Apple, Google and Microsoft sued over file preview patent

Arizona, United States, December 27: Michigan-based small networking company, Cygnus Systems Inc, has sued Google, Apple and Microsoft, three of the largest multinational software companies, for violating the patent on a file preview.

Cygnus claims in the lawsuit that the patented file preview feature has been used by Google, Apple and Microsoft in several products like Microsoft's Vista, Apple's Cover Flow feature, and Google's Chrome browser. Internet Explorer 8, Mac OS X, the iPhone and Safari also infringed the patent, the company said in court filings.

Cygnus Systems president, Gregory Swartz, is hoping to get a court injunction against the three companies for using their patented technology. This feature is common in many operating systems and browsers, and shows users small snapshots of the files before they are opened.

Cygnus describes the technology covered by U.S. Patent no. 7346850 as “a method and system for storing, navigating, and accessing files within an operating system through the use of a graphical thumbnail representing the video display of the active document within the active application."

Cygnus had applied for the patent in 2001 and it was granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 18, 2008.

While Cygnus has sued three very high profile companies, many major applications use methods resembling this patent. "They were a logical starting place for us," said Matt McAndrews, a partner with the Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro, law firm representing Cygnus. "We've identified many other potentially infringing products that we're investigating."

The case was filed in Arizona District Court. Cygnus demands just a “reasonable royalty” from the three giant companies. Google, Apple and Microsoft have not issued any official statement till now.