!081394 Lotus and Borland back in appeals court



    It seems that Lotus and Borland are going back to court.  Originally
District Court Judge Robert Keeton ruled that Borland had infringed Lotus'
copyrights on the look-and-feel of interfaces to its spreadsheet products.
He also ordered Borland to stop selling copies of Quattro that so infringed.
This spring, Borland appealed this decision, hoping to win a reversal and
not have to show up at a fall trial for damages.

    However, one of the appeals court judge was Stephen Breyer, who was
recently appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton.  Thus a new
appeals hearing will be held in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, which
will probably delay the fall trial for damages until the appeal is decided.

    It would be interesting to know on what grounds Borland is basing its
appeal.



Greg Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service