Moom was just removed from the store due to a patent that, I kid you not, claims ownership of "positioning windows on a screen via a grid". Yeah, I'll pause while you finish screaming.
From the Many Tricks blog:
Tonight we received notice that Moom is in violation of US patent number 8434019, Apparatus and method for positioning windows on a display. Yes, someone has patented positioning windows on a screen via a grid. Given we've been notified of a patent violation, we have no choice but to remove Moom from sale, effective immediately.
Obviously, I'm not an intellectual property lawyer and can't speak to the specifics of this case, but to the rationally minded, most of these come off as complete bullshit. In general, patent trolls should be ashamed of themselves. So should the USPTO for simply granting any application, no matter how obvious, and no matter how voluminous the prior art, and leaving it to be figured out in crushing, sometimes bankruptcy-inducing litigation for the indie developers involved.
Hopefully, someone at the EFF can help. Or Apple, Google, Microsoft, and the like could set up some sort of combined defense fun for apps in their collective marketplace that could serve as a deterrent for frivolous patent litigation against smaller, more vulnerable developers.
