Apple Files Lawsuit Against HTC For Infringing On 20 iPhone Patents

[unix.punkx]

Apple Files Lawsuit Against HTC For Infringing On 20 iPhone Patents |
Ugh... this makes me sick

Apple Sues HTC For Infringing On 20 iPhone Patents - Apple htc lawsuit - Gizmodo

 

[big.daddy]

I wonder what patents they are referring to. I couldnt find what they were actually suing for.

 

[JCo352]

Apple is feeling the heat

 

[New2u]

It's funny because Nokia sued them in a major lawsuit that could make apple pay either a crazy amount of money or make them stop making phones for a short time because it was a major deal.

Nokia Sues Apple Over iPhone - WSJ.com

So in that case apple just said, well your using our crap. Apple can tell that they aren't the top dog anymore and they are just trying to bite and chew at anything they can. HTC will most likely be charged with patent infringement, just as apple should be for many other things that they aren't.

After just reading the update as to what apple is trying to do. It's crazy, they want a permanent injunction for them to stop making phones with that technology, even after the whole Nokia issue, nokia was nice enough to not go for injunction. Just goes to show, apple is evil. Which about 8 of those patents, are BS patents anyways, and i don't think will hold up legally. 2 of them might hold up legally.

 

[unix.punkx]

It's funny because Nokia sued them in a major lawsuit that could make apple pay either a crazy amount of money or make them stop making phones for a short time because it was a major deal.

Nokia Sues Apple Over iPhone - WSJ.com

So in that case apple just said, well your using our crap. Apple can tell that they aren't the top dog anymore and they are just trying to bite and chew at anything they can. HTC will most likely be charged with patent infringement, just as apple should be for many other things that they aren't.

After just reading the update as to what apple is trying to do. It's crazy, they want a permanent injunction for them to stop making phones with that technology, even after the whole Nokia issue, nokia was nice enough to not go for injunction. Just goes to show, apple is evil. Which about 8 of those patents, are BS patents anyways, and i don't think will hold up legally. 2 of them might hold up legally.

I know, its ridiculous. You can't "patent" multi-touch. its been around for YEARS before the iPhone was even thought of.

 

[New2u]

Well multi-touch was around prior to iphone, but apple claims to have bought the company that invented the version they are using. There are many ways to actually implement multi-touch, apples is just one of them. And see as palm pre uses the same thing, if they don't sue palm, it's going to show they really are only after HTC.

 

[rod]

werent they just suing verizon? why dont they just take their ball and go home already?

 

[jsh1120]

Folks, this isn't a bunch of adolescents arguing about who owns a football. It's business. Being "nice" or "feeling the heat" has nothing to do with any of this. Carving up intellectual property rights in new technology is an ongoing process that involves negotiations, licensing, and legal strategies. Apple is no worse (and no better) than any of the other players involved. They're simply in the business of protecting their patents and trademarks and seeking to be paid for what they can get and paying as little as possible for what they use. Just like everybody else.

Do they make what appear to be outrageous claims in legal briefs? Sure. That's the way the game is played. Do they (and others) pick on poor little guys who pose no threat to their business? Absolutely. If they don't their legal position is significantly weakened when a real threat comes along.

And by the way, Apple didn't sue Verizon. AT&T sued Verizon over their advertising. And further, while Nokia did sue Apple for patent infringement, Apple also sued Nokia for patent infringement.

Good guys and bad guys and black hats and white hats have nothing to do with any of this. It's simply a matter of dollars (and euros) and cents. Who pays and who gets paid.

 

[KZIWarrior]

It's more of a marketing campaign than anything legit... give me a break, most of the patents are BS and show just how overwhelmed and full of shi!te the US patent office has become... case in point:

"The ‘849 Patent, entitled "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image," was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C."

So they would actually have to sue M$ and Google for this as well (seeing as both WM and Android also use this method). The US patent office will grant a patent to just about anything today and many of them get overturned in such suits because the patent office doesn't have a good understanding about such things they are giving right to and what the law would hold up in court. Very few of these lawsuits actually amount to anything (other than free PR). Also the US patent office as of late has been giving leeway to/for many foreign patents (especially EU patents) as well. So if HTC has a similar patent that was issued than they will actually be shooting as HTC can turn around and file similar suits in those nations (but then Apple dos this quite often anyway, so it's par for the course, lol).

Ex. 2
"The ‘726 Patent, entitled "System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device," was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E."

Really?? I HIGHLY doubt Apple has developed a power management system for their camera that is unique or anything different from Nokia, Olympia, Cannon ect... Actually look for these companies to file suit against Apple after they find out about this patent. Oh, which is another thing, there are SO MANY patents that even the patent office(s) can't keep them straight. It's actually very common for a patent to be issued incorrectly when there is already a previous patent that the new one will infringe upon. Patent lawyers for large firms earn their money:icon_ banana:

 

[nolanandy]

Folks, this isn't a bunch of adolescents arguing about who owns a football. It's business. Being "nice" or "feeling the heat" has nothing to do with any of this. Carving up intellectual property rights in new technology is an ongoing process that involves negotiations, licensing, and legal strategies. Apple is no worse (and no better) than any of the other players involved. They're simply in the business of protecting their patents and trademarks and seeking to be paid for what they can get and paying as little as possible for what they use. Just like everybody else.

Do they make what appear to be outrageous claims in legal briefs? Sure. That's the way the game is played. Do they (and others) pick on poor little guys who pose no threat to their business? Absolutely. If they don't their legal position is significantly weakened when a real threat comes along.

And by the way, Apple didn't sue Verizon. AT&T sued Verizon over their advertising. And further, while Nokia did sue Apple for patent infringement, Apple also sued Nokia for patent infringement.

Good guys and bad guys and black hats and white hats have nothing to do with any of this. It's simply a matter of dollars (and euros) and cents. Who pays and who gets paid.

Totally agree. It's a business. I think a reason that Apple did not due Palm b/c Palm is a small player up until now. Palm is not iPhone killer, Android is.

 

[New2u]

It's more of a marketing campaign than anything legit... give me a break, most of the patents are BS and show just how overwhelmed and full of shi!te the US patent office has become... case in point:

"The ‘849 Patent, entitled "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image," was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C."

So they would actually have to sue M$ and Google for this as well (seeing as both WM and Android also use this method). The US patent office will grant a patent to just about anything today and many of them get overturned in such suits because the patent office doesn't have a good understanding about such things they are giving right to and what the law would hold up in court. Very few of these lawsuits actually amount to anything (other than free PR). Also the US patent office as of late has been giving leeway to/for many foreign patents (especially EU patents) as well. So if HTC has a similar patent that was issued than they will actually be shooting as HTC can turn around and file similar suits in those nations (but then Apple dos this quite often anyway, so it's par for the course, lol).

Ex. 2
"The ‘726 Patent, entitled "System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device," was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E."

Really?? I HIGHLY doubt Apple has developed a power management system for their camera that is unique or anything different from Nokia, Olympia, Cannon ect... Actually look for these companies to file suit against Apple after they find out about this patent. Oh, which is another thing, there are SO MANY patents that even the patent office(s) can't keep them straight. It's actually very common for a patent to be issued incorrectly when there is already a previous patent that the new one will infringe upon. Patent lawyers for large firms earn their money:icon_ banana:

This is exactly what many legal minds have stated on the issue. They said that the patent office doesn't exactly know how to deal with intellectual property rights. They have been dishing out patents which most have stated will never hold up in a court of law. This is merely what they've stated, not saying that they will or wont, but i agree with your assessment.

 

[jsh1120]

Totally agree. It's a business. I think a reason that Apple did not due Palm b/c Palm is a small player up until now. Palm is not iPhone killer, Android is.

Unless one is on the inside of these negotiations/disputes, there is almost no way to determine the rationale for a particular strategy. However, I doubt seriously that perceived threat has anything to do with the strategy.

That's simply because it is a matter of settled law that if a party fails to protect a patent by taking (or threatening) legal action against one party, they are likely to be prevented from taking action against someone else.

I have some first hand experience with a similar issue, having been threatened with a lawsuit by a company years ago for owning a small firm with a name similar to theirs. We were arguably in the same market segment (software consulting) but I was hardly a threat to their multinational operations. Nevertheless, their lawyers insisted that I change the name of my firm to avoid confusion. (As it happened, I had never heard of the firm before receiving a "cease and desist" letter from them.)

It wasn't about my firm; it was about the possibility that if they didn't aggressively protect their trademark they could not later claim it had been infringed by a firm that DID pose a threat to their business.

In this case, I'd bet that the story behind Apple's different strategies with regard to Palm and HTC are based either on (a) technical differences that only engineers with law degrees understand or (b) ongoing negotiations with Palm that might be endangered by a lawsuit. Filing lawsuits is simply one of many negotiation tactics in cases like this.

 

[rod]

i guess well see if this was a good business move after theyve sunk tons of cash into a lawsuit that will just be retracted... just like the verizon lawsuit/non-lawsuit was. and hey, disclaimer- im just speculating that itll be withdrawn. i give it less than three months.


true dat on the apple/att thing. i just caught that... im slow today.

 

[KevinJ]

Apple will sue anyone. Don't people remember the lawsuit regarding the Beatles (Apple Records)?

Heck, why be specific to Apple. Anyone will sue anyone nowadays, and the lawyers have no moral integrity to not take case. They just want their money.

 

[cj1896]

Can we move this away from the off-topic to the general discussion. The latest update says that Apple is specifically going after android in the lawsuit. This is going to get ugly.

Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit -- Engadget