref name=":0" />

==Court case==
The district court ruled that it would require a standard of "virtual identity" between Windows and the Macintosh at trial for Apple to prove copyright infringement. Apple believed the standard to be too narrow and believed also that a more broad "look and feel" was all that should be necessary at trial. As a result, both parties agreed that a jury trial was unnecessary given the rulings, and Apple filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to have the district court's characterization overruled.<ref name=seattlearticle>Andrews, Paul. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930602/1704430/apple-microsoft-lawsuit-fizzles-to-a-close----nothing-left-to-fight-about Apple-Microsoft Lawsuit Fizzles To A Close -- `Nothing Left' To Fight About], The Seattle Times, June 2, 1993</ref>

After the district court ruled in favor of Microsoft, Apple appealed the decision arguing that the district court only considered infringements on the individual elements of Apple's GUI, rather than the interface as a whole. The appeals court almost entirely affirmed the ruling of the district court, establishing that, "almost all the similarities spring either from the license or from basic ideas and their obvious expression... illicit copying could occur only if the works as a whole are virtually identical."<ref name="courtopinion"/> However, the circuit court did reverse the district court's decision not to award attorney's fees to Microsoft, clarifying and sending the case back to the district court to resolve the issue.

Citing ''[[Brown Bag Software v. Symantec Corp.]]'', the circuit court dissected the GUI to separate expression from ideas (as expression, but not ideas, are covered by copyright law).<ref name="courtopinion" /><ref name=baker>''[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/101/101.US.99.html Baker v. Selden] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323220429/http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/101/101.US.99.html |date=2009-03-23 }}'', 101 U.S. 99 (1879).</ref> The court outlined five ideas that it identified as basic to a GUI desktop: windows, icon images of office items, manipulations of icons, menus, and the opening and closing of objects.<ref name=courtopinion /> The court established that Apple could not make copyright claims based on these ideas and could only make claims on the precise expression of them.

The court also pointed out that many of Apple's claims fail on an originality basis. Apple admittedly licensed many of its representations from Xerox, and copyright protection only extends to the original expression. Apple returned to its "complete look and feel" argument, stating that while the individual components were not original, the complete GUI was. The court rejected these arguments because the parts were not original.

==Impact==
Much of the court's ruling was based on the original licensing agreement between Apple and Microsoft for Windows 1.0, and this fact made the case more of a contractual matter than of copyright law, to the chagrin of Apple. This also meant that the court avoided a more far-reaching "look and feel copyright" precedent ruling. However, the case did establish that the analytic dissection (rather than the general "look and feel") of a user interface is vital to any copyright decision on such matters.

In 1997, three years after the lawsuit was decided, all lingering infringement questions against Microsoft regarding the Lisa and Macintosh GUI as well as Apple's [[San Francisco Canyon Company|"QuickTime piracy" lawsuit]] against Microsoft were settled in direct negotiations.
Apple agreed to make Internet Explorer its default browser, to the detriment of [[Netscape]].
Microsoft agreed to continue developing [[Microsoft Office]] and other software for the Mac over the next five years. Microsoft also purchased $150 million of nonvoting Apple stock. Both parties entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement.<ref name=msinvestsinapple>Kawamoto, Dawn; Heskett, Ben; Ricciuti, Mike. [http://news.cnet.com/MS+to+invest+150+million+in+Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html "MS to invest $150 million in Apple"], CNET News, August 6, 1997</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Abell |first=John C. |title=Aug. 6, 1997: Apple Rescued — by Microsoft |language=en-US |work=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech-0806/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Apple Inc. litigation]]
* [[Microsoft litigation]]
* ''[[Pirates of Silicon Valley]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{caselaw source
 | case = ''Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.'', 35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994)
 | courtlistener = https://www.courtlistener.com/ca9/4tHq/apple-computer-inc-v-microsoft-corp/
 | googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17794375458513139314
 | justia = https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/35/1435/605245/
 | openjurist =https://openjurist.org/35/f3d/1435
 }}
* [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930602/1704430/apple-microsoft-lawsuit-fizzles-to-a-close Seattle Times story, with timeline]

{{Apple}}
{{Microsoft}}

[[Category:United States copyright case law]]
[[Category:United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit cases]]
[[Category:Apple Inc. litigation]]
[[Category:United States computer case law]]
[[Category:Microsoft litigation]]
[[Category:1994 in United States case law]]