Software Reverse Engineering and Cleanrooming, When Is It Infringement?
JD Owens · Santa Clara Law Digital Commons (Santa Clara University) · 1993
of this patent reads: A graphic user interface for a computer is provided in which representations of application programs can be placed on the display in a specified area reserved for such a purpose in which area they could not be so readily obscured and forgotten, and which includes a facility for controlling the placement of such representations within the reserved area. The graphic images are guided into specific locations, or in the reserved area, and their removal from the docks is restricted to prevent accidental withdrawal.75 Because the validity of this type of patent has yet to be tested in court, companies which invest in this type of patent do so at their own risk and should realize such patents may be invalidated in infringement litigation. Also, unless a computer program is somehow working in connection with some kind of hardware, then patent protection is not applicable. Because of this limitation, the majority of computer programs will find optimal protection from infringement in the