New subject: old hardware help requested

28 Jun 2003

I don't quite understand what copyright (as opposed to patent law)
has to do with his case, but I thought I'd forward this inquiry...

- John

...
 From: "Advanced Approach"
&lt;info(a)advanced-app.com.hk&gt;
To: &lt;jfoust(a)threedee.com&gt;
Subject: old hardware help requested
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 10:51:42 +0800

Dear Mr. Foust:

I am an American living (temporarily) in Hong Kong, I am in a jam here, and
you might be able to help.  I would appreciate a couple of minutes of your
time ? just enough time to read this.  You may be able to tell me what I
need to know immediately.

I am a defendant in a lawsuit here.  In the lawsuit against us, the
Plaintiffs claim that in the early 1990?s they were the first in the world
to recess a rocker switch. (Actually, they do not use those exact words;
rather, they claim they own the copyright on a recessed rocker switch.  For
them to own the copyright, they would have to be the first people in the
world to put out a product with a recessed switch.)

Of course, their claim is ridiculous, but in court, we have to PROVE it is
ridiculous -- otherwise, the court will probably accept their claim.  To
disprove their claim, we simply need to find a product with a recessed
rocker switch that was on the market before 1990.  (And of course, we need
to prove that it was on the market before 1990.)

Friends have told me that recessed rocker switches were common on early
computers, printers, and mainframe terminals.

Copyright here is all about outlook.  Here are two examples of recessed
rockers switches with the outlook that we need:

The first example:
http://www.auctionshoppingbot.com/misc/Recessed_Rocker_Switch.html

The above is from a Canon copy machine.

This example shows well all five key elements that we need:
1) The rocker switch is mounted on a flat surface,
2) The rocker switch is recessed beneath the surface,
3) There is flat surface all around the recess,
4) There is nothing else in the recess with the switch, and
5) The area of the recess is bigger than the area of the switch but not
excessively so.

This would be prefect, except the copy machine is only a couple of years
old ? too new to prove that recessed rocker switches were on the market
before 1990.  (I have contacted Canon, but as a company, it seems they are
only interested in selling new machines.)

The molded on/off symbols and the indicator light are not important.  We are
looking for an example product with or without the molded on/off symbols and
the indicator light ? either is fine.  For the switch rocker itself, color
does not matter ? even clear plastic with illumination inside is OK.

The second example:
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=115
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos.asp?t=1&c=115&st=1

DEC 300 series computer from 1979.  (On the second link, click on the "close
up".)  This is good, and we might use this.  It would be perfect, except the
Digital logo is right next to the switch (so this example does not meet key
element #3).  So for our purpose, this is only half good.

If you know of any product from 1990 or before that had a recessed rocker
switch that meets all five key elements, please let me know.  As you and
others you know are knowledgeable about old hardware, any information you
could provide would be greatly appreciated.

I hope to hear from you.

Thanks,

Rick Graves
Personal Rick_Graves(a)CompuServe.com

Advanced Approach Ltd.
1907 Westley Square, 48 Hoi Yuen Road
Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2372-0197   Fax: +852 2342-7197
e-mail: info(a)advanced-app.com.hk  

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