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Issue #543 : : January 22, 2008 |
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In this issue: Update: 2008 is the Year of DRX XLS Is Not a Registered Trademark - Active
IP Patrolling Out of the Inbox and the other regular columns. |
Write the editor. Make him smile! Through Paypal, consider donating $25 in support of upFront.eZine. Or else... We're trendy. We have a Weblog. WorldCAD Access. |
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Update: 2008 is the Year of DRX A reader suggests that I may have been too vague this point: DRX is not a function of IntelliCAD, but of DWGdirect, which is produced by the Open Design Alliance. This means that all applications that use the DWGdirect API conceivably could run AutoCAD ARX applications, following a re-compile. This means that MicroStation, ArchiCAD, VectorWorks, SolidWorks, IntelliCAD, TurboCAD, and others could support ARX apps through DRX.
XLS is Not a Registered Trademark When Autodesk began its attempt to register DWG as a trademark, my initial prediction was the company would win. But I've since had second thoughts. Here's why: (As background: Autodesk is attempting to register "DWG" as a trademark, and have the US Patent and Trademark Office remove registration for names containing DWG used by competitors. The trademark office has so far rejected Autodesk's request, retorting that DWG is just a file name extension. In return, Autodesk is claiming that DWG is unique to itself, even though other CAD packages use the DWG extension for drawing files with unique formats that are incompatible with AutoCAD.) I got to wondering. Had Microsoft registered any file extensions, such as XLS? The trademarks page at microsoft.com showed no file extensions listed as trademarks or registered trademarks or service marks. In addition, the US trademark office lists no attempts by Microsoft to trademark XLS. While some three-letter names are registered by Microsoft, these are names of software products. The world's largest software company has seen no need to trademark the extensions of file formats it owns.
Active IP Patrolling Autodesk's attempts to protect DWG don't go back very far. As recently as 2003, Autodesk's Web page listing trademarks did not include DWG. In contrast, the company claimed DXF as a trademark as far back as the 1980s. In the case of the OpenDesign Alliance, it received registration of "OpenDWG" as a trademark in April, 2002; five years later, Autodesk filed for opposition (January 2007). Companies who do not actively protect their IP from the beginning cannot do so retroactively.
Security through Second Sourcing Since Autodesk provides a DWG API, it could be argued that there is no need for the ODA to do the same. It is always preferable, however, to have a second source as backup. (For instance, I have two ISPs, in case one goes down.) The CAD world has a certain level of dependence on DWG, and a second source is needed -- particularly as Autodesk distances itself from AutoCAD. Two of its CEOs have told financial analysts that it wants customers to move to 3D. "Move to 3D" means move away from 2D, and "2D" is a code word for AutoCAD. Once AutoCAD is deprecated, and all customers are running non-DWG-based vertical applications (like Revit and Inventor), will there be a need for Autodesk to continue supporting its DWG API? Earlier in the year, a blog entry of mine noted that the Open Design Alliance's DirectDWG API supports Linux, Macintosh, and several derivatives of Unix. In contrast, Autodesk's DWG APIs work just with Windows. (Hmm... I just realized: Windows last remaining non-Unix-based operating system still running on desktop computers; it's based on VMX and CP/M.) Customers have greater security of sourcing and a broader choice of operating systems when the DWG APIs are second-sourced and/or outsourced (as Autodesk did with its IFCs).
From Trademarks to Reverse Engineering According to documents filed with the USPTO, Autodesk appears to be going beyond simple revocation of DWG in ODA product names. Last Wednesday, the ODA filed this response with the trademark office: "The discovery period for this trademark cancelation proceeding ended on December 16, 2007. On December 17, 2007, Autodesk filed a motion seeking to reopen discovery and seeking an order requiring the Open Design Alliance to answer questions regarding its software research and development methods -- specifically whether the ODA obtains information about the DWG file format specification that is uses to develop its software through reverse engineering or another method." What has reverse engineering have to do with determining the trademark-ability of a file extension? Autodesk provides this reason: "Such questioning is highly relevant to Autodesk's likelihood of confusion claim, as the reverse engineering of Autodesk's code related directly to the similarity of the parties' goods, and consumers' general likelihood to be confused into believing that there is an association between Autodesk's DWG-related products, on the one hand, and ODA's products offered under the mark OPENDWG, on the other." I think that Autodesk's legal counsel might be unaware that there are two sets of customers: (1) third-party developers, who would not confused over the differences between DWG from Autodesk and ODA; and (2) retail customers or end users, who are unable to purchase the software created by the ODA. The next step the USPTO's decision on whether to allow Autodesk's investigation into the ODA's reverse engineering techniques. Cases like these are not a matter between two parties only. There is a third party to consider: the customers of both, who in turn have an effect the public relations balance, notes Doug Meacham, retail consultant with IBM.
Links: COADE releases PV Elite 2008 software for pressure vessel design and stress analysis. www.coade.com Dassault Systemes figures that its CATIA software designed some 75% of new vehicles introduced at 2008 North American International Auto Show. Delcam's new version of ArtCAM Insignia CAD/CAM software adds basic 3D machining for the first time. www.delcam.com nCode now has an online training program at its Web site. The first course is entitled, "GlyphWorks Accelerated Testing." www.ncode.com Catalog Data Solutions builds its 3DModelSpace into Pro/ENGINEER. It searches for 3D CAD models provided by the Web sites of manufacturers. www.3DModelSpace.com GEOMATE releases GrafiCalc Expert 2008 software ($995; $95 educational) with function-modeling wizards that create digital prototypes of complex designs for confirmation of critical design assumptions and tolerances. www.inventbetter.com Design Master Software ships Design Master Electrical
7.0 software for doing electrical design and drafting in 3D.
The 3D model can be exported to NavisWorks, AutoCAD Architecture,
Revit Architecture, ArchiCAD, and Bentley Architecture. Capvidia announces FormatWorks 2008 Ultimate data translation software. It imports to SolidWorks 2008: IGES, STEP, VDA-FS, CATIA V4, CATIA V5 up to R18, Pro/E, UGX, ACIS, Inventor, VRML, STL Export; and it exports from from SolidWorks to IGES, STEP, VDA-FS, CATIA V4, CATIA V5 up to R18, ACIS, VRML, and STL. [Kills me how SolidWorks and Dassault still don't handle each other's formats.] Other products add automatic repair and healing and/or server-based translation. www.capvidia.be VX CAD/CAM Version 13 has [and I think this may be a new record] "nearly a thousand customer and market driven enhancements" for product design and the mold and die markets. Some of the enhancements include:
SYCODE now has translators for Inventor: import STL, and
import or export 3DS, 3DM, or OBJ. e195 each. www.sycode.com/news/21_jan_2008.htm
Spatial View of Canada and ASCON of Russia are pairing ASCON's KOMPAS-3D software with Spatial View's auto-stereoscopic display for glasses-free visualization of 3D models. www.spatialview.com OFCDesk's IDC (interior design CAD) is AutoCAD-based software for commercial interior design, with a built-in content creator and customizable library. www.ofcdesk.com StormNET software from BOSS International does comprehensive stormwater and wastewater modeling of urban drainage systems, stormwater sewers, and sanitary sewers. www.bossintl.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski < worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/ > Weblog:
Seminars & Conferences SPAR 2008: Capturing and Managing Existing-Conditions Data for Design, Construction and Operations is March 3-5 in Houston TX USA. www.sparllc.com/spar2008.php KGCM 2008: 2nd International Conference on Knowledge Generation, Communication and Management is June 29-July 2 in Orlando FL USA. www.sciiis.org/KGCM2008 Vico User Group Conference is Jan 22-25 in Las Vegas NV USA. www.vicosoftware.com
People/Companies on the Move Nemetschek appoints Peter Mehlstaeubler as general manager of its Allplan division. He is the former vp at Mental Images. DEM Solutions appoints Alan Faichney as chief operating officer. He is the former senior vice president of strategic resources at Ion.
Level 5 Communications appoints Amy Rowell as editorial director of 'Desktop Engineering' magazine. She is the former executive editor of 'Innovate Forum.'
WorthWhile Web http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/141418/researcher_debunks_intels_energyefficiency_claim.html
Letters to the Editor Re: SpaceClaim "According to their Web site it's £495 to us in the UK.
So that makes the conversion $1.404 : £. But xe.com lists the conversion
at $1.965 : £. How generous the Americans are to us." The editor responds: "It's part of the whole "how much can we get away with" mentality. Here in Canada, the US and CDN $ are roughly at par these days. Some stores now sell magazines and books at the lower, US$ price; in reaction, some magazines have removed the US$ price from the cover, so that they can continue to charge more in Canada." - - - Re: h.e.goldberg's e-newsletter "Thank you for the plug. My mother, wife, and best friends
call me Eddie, everyone else calls me Ed. You can call me Eddie."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "LCD3090WQXi"
Notable Quotable "If Jobs says 'people don't read anymore,' does this headline
really exist?"
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