Apple Acquires 18 User Interface Patents from Canada’s Maya-Systems

Maya-System, a Montreal-based company providing knowledge management technology, announced today (Via MacRumors) that they have struck a deal with Apple for a group of 18 axis-based user interface patents.


As the press release highlights, Apple was interested in purchasing patents relating to innovative axis-based user interface technology. As the company website points out, their technology combines user-centered data management technologies with cutting edge graphical interfaces.

“We dealt with a significant number of sophisticated buyers,” noted Mathieu Audet, founder of Maya-Systems and patent agent. “We are pleased to have secured the transaction with Apple.” “Our patents have been analyzed thoroughly by many potential buyers. We are confident that they are strong assets.”

Maya-System’s main product seems to be IamOrganized, an all-in-one file manager, sharing platform, cloud storage, and workflow management tool, using the company’s innovative axis-based user interface technology.

IamOrganized’s uniquely distinctive, patented feature is its axes-based interface. Intuitive and elegant, axes herald a new era in content management. They show and manage content more meaningfully than ever. show less

Unlike folder trees based on file location, axes group files by subject (any attribute, really) and display them along a timeline.
Scroll an axis to view more files. Zoom in. Zoom out. Navigate swiftly between projects by displaying several axes on your screen.

Attribute-based, orderly and relational, axes give users a meaningful and integrated view of their files.

While neither the terms of the deal nor the patents were disclosed, this sure looks like Apple is looking for alternatives to deliver a user-friendly and catchy graphical user interface for its cloud-based services.