Macromedia Sues Adobe, Claims To Own Photoshop-Related Patent

In a short article, Salon is reporting that Macromedia is suing Adobe, claiming to own a patent that governs some aspect of the way both Photoshop and GoLive work. The suit was filed on Friday, according to Salon:

Macromedia, of San Francisco, alleges that the technology behind San Jose-based Adobeis Photoshop and GoLive programs was patented by Macromedia in 1998. The programs are used for creating and editing Web sites and other uses.

Macromedia is asking a judge to block Adobe from selling the software and seeking "damages in an amount not yet determined."

GoLive was originally a Mac-only app named Cyberstudio and was published by a company named GoLive. In 1999, Adobe bought GoLive in order to use Cyberstudio to enhance the companyis Web publishing product line. Cyberstudio was subsequently renamed GoLive and version 4.0 was published for both Mac and Windows in 1999. The current version is GoLive 5.0.

Photoshop is currently at version 6.0, and is the market leader in professional image editing software.

Macromedia competes with Adobe with Fireworks, a Web-oriented image editing app, and Dreamweaver, a Web publishing suite. The two also go head to head with illustration software: Adobe has Illustrator, and Macromedia offers Freehand.

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There is a bit more information in Salonis article.