Google, Microsoft and Apple have been sued by Cygnus Systems Inc. for allegedly infringing on the small  Michigan-based technology company's patent granted in March covering thumbnail preview images of computer files, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the United States district court of Arizona. Cygnus Systems, which has offices in Anthem, Arizona, has asked the court for an injunction to halt further alleged infringement by the three technology giants and to award monetary compensation. A Possible Forerunner To Future Lawsuits Against Other Firms Each of the three multibillion-dollar corporations named as defendants in the Arizona lawsuit has been accused of improperly using the method covered by the Cygnus Systems patent, which it filed seven years ago in June 2001, to display small graphical thumbnail previews of documents in such popular software as Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser and Vista operating system. Portions of Cupertino, California-based Apple Computer products including its Mac OS X operating system are also named in the Cygnus Systems lawsuit, according to documents filed with the court. Internet search leader Google has allegedly infringed on the Cygnus patent with certain preview features present in the Mountain View, California-based company's Chrome Web browser, according to the complaint submitted by plaintiff Cygnus. The Cygnus patent at the center of the lawsuit, granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, gave it the exclusive right to most implementations of a system for presenting a computer user with a preview image showing a miniature version of a computer file before it is actually opened in a software application. Cygnus Systems owner and president Gregory Swartz, a resident of Arizona where the suit was filed, was one of three co-inventors named in the patent protecting "a method of accessing one or more computer files [...] through the use of a graphical thumbnail," along with James B. Swartz and Christopher J. Danforth. Google, Apple And Microsoft Face File Preview Patent Infringement Lawsuit The complaint described the Cygnus patent, entitled "System and Method for Iconic Software Environment Management," as relating to "methods of and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of the one or more computer files." The patent infringement complaint against Google, Apple and Microsoft accuses the firms of violations brought about from "advertising, selling, and offering to sell" software using the preview methods, and claims Cygnus is "entitled to recover damages adequate to compensate it for such infringement," amounting to "in no event less than a reasonable royalty," according to the lawsuit which has been assigned to Judge Neil V. Wake. According to the complaint, Cygnus Systems "has the exclusive right to license  and enforce the
[...] patent and to collect all damages for infringement of such patent," however it was not clear whether the court would grant Cygnus a jury trial it has asked for. Google, Apple and Microsoft did not immediately offer a response to the summons included in the lawsuit or comments regarding the merit of the case. The Arizona lawsuit could be the forerunner of further similar patent infringement complaints filed against additional companies, according to Matt McAndrews, a lawyer representing Cygnus Systems. "We've identified many other potentially infringing products that we're investigating," McAndrews said in a recent PC World report. The choice to take legal action against Google, Apple and Microsoft was "a logical starting place for us," he added. Related Links:
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