patents

Demands from patent trolls – companies that invent nothing, but simply buy up patents in order to demand cash – are just a fact of life for any large company, and Apple doubtless receives hundreds of them each year. Some are, however, audacious than others.

The WSJ reports that German patent troll IPCom is demanding €1.57B ($2.12B) for use technology that is not only used in every mobile phone on the market, its use is required by law.

The chip is used to identify mobile phones used by the emergency services in order to give them priority access to networks when they are heavily congested, such as during a major disaster. Carriers can set their networks to block access to all phones in the vicinity of a major emergency other than those identifying themselves as belonging to police and rescue workers. The chip can be included in the circuitry of either a phone or a SIM.

Apple, Google, HTC, Ericsson and Vodafone had all asked the European Patent Office to declare the patent invalid, as it was part of a required standard. The EPO turned down this request after IPCom said that it had successfully sued other companies, including Nokia.

The case is now going to court, and will be heard on 11th February.

Apple mood-based advertising patent is another hint of company’s new obsession with body sensors

Ben Lovejoy Jan 23 2014 - 7:13 am PT

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Image: techbeat.com

An intriguing patent application by Apple to deliver mood-based advertising contains what could be read as a strong hint that the rumored iWatch will, as we’ve speculated in the past, major on sensor technology.

In addition to describing ways of assessing mood by such clues as likes in social media, type of applications used and music playing, the patent also lists physical characteristics that could be used:

Mood-associated physical characteristics can include heart rate; blood pressure; adrenaline level; perspiration rate; body temperature; vocal expression, e.g. voice level, voice pattern, voice stress, etc.; movement characteristics; facial expression; etc …
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Apple gets more favourable rulings against Samsung ahead of trial in March

Benjamin Mayo Jan 22 2014 - 2:45 am PT

FOSS Patents is reporting that Apple received two more favourable rulings in their ongoing battle against Samsung in the courts. These judgements increase the chance of Apple winning the March patent trial “not hugely but significantly”, according to Mueller.

In a judgement filed yesterday, Samsung was found to infringe on one of Apple’s asserted patents and one of its own patents in the case was invalidated.

Cable companies sue Apple’s Rockstar consortium over patent conspiracy

Mike Beasley Jan 21 2014 - 9:18 pm PT

The Apple/Sony/Blackberry/Microsoft-backed Rockstar consortium is involved in yet another patent lawsuit. This time, several large US cable companies are up in arms over the idea that Rockstar is preparing to break up its patent portfolio into a host of smaller shell companies, each of which would hold a portion of the key patents needed by said cable companies.

Essentially any cable company that failed to license the entire former Nortel portfolio could be litigated against, facing lawsuits and sky-high legal costs.

It’s possible that the cable companies also see Apple TV as a threat to their channel packaging business model.

The full lawsuit is below.

Apple keeps its options open with patent for iBeacon- & NFC-compatible secure payment system

Ben Lovejoy Jan 16 2014 - 6:41 am PT

While it seems likely that Apple is intending to eventually establish iBeacon as a wireless electronic wallet system, rather than the existing NFC system commonly used in parts of Europe and Asia, a patent filing published today incorporates both protocols. It also allows for other forms of Bluetooth payment.

The secure payment system Apple describes would work in much the same way as the chip-and-PIN cards which are well-established in Europe. Instead of transmitting your actual card details to the payment terminal, the card details are used to generate an encrypted code which is sent instead. The terminal is able to validate the code and identify the account without ever having access to the card details themselves.

As we always note with patent stories, Apple patents huge numbers of things, most of which never make it into products. But while Apple is adopting its usual wait-and-see policy where new technologies are concerned, the question of using iPhones for payment is almost certainly when and how rather than if.

Apple did not violate Motorola patent, appeals court rules

Zac Hall Jan 10 2014 - 9:13 am PT

Apple did not violate a push notifications patent held by the Google-owned Motorola Mobility according to a ruling posted today by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The International Trade Commission previously determined that Apple’s iPhone design did not violate a patent held by Motorola prompting the Google-owned company to appeal the decision, but today Apple was once again ruled clear of any patent violations.

The ruling can be read in full here.

Apple and Samsung agree to mediation in latest patent battle

Mike Beasley Jan 8 2014 - 6:23 pm PT

Reuters reports that the CEOs of both Samsung and Apple have agreed to sit down with their lawyers and hash out a settlement in the latest of the never-ending patent suits between the two companies. Legal teams from both companies decided on this course of action earlier this week.

The meeting will take place some time next month, ahead of the actual court proceedings scheduled for March. If the two companies managed to reach a settlement, they could bypass the entire court process, saving both sides of the fight from financial and legal headaches.

Apple-backed consortium reportedly planning to sell off patent portfolio

Mike Beasley Dec 23 2013 - 3:01 pm PT

Rockstar, a consortium backed by Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and other tech giants, is planning to sell off most of its patent portfolio, according to Bloomberg. The group beat Google in a bidding war for these patents, which previously belonged to Nortel, but is now seeking to off-load them—or at least the ones that have served no purpose.

Rockstar does plan to hold on to a few of the key patents, specifically the ones involved in lawsuits against Google and other companies. Several of the patents have already been sold to Spherix Inc. as part of a deal that would include Rockstar sharing in any future financial profits based on the patents, according to the report. Sales of the remaining patents could result in similar arrangements.

Apple explores customizable layers for future Apple Maps app – new patent application

Ben Lovejoy Dec 19 2013 - 7:35 am PT

We’re pretty selective in the Apple patent applications we cover here, simply because Apple patents all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons, and for every one of them that makes it into an Apple product, there are hundreds of others that never will. But this is one we think might.

The core concept is nothing new: layered maps. The existing Apple Maps app already allows us to choose between standard mapping, satellite view or both, and Google Maps on the web allows us to switch on or off layers like traffic, weather, public transit lines and so on. But what the Apple patent application describes would, if you’ll excuse the pun, take this idea to a whole new level …
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Court rejects Samsung’s attempt to ban Apple devices in South Korea over patent infringement

Benjamin Mayo Dec 12 2013 - 2:53 am PT

Reuters is reporting that Samsung’s lawsuit against Apple in South Korea, aiming to ban Apple phones and tablets, has been lost. The case dates back to the patent wars of 2011 where Apple and Samsung sued each for patent infringement other around the world.

Samsung’s claims revolved around messaging and content display. The judge said Apple’s devices do not violate the claims. The court threw out the possibility of a sales ban as well as rejecting damages totalling just under $100,000.

Samsung is currently deciding whether to appeal. Unsurprisingly, Apple was pleased with the decision.

“We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung’s ridiculous claims,” Apple Korea spokesman Steve Park said.

Court denies Samsung’s attempt to stay damages in Apple patent retrial

Mike Beasley Nov 25 2013 - 11:23 pm PT

Last week a jury determined that Samsung violated several of Apple’s smartphone patents, a ruling which resulted in Samsung being faced with hefty fees for damages and lost revenue to Apple. Following the decision, Samsung then filed an emergency motion with the court to stop the payments while the United States Patent and Trademark Office re-evaluates the validity of Apple’s key patent.

Specifically, the Patent Office has issued an advisory that declares the patent on Apple’s “pinch to zoom” gesture invalid. This is the only patent in this case for which Apple can collect damages for lost revenue. Samsung argues that the jury’s decision should also be overturned since Samsung cannot be held liable for violating an invalid patent.

Tonight the court disagreed with Samsung, however, noting that Apple still has several options for appealing the invalidation and reclaiming the patent, at which point the jury’s decision would remain valid. US District Court Judge Koh ruled that the $290 million in damages is to be paid until the final word on the patent’s validity is determined. Only then can Samsung petition for a stay of damages.

Samsung accuses Apple’s attorney of racist remark during closing arguments in damages case

Ben Lovejoy Nov 20 2013 - 12:01 am PT

11 Comments

As the retrial to settle the damages in the Apple vs Samsung patents case reaches its closing arguments, Samsung’s lawyer Bill Price accused Apple attorney Harold McElhinny of a racist remark, asking for a mistrial to be declared, reports Bloomberg.

Harold McElhinny, Apple’s attorney, spoke yesterday of his memory as a child of watching television on American-made sets, and how because the manufacturers didn’t protect their intellectual property their products no longer exist. “We all know what happened,” he said at the conclusion of a damages retrial […]

McElhinny was “appealing to race,” Price told the judge. “I thought we were past that.” …
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Apple prepares for court battle against California inventor over ‘smartphone patent’ for iPhone

Zac Hall Nov 12 2013 - 8:04 am PT

(via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/reticulating/5288349613/sizes/o/in/photolist-94jb6B-9nWwdZ-8qTS3t-7Z3gDW-8fY1Y8-bYQcKs-bZ7ptY-dcQLrg-bV5PJy-8d4XB3-8BybHw-8d4Xtj-8d4Xvw-8du5Lt-ayPrTq-bfbQpz-7DhbKd-8jpUeE-8jmEZV-aZEXQn-8jc6xf-b1etjT-8dtWHM-fksCDu-9gYEuB-9gYEpz-bkcgEK-8e7rMS-aXAC9c-8eizhZ-b1esWg-9gYEi8-eM9JYi-dgrzR7-dcZSLg-b43Pqk-bkHPjB-8TQyba-aXjZ46-fbBvLu-fbBvJ5-fbBvS3-8zwgH8-8tGQkE-8tGYj9-8dDVby-aXdMxH-cS3t2L-fbDbKr-82ENDG-fbTt1L/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)

Following a lawsuit filed three and a half years ago by NetAirus Technologies LLC, Apple is preparing for a legal battle in Los Angeles federal court over a patent regarding the iPhone and smartphone technologies, Bloomberg reports.

California man Richard L. Ditzik filed for a patent in 1997 that describes smartphone technologies and behavior, but Apple believes his claim should be invalidated based alone on capabilities of its Newton message pad three years prior.

“The technology at issue was so well known at the time NetAirus filed its patent, that independent patent watchdogs have made NetAirus’s patent a poster child in the movement to limit the proliferation of facially invalid patents,” Apple said in its July 2011 request to throw out the case.
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Google, Samsung, and others sued over search patents by Apple-backed Nortel group

Mike Beasley Oct 31 2013 - 4:44 pm PT

Google, Samsung, and several other Android handset manufacturers are being sued by Rockstar, a consortium backed by Apple and several other tech companies, over alleged infringement of several search patents acquired by Rockstar from Nortel in 2011. Last year HTC reached a ten-year agreement with Apple as part of a patent infringement settlement. That deal would result in both companies licensing existing and future patents from one another, but it seems that agreement does not apply in this case.

The seven patents in question deal with matching search terms to relevant advertisements. Google is primarily a search and advertising company, so a loss in this case could be a serious blow. At the heart of the suit is Google’s Android platform, which Rockstar says infringes these web search patents. Because Samsung, HTC, Huawei, and others build on this platform, they are also being named in the suit.

Rockstar acquired the patents for over $4 billion last year and claims that Google’s continued use of the unlicensed technology is a wilful infringement of the consortium’s intellectual property.

Apple working on innovative solar charging system for MacBooks, iPads and iPhones

Ben Lovejoy Oct 31 2013 - 6:22 am PT

An innovative approach to solar charging revealed in an Apple patent application published today (via Patently Apple) could make it more practical to power both MacBooks and iOS devices from the sun.

The voltage and power generated by a solar panel varies with the amount of sunlight. To turn the power supply into something that can safely be used by an electronic device, you need a converter or regulator to deliver the correct specs to the device, adding cost and bulk to the panel.

What the Apple patent describes is building the necessary power management circuitry into the MacBook, iPad or iPhone so that it can accept whatever power the panel supplies. This potentially allows for cheaper and more portable panels …
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Former Apple employee: Apple worked on Surface-style keyboard cover for iPad, could announce at ‘haven’t covered everything’ event

Seth Weintraub Oct 21 2013 - 4:47 am PT

24 Comments

Apple has published multiple patent applications for keyboard covers for its iPad that sort of resemble what Microsoft did in its keyboard cover for Surface. Until now, however, Apple has relied on third-party vendors like Logitech, Zagg (who has already announced a new iPad 5 keyboard case) and Belkin to provide these covers. Logitech and Zagg have had keyboard covers for the iPad since before both the patent application above and Microsoft’s Surface announcement.

But today, Jamie Ryan, who lists Apple Developer Relations as a recent job, says that Apple has been working on a prototype of such a device and could release it at tomorrow’s event. He thinks it could be Bluetooth 4.0 to save power and was ‘told other cover like accessories are also being looked at.’

The patent shown above also includes other innovations such as solar power, big media control buttons, multi-touch, wireless charging and even a second display…
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Samsung fails to obtain Presidential veto from Obama for Apple/ITC import ban case

Jordan Kahn Oct 8 2013 - 8:08 am PT

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With a U.S. import ban previously issued by the ITC set to lock out certain Samsung devices at midnight last night, Bloomberg reports that the company has failed to obtain a veto from President Barack Obama:

The Korean company had argued that the ban should be overturned on public policy grounds, especially since a similar order it won against Apple was vetoed by the administration in August. Samsung can now seek a delay in the ban from a U.S. appeals court that will consider the entire case on legal grounds.

“After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow” the import ban to proceed, Obama’s designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement today.

In August, the US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Apple and issued a sales ban on certain infringing Samsung devices in a long-running case that stemmed from a countersuit originally filed by Apple back in 2011. The news came shortly after the Obama administration’s decision to veto an ITC import ban on certain iPhone and iPad models that Samsung won in a separate case. Like Apple, Samsung was going to attempt to get a veto on the decision by the US President, the only person with the power to overturn ITC import bans.
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iCloud Mail push notifications return in Germany as injunction gets lifted in Apple/Motorola dispute

Jordan Kahn Oct 2 2013 - 6:50 am PT

Since more than a year ago, Germans have not had access to push notifications for iCloud Mail services following a dispute between Apple and Motorola in the country that forced Apple to disable the feature. Now, as noted by German Apple blog iPhone-ticker.de, Apple has now confirmed that push notifications services have been switched back on in the country. The news comes following Apple’s success in getting the original injunction lifted after posting $132 million bond, according to FossPatents:

After the Federal Patent Court’s preliminary ruling, Apple filed with the Karlsruhe-based appeals court a motion to stay enforcement against Google’s will. In early September, the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court granted it. I published my own (obviously unofficial) English translation of the order. The order revealed that Apple had to post a 100 million euro ($132 million) bond to get the injunction actually lifted. The paperwork for all of this apparently took a few weeks and presumably Apple’s technical staff conducted some internal tests before finally reactivating the push notification feature for end users — which it did today.

Apple’s motion to intervene in Lodsys cases is thrown out

Benjamin Mayo Sep 30 2013 - 2:42 am PT

Ars Technica is reporting that a judge has denied Apple’s request to intervene in Lodsys’ current patent disputes against app developers. Apple originally filed a motion to step in to the case in June, 2011. However, the judge has disregarded Apple’s statements saying that it is out of the scope of the active trial in an order dated September 24th.

Apple continues to oppose the alleged patent infringements, saying that their license covers third-party developers to use their technology. The contention in the current ruling was a debate of scope. Apple was insisting that its motion was on behalf of all iOS developers, not just the seven developers in the current cases.

Apple’s ‘rubber-banding’ patent win stands – Samsung denied new trial

Ben Lovejoy Aug 23 2013 - 4:25 am PT

The eventual resolution of last year’s big patent trial between Apple and Samsung is one step closer after Samsung was denied a retrial over one of the patents concerned: the ‘bounce-back’ or ‘rubber-banding’ effect when a user scrolls past the end of a document.

At the trial, which concluded a year ago tomorrow, each company accused the other of infringing on a range of patents …
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Apple invents a flexible material to create truly seamless enclosures for MacBooks & other products

Jordan Kahn Aug 22 2013 - 7:05 am PT

7 Comments

The US Patent & Trademark Office today published a new Apple patent application (via PatentlyApple) that details a flexible material that could be used as a hinge to create a seamless enclosure for devices like the MacBook, for example. Apple details a technical process of using specialized machinery to laser cut “flex apertures” and interlocking features in a rigid material to allow it to bend and function as a hinge. On top of creating a seamless enclosure, Apple claims the process would allow it to reduce the size of devices that are often increased due to traditional hinge solutions. Imagine if the enclosure of a MacBook didn’t include that black plastic hinge and instead appeared to be a seamless piece of aluminium connecting the display to the bottom half of the unibody.

While MacBooks might seem like the obvious application for Apple’s invention, it also notes the usual list of devices that could potentially use the technology including everything from smartphones to televisions and game consoles. The patent also shows the material being used on headphone cables to allow a flexible connection from the cable to the earbud to prevent damage, and on what appears to be an iPad Smart Cover-like accessory:
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$1B wiped off Samsung’s value following Presidential veto; Samsung continues appeals

Ben Lovejoy Aug 5 2013 - 7:49 am PT

Photo: tractoroutdoor.com

The WSJ reports that more than a billion dollars were wiped off Samsung’s market value today following President Obama’s veto of the decision to ban the import of iPhone 4 and 3G iPad 2 devices into the USA. The fall represented 0.9 percent of the company’s market cap.

While a Presidential veto over-rules the original ITC ruling, the Financial Times reports that Samsung is appealing the ITC decision on the grounds that it only upheld one of the four patents it believes Apple has infringed. The appeal is expected to be held in Q1 2014. Were Apple to lose then, however, the impact would be significantly lower, as Apple is almost certain to have launched new iPhones and iPads by then, with the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 likely removed from Apple’s retail and online stores and seeing only residual sales elsewhere …
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Apple ‘applauds’ veto of ITC iPhone/iPad ban, Samsung ‘disappointed’

Mark Gurman Aug 3 2013 - 1:44 pm PT

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Image by <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57499944-37/how-qualified-is-the-apple-samsung-jury-we-found-out/"><em>CNET</em></a>

Following the decision from the Obama administration from earlier today to veto an ITC product ban on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, first-generation 3G iPad, and 3G-capable iPad 2, both Apple and Samsung have responded.

Apple has praised the decision:

We applaud the Administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way.

Samsung is not happy with the move:

We are disappointed that the U.S. Trade Representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license.

Today’s decision is not the first time in which the United States has sided with Apple over Samsung. Last summer, a California court granted Apple a $1 billion dollar verdict in a wide ranging case regarding Apple and Samsung’s mobile product design patents. Apple CEO Tim Cook called that win an “important day for Apple and for innovators everywhere.”