Re: When is a patent not a patent
Oracle has had database links since version 6, which was in the 1980s. This allows a query in a single interface to select data from multiple sources. I'm not sure if apple's patent includes having a way for 3rd parties to add modules to the search, but if so then prior art would be harder to find. Google's universal search does do this - an app can present some kind of programmer interface which allows the search box to get results from the IMDB, Notepad, Wikipedia apps etc.
However, I doubt that many developers would bother to patent something this simple. I certainly wouldn't. Nor would I think of looking in the patent library to see if it was infringing anything (and If I did then I'd assume it would be found invalid on the grounds of obviousness). It would only be when one of the Big Bucks Boys took me to court that I'd find I'm a nasty copycat and not the innovator I believed myself to be :-(