Sun fended off Apple, Microsoft IP lawsuit threats

From CNET News.com: Revealing a bit of previously hush-hush history that's relevant today, Sun Microsystems' former chief executive said Tuesday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs threatened to sue Sun for infringing on its intellectual property (IP) in 2003 for a user interface design.

And that's not all: Microsoft's Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer also tried to get Sun to license Microsoft Office patents for use in OpenOffice, a move that would have made open-source distribution of the competing product impossible, Jonathan Schwartz said in a blog post.

The anecdotes will be of interest at handset maker HTC, which Apple sued last week for patent infringement. HTC, though, is a newer and smaller company that some believe lack the intellectual property arsenal possessed by companies such as Sun.

Jobs delivered his threat to Sun personally, Schwartz said, calling his office to say the graphics in Sun's operating system 3D interface, Project Looking Glass, were "stepping all over Apple's IP," and that if Sun commercialized it, "I'll just sue you."

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