Borland International Inc’s president, Philippe Kahn has made it clear that he strongly disapproves of the lawsuits pursued by its merger partner Ashton-Tate Corp: he says that Ashton and Lotus Development Corp are trying to copyright not a new invention but a hierarchical command structure determined by functionality. He believes that the companies should have sought patents, but instead are trying to get exclusive rights to something that should not be copyrightable, at least, no more so than the placement of the order of the accelerator and brake pedals in an car should be copyrightable. Kahn says that if the litigation succeeds, it could not only change the computer industry, but the entire consumer market. Computer chips could be copyrightable because of the functional order in which commands are executed. VCRs, microwave ovens, televisions, all have a hierarchy of commands based on functionality, and could conceivably be copyrightable so each manufacturer would have to make different controls, and consumers would have to relearn each manufacturer’s set of controls. The conclusion, in Kahn’s opinion, is that not only should a hierarchy of commands based on functionality not be copyrightable, but it could be disastrous if they became copyrightable. He says that, in the Lotus suit against Borland, Borland is using a hierarchical set of commands from a Lotus menu based on functionality. Borland would be willing to pay Lotus a royalty, but Lotus wants to say it owns those commands and no one else can use them. Further, Kahn maintains that Borland could easily remove that part of the program from the Quattro Pro product, and most users would not miss it – but it’s a matter of principle. As for Borland’s intentions on the Ashton-Tate suit against Fox Software, Kahn said Borland was not litigious and he’s confident something could be worked out with Fox, if the suit is not settled by the time of acquisition.
