Qt Apps banned from Mac App Store?

[pheonixstorm]

I'm developing an interest in tablet computing. I may pick up a cheap tablet just to goof around with. If and when I develop apps for it (Apple is attempting, by the way, to copyright the word 'app', another example of massive overreach) it won't be for any Apple products. I have issues with Google as well, but Android is a developer's dream come true - free, well supported by a huge community, and spreading like wildfire.

Microsoft has a patent on the page up/down key now... http://www.tomshardware.com/news/mic...tent,6307.html so a copyright on the word app is not as stupid as one would think. At least they don't want to patent it

[wysota]

I don't think you can patent a word. A copyright on the word App does make sense. Remember it doesn't apply to a common meaning/use of the word, only to names, titles and such. Just like Sony has a copyright on the name of Walkman (I don't know how it is in your countries but in Poland we used to refer to every personal cassette player as a walkman).

[squidge]

Your right, you can't patent a word. You can only patent an idea. So Microsoft didn't patent the page up/page down keys, they patented the idea (the function) of those keys. However, if anyone can prove that function was used in public before the patent was filed, it can easily be thrown out by any challenger.

A copyright on the word 'App' doesn't make sense, but making it a 'Trademark' does.

[wysota]

So Microsoft didn't patent the page up/page down keys, they patented the idea (the function) of those keys.

In the patent there is a math formula for calculating the offsets. I think that's the core of the patent. You can probably modify the formula slightly and workaround the patent.

[pheonixstorm]

I don't think you can patent a word.

From my (limited) understanding of trademark and copyright laws phrases and words can have an associated copyright/trademark if its original. So when the walkman first came out I can see how the term walkman could have be filed as a copyright/trademark though the term can now no longer hold up in court as anything that looks like a sony walkman is now refered to as a walkman even if it isn't. The term has become too widespread and overused to descibe any portable cassete or cd player. As for the idea of creating a copyright over the term App, even as a trademark I don't think apple has a snowballs chance in hell of pulling it off. The phrase is too widespread and has been for a long time since it is a short hand version of application (unless apple can create some new meaning for the word that falls outside the widely used and commonly accepted meaning.