Apple is being sued by SpaceTime3D which alleges that Apple is infringing on patents relating to three-dimensional displays. SpaceTime3D claims Apple is violating its patents in Apple’s multitasking and Safari interfaces.
A suit filed in the United States District Court of Western Texas Wednesday states:
Plaintiff SpaceTime3D, Inc., is an application software company incorporated in New York, NY. Founded by Ezra Eddie Bakhash (“Mr. Bakhash”), SpaceTime3D delivers a seamless digital experience for consumers by using imaging and three-dimensional graphical technology to remove and expand the visual and spatial constraints on small screen displays.
The patent is designed to improve user interfaces on a small screen by displaying images in a three-dimensional space to allow a user to browse and navigate unlimited amounts of content. Specific infringements noted by the suit include Safari tabs on devices like Apple’s best iPhones (pictured, multitasking on devices like the iPhone 13 and Apple Watch Series 7 and more.
The suit asserts that Spacetime3D published its patent application in 2007…
MacDailyNews Take: An example of the claimed infringement would be the “deck of cards” used for the Apple Watch Dock (pictured above) and the iPhone App Switcher.
This is reminiscent of Cover Flow which was purchased by Apple in 2006 and integrated into iTunes 7.0 which was released September 12, 2006. Apple discontinued the use of Cover Flow after settling a patent suit with Mirror Worlds.
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I would think there’s a mountain of 3D browser prior art that could be used to invalidate the patent. (Most of it invented by Apple itself – from 3D web browsing in the 90s to the iTunes interface.)
Time Machine did this in 2007. There are a bunch of Rolodex apps for Mac and PC. I’m not sure how far back they date. Even back in MacOS before OS X there were solitaire games that employed 3D. What was that really popular app for MacOS? I can’t recall the name. Something about stacks or decks. Seems like that employed some 3D
You may be referring to HyperCard.
Yes! Thanks. I’m old enough to know about that which means I’m old enough to not be able to remember that. 🙂