Apple Loses Round in Court: U.S. District...

Apple Loses Round in Court: U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer, as expected, barred Apple Computer Inc. from challenging Microsoft Corp.’s current use of visual displays that Apple licensed in 1985, a ruling that narrows Apple’s big lawsuit against Microsoft. But how much was left of the suit was disputed by opposing lawyers in the case. The ruling reduces the suit to a point where “it almost becomes trivial,” declared Leslie Misrock, a lawyer for Hewlett-Packard Co., which along with Microsoft is accused by Apple of copyright infringement. Apple’s lead attorney, Jack Brown, said the judge had left the heart of the suit undisturbed.