To: Pete Mason who wrote (2636 ) 8/12/2000 9:57:07 PM From: ms.smartest.person Read Replies (1) | Respond to Adobe Systems / Macromedia (ADBE 115 5/16 +2 1/2) (MACR 77 5/8 -5 9/16) : Shares of these two graphic/Web design software developers are taking divergent paths today after Adobe announced yesterday that it has filed an emergency court order seeking to block alleged patent infringement by Macromedia, including the upcoming (September) launch of Macromedia's Flash 5.0. Adobe claims the software infringes on their 1996 "tabbed palette" patent. The tabbed palette is Adobe's method of displaying and working with multiple sets of information in the same area of the computer screen and a very similar version appears in Macromedia's existing Web design software such as Fireworks and Dreamweaver. The fact that the design is so similar is working against Macromedia in the eyes of the media, and Adobe has set up a website adobefacts.com showing just how strikingly similar the UI (user interface) is. Further weighing on Macromedia's case is the fact that at trade shows in March and again in June, Macromedia representatives asked audiences if their UI "looked familiar." Adobe alleges the comments were an obvious reference to Adobe's UI. In the complaint filing, Adobe claims that the patent infringement goes back as far as 1996 when Macromedia launched its xRES 2.0 product, and that Adobe has repeatedly contacted Macromedia seeking that they cease and desist from using the tabbed pallete feature. Macromedia never responded. Adobe's timing on the court order is interesting. Even though Adobe alleges that numerous Macromedia products currently on the market violate Adobe's patent, they seem particularly concerned about the upcoming release of Flash 5.0, as witnessed by the "emergency" court order. Maybe the new Flash version is so much more similar to Adobe's UI that Adobe finally was fed up to the point of taking legal action. Maybe the comments at the trade shows pushed Adobe over the brink. Or maybe, just maybe, Adobe is so nervous about the damage that Flash 5.0 could do to Adobe's LiveMotion sales, that they feel a lawsuit is necessary. In an August 1 article cma.zdnet.com by Dean Delandreville that appeared on ZDNet, the author/Web developer says, "...Flash (5.0) is so cunningly advanced, and seamlessly integrated with the rest of the Macromedia site of products, that it will be very difficult for any other company to compete in this space." Delandreville went on to say, "...(Adobe's) LiveMotion pales in comparison..." Hmmm. - Matt Gould, Briefing.com
