Lawyer challenges Apple on iPhone property

Source

An intellectual property lawyer has openly challenged Apple in its legal efforts against developers who produce software that emulates some of the menu features seen in the company's forthcoming iPhone. Tomasz Rychlicki, an IP lawyer interested in copyright law and authors rights, released software on his website that emulates some features found in Apple's iPhone, and argued that Apple has no legal ground to claim the iPhone's menu hierarchy as its own property. "I'm pretty sure that this situation will not make Apple's clients confused about the new product - iPhone," Rychlicki wrote, who admitted that he himself plans to purchase the device. The laywer cites a previous U.S. court decision which ruled that menu command hierarchy was not eligible for copyright protection. "As a method of operation it was foreclosed from copyright protection," Rychlicki said, who also dismisses Apple's right to claim its iPhone icons alongside its wallpaper as protected subject matter.

"Some U.S. courts do not consider 'real-life' photos as a subject for copyright protection."