Anthony Hodges of Mountain View, California is not at all happy about Apple Computer Inc’s new ergonomic hinged keyboard (CI No 2,080): according to Reuter, he claims he designed a remarkably similar product in the early 1980s and has been trying to get a company like Apple to produce it ever since, to no avail; Hodges patented his version in 1986 and said he opened talks with Apple the following year They’ve stolen the property, they’ve stolen potential jobs, and they’ve stolen a health solution, Hodges told the news wire; Apple denies the charge and says the product was solely the result of internal research and development; Hodges said the Apple product was all the more irksome because it was made by a Japanese company, Alps Electric Co which had approached Hodges about two or three years ago, but was rebuffed because he was determined to have the product made by a US company; he says he is considering a suit against Apple over the keyboard.
