THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170542
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
The Supreme Court denied legal protection for a user-friendly component of a popular computer program Tuesday but sputtered off the information highway without resolving the broader question of how copyright law might guard software firms.
The 4-4 vote upheld a lower court ruling that deprived Lotus Development Corp. of copyright protection for the part of a computer program that tells how to use the system.
The case had been closely watched as the first high court hearing on how federal copyright law applies to computer software. But the evenly divided justices did not explain their ruling and thus it will have little effect beyond the Lotus case.
Justice John Paul Stevens disqualified himself from the case for unannounced reasons. The brief, unsigned opinion did not say which justices voted to uphold or reverse the lower court.
The Lotus 1-2-3 software system, introduced in 1983, is a program that provides tabular and graphic display formats. Users operate the program through its command menu.
Lotus, now an IBM subsidiary based in Cambridge, Mass., sued Borland International Inc. in 1990 over the command menus Borland used in its spreadsheet formats ``Quattro'' and ``Quattro Pro.''
A federal judge ruled that Borland, based in Scotts Valley, Calif., had infringed on the Lotus 1-2-3 menu. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling and threw out the case. The court noted that federal copyright law protects certain aspects of computer programs, but said the command menu does not qualify for protection because it amounts to a ``method of operation.''
The appeals court said the menu was similar to the buttons on a video-cassette recorder.
Tuesday's 4-4 ruling left that decision intact. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
OTHER RULINGS
In other cases, the court also:
Ruled that people cannot be awarded damages for loss of
companionship when relatives die in airline crashes over
international waters. The case stemmed from the 1983 downing of a
Korean airliner by the Soviet Union.
Allowed a lawsuit to go forward that accuses Ford Motor Co. of
selling a defective car because it did not have an air bag. Federal
law at the time did not require such equipment.
Let the government continue heavily fining television and radio
broadcasters for airing indecent programs at certain times of the
day.
Let stand a ruling that said the former Burroughs Wellcome Co. is
entitled to five patents for AZT, the primary drug for treating
AIDS. Burroughs was acquired by Glaxo last year.
Refused to let Nebraska deny Medicaid-funded abortions to women
who become pregnant as the result of rape or incest.
KEYWORDS: SUPREME COURT RULINGS by CNB