Who is Apple going after this week?

[corruptrelic]

Seems like Apple is starting a law suit every week lately.

A few days ago Apple demanded a US ban on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/13/apple_us_ban_nexus/

Apple is seeking a US ban on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, the flagship phone for the newest iteration of Google's Android smartphone OS, in the latest battle of the ongoing patent wars.

The fruity firm filed in California, saying that "a preliminary injunction regarding Samsung's new Galaxy Nexus, which infringes multiple key Apple patents, is essential to prevent immediate and irreparable harm to Apple".

Now they're going after Kodak:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/15/apple-kodak-patent-lawsuit-bankrupt/

Poor Kodak just can't catch a break these days. Nearly a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and mere days after shuttering its digital camera business, the sputtering company now finds itself the target of no less a behemoth than Apple. Yesterday, Cupertino's legal team asked a US Bankruptcy Court for permission to go after Kodak on two legal fronts: with a patent infringement lawsuit in a Manhattan district court, and a corollary complaint in the ITC. According to Bloomberg, Apple's patent suit focuses on technologies that Kodak uses in its line of digital cameras, printers and digital picture frames. Unfortunately for Kodak, printers are one of the product areas it recently decided to focus on, as confirmed in last week's restructuring announcement. Salt, meet wound.

Who will be next?

[leo8877]

When the entire technology sector copies everything you do, the list is endless to choose from!

[rittchard]

I'm pretty sure they're going after the almost 100% ripoff of MBA, the Asus Zenbook.  The Zenbook is really pretty damn cool, but it is such a blatant ripoff it's almost unbelievable.

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/13/apple-reportedly-pressures-pegatron-into-ceasing-asus-zenbook-production/

[Canuck]

Because its thin and stylish? Didn't realize there was a copyright on that. Can't wait until the iPhone goes up to 4.3 in so they can be sued into oblivion by every handset maker out there.

[JCC]

Believe me, there are plenty of suits against Apple already. All of these mobile electronic companies seem to take delight in suing each other and attempting to get injunctions against the other from selling in Market X. I am sure the lawyers are howling all the way to the bank.

[Calavera]

When the entire technology sector copies everything you do, the list is endless to choose from!

*sigh* 

Responding to market forces isn't copying everything you do. Not to mention, Apple has done it's fair share of copying as well (iOS 5 notifications, I'm looking at you). When one of your "key patents" is sliding your fingers left to right to unlock, it's certainly an indication there is a problem with the copyright/patent system. A grant everything and let the courts decide if they're valid system is probably not the best approach. Apple has been one of the largest benefactors of the first mover disadvantage, now they're trying to use the patent system as a bludgeon to eliminate it. Apple is doing a good job at losing to Android as a whole right now, but they are still one of the top 3 handset vendors. At some point suing your competition is likely to draw anti-trust scrutiny.

Believe me, there are plenty of suits against Apple already. All of these mobile electronic companies seem to take delight in suing each other and attempting to get injunctions against the other from selling in Market X. I am sure the lawyers are howling all the way to the bank.

Competition is hard, paying lawyers is easy

[Isgrimnur]

Apple is doing a good job at losing to Android as a whole right now, but they are still one of the top 3 handset vendors.

Google isn't a handset vendor until after they buy Motorola, and even then, they're not going to lock out their existing customers from putting Android on their devices.

[Doopri]

i made a sandwich the other day and apple sued me for infringement under their patent #1278239 better known as "thing that does stuff"

i was bummed!

[Calavera]

Apple is doing a good job at losing to Android as a whole right now, but they are still one of the top 3 handset vendors.

Google isn't a handset vendor until after they buy Motorola, and even then, they're not going to lock out their existing customers from putting Android on their devices.

Sorry, I should clarify that Apple is still one of the top 3 handset vendors. The top 3 handset vendors are Nokia, Samsung, then Apple. Keep in mind, these number include non-smartphones. Apple is easily the largest individual smartphone vendor.

Also, I don't think Google really wants to be a handset vendor. It's pretty widely accepted that the purchase of Motorola Mobility is for the patents they hold and is considered a defensive move against Apple's current "sue our competitors" strategy.

[Devil]

Who is stealing from Apple this week?

[hepcat]

While I don't think an eye roll was necessary, I have to agree with the other sentiment in Calavera's post.  The current state of patent law is woefully inadequate for today's technology...especially when it comes to software.  NPR did a series of great shows on this last year.  Google NPR and patents for some of them.

[theohall]

Apple isn't helping themselves when they sue someone then use altered photos in court as evidence.  Yes, Apple actually did this when they were suing Samsung in Europe for supposedly copying the iPad.  Apple lost.

[hepcat]

I'm not sure that's as bad as that article wants folks to believe it is.  Apple wasn't suing Samsung because of the Galaxy's dimensions, it was because of the similarity of the overall product.  While I agree that it was a frivolous lawsuit to begin with, I don't think Apple was trying to be disingenuous.

[morlac]

Then why alter it all?  Altering it made it look even more like an ipad which is what they were suing them for.   I agree it may have been an incidental picture croping but when your lawsuit is based on bullshit you probably shouldn't cover your evidence in it.

[hepcat]

My guess would be that it was just to make the screen a little easier to see in side by side comparisons.  The Samsung was a bit smaller.

[Devil]

Yes - They look nothing alike.

Samsung thought it up all on their own.

Throw the same background image on it and they are the same thing.

[Chaz]

I feel like there's a limit to how different you can make "slab of screen with a small bezel" look.  Unless Apple has a patent on that too.

[hepcat]

Yeah, lawsuits in the computer world are almost all ridiculous.  I think the mindset is "I'd better sue someone else before they sue me!".  The laws are desperately in need of reform.

[Roman]

I'm no lawyer of CFO - but I would suspect that they are litigation happy because:

• China is trying to stop them from selling iPads in China - Trademark dispute
• their CEO? was summonded to Congress yesterday on something

By Apple flodding the media with their own litigation they hope to take the focus off them - and their share price..... However this may not be working as the price fell below $500 yesterday to something shocking like $497.

[hepcat]

If this continues at that rate they'll be gone by 2234!

[corruptrelic]

Looks like Apple won another battle against Motorola.

Apple scored a huge victory today in Munich's Regional Court where Judge Dr. Peter Guntz found Motorola's implementation of slide-to-unlock on smartphones to be in breach of Cupertino's patent holdings. The ruling has resulted in a permanent injunction that Apple could execute at will, forcing Moto to alter the UX it employs across its device portfolio in Deutschland. The case originally focused on three separate applications of this gesture tech -- two for phones, alone -- but for now, the one used on the Xoom has been deemed outside of Apple's purview.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/16/apple-granted-injunction-in-germany-patent-suit-motorola-phones/

[CeeKay]

I'm no lawyer of CFO - but I would suspect that they are litigation happy because:

• China is trying to stop them from selling iPads in China - Trademark dispute
• their CEO? was summonded to Congress yesterday on something

By Apple flodding the media with their own litigation they hope to take the focus off them - and their share price..... However this may not be working as the price fell below $500 yesterday to something shocking like $497.

I thought it was a company in China, and not China itself.

[Calavera]

Yes - They look nothing alike.

Samsung thought it up all on their own.

Throw the same background image on it and they are the same thing.

For that matter, the iPad looks like my desktop half the time going all the way back to Windows 95. Sorry, but icons on a background image is not unique or novel. I'm fairly confident you can find at least one example of a regular handset with icons on a background without touch prior to the iPhone. It's not worth patent protection in the first place. Let's be honest, Apple really isn't known for being original. They're known for refining the user interface on an existing product and having some of the best marketing out there. The MP3 player wasn't new when the iPod came out, smartphones weren't new when the iPhone came out, tablets weren't new when the iPad came out, the GUI wasn't new when the Macintosh came out, etc.

I'm no lawyer of CFO - but I would suspect that they are litigation happy because:

• China is trying to stop them from selling iPads in China - Trademark dispute
• their CEO? was summonded to Congress yesterday on something

By Apple flodding the media with their own litigation they hope to take the focus off them - and their share price..... However this may not be working as the price fell below $500 yesterday to something shocking like $497.

I thought it was a company in China, and not China itself.

Isn't that one in the same?

[leo8877]

Yes - They look nothing alike.

Samsung thought it up all on their own.

Throw the same background image on it and they are the same thing.

For that matter, the iPad looks like my desktop half the time going all the way back to Windows 95. Sorry, but icons on a background image is not unique or novel. I'm fairly confident you can find at least one example of a regular handset with icons on a background without touch prior to the iPhone. It's not worth patent protection in the first place. Let's be honest, Apple really isn't known for being original. They're known for refining the user interface on an existing product and having some of the best marketing out there. The MP3 player wasn't new when the iPod came out, smartphones weren't new when the iPhone came out, tablets weren't new when the iPad came out, the GUI wasn't new when the Macintosh came out, etc.

I'm no lawyer of CFO - but I would suspect that they are litigation happy because:

• China is trying to stop them from selling iPads in China - Trademark dispute
• their CEO? was summonded to Congress yesterday on something

By Apple flodding the media with their own litigation they hope to take the focus off them - and their share price..... However this may not be working as the price fell below $500 yesterday to something shocking like $497.

I thought it was a company in China, and not China itself.

Isn't that one in the same?

Apple doesn't own everyone because of their Marketing.  It's because their stuff is light years ahead of the competition.

Here is a comparison of cell phones before and after Apple got involved:

[hepcat]

 

[leo8877]

I found another one:

[Devil]

 

[Calavera]

Apple doesn't own everyone because of their Marketing.  It's because their stuff is light years ahead of the competition.

Here is a comparison of cell phones before and after Apple got involved:

That image is a bit misleading. It's comparing regular handsets pre-iPhone to smartphones post iPhone. If you compare handsets pre and post, you'll see they haven't really changed all that much. Smartphones, however, were already going that direction. A great example of this is the HTC Touch released around the same time as the iPhone (June 2007). Oooo, black bezel, one large button at the bottom. Windows Mobile 6.0. Touch based phones have been around since at least 2004. Palm units had a better interface, but they always did. For that matter, Palm was using a grid of icons to launch applications on PDAs long before the iPhone...

I'm not disagreeing that Apple's products were and in some ways still are better. I'm also not disagreeing that they have been a major force in consumer electronics in the past decade. I'm strongly disagreeing that they were light years ahead in anything but industrial design and marketing.

[Crux]

I found another one:

This is exactly to someone's point earlier. Some of the tablets above had most or all of the ipad's functionality. Apple didn't make something light-years ahead of the rest in terms of what it could do. They made something that had a superior form-factor. It looked purty.

[Canuck]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

[leo8877]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

Not joking.  I guess in your eyes I'll just be stupid.  I'm not stupid enough to think that Apple only makes pretty products though, so I have that going for me.

[Canuck]

Those Android handset makers ain't got nothing! LG was ripping off iPhone before the iPhone was even released! That takes skills!



Also, this pre-Ipad tablet looks exactly like the Toys R Us pre-Ipad tablets pictured above! Amazing!

[hepcat]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

bad form.   

[Morgul]

If this continues at that rate they'll be gone by 2234!

LOL..   Hepcat get first chuckle of the day with my morning coffee.

[Canuck]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

Not joking.  I guess in your eyes I'll just be stupid.  I'm not stupid enough to think that Apple only makes pretty products though, so I have that going for me.

If you don't even realize that that second comparison was put together as a joke well then I guess there's not much to even discuss.

[leo8877]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

Not joking.  I guess in your eyes I'll just be stupid.  I'm not stupid enough to think that Apple only makes pretty products though, so I have that going for me.

If you don't even realize that that second comparison was put together as a joke well then I guess there's not much to even discuss.

We can discuss how the reality distortion field for Apple detractors is more powerful than one for supporters.  Or we could discuss how apparently Toys R' Us was selling Microsoft Windows based tablet computers in the aisle right between Speak & Spell and Lite Brite.

[Calavera]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

Not joking.  I guess in your eyes I'll just be stupid.  I'm not stupid enough to think that Apple only makes pretty products though, so I have that going for me.

If you don't even realize that that second comparison was put together as a joke well then I guess there's not much to even discuss.

We can discuss how the reality distortion field for Apple detractors is more powerful than one for supporters.  Or we could discuss how apparently Toys R' Us was selling Microsoft Windows based tablet computers in the aisle right between Speak & Spell and Lite Brite.

There's no need for insults on either side. If that's what this has devolved to, there's not much reason in discussing this further.

To the point, though, the Windows tablets in the picture were pretty much cherry picked to make a biased point. Most of those are ruggedized tablets for the business market. A better example of one designed for the consumer market was the Compaq TC1100. It had a detachable keyboard and had a strikingly similar form factor to the iPad in 2003 and was discontinued by 2005. Microsoft has been pioneering tablets for a while, but could never get any traction.

[Purge]

I was going to say that the tablets in the picture look like they could probably take a beating.

[gellar]

I'm sure Leo is joking with those photos. No one is that stupid in real life.

Not joking.  I guess in your eyes I'll just be stupid.  I'm not stupid enough to think that Apple only makes pretty products though, so I have that going for me.

If you don't even realize that that second comparison was put together as a joke well then I guess there's not much to even discuss.

We can discuss how the reality distortion field for Apple detractors is more powerful than one for supporters.  Or we could discuss how apparently Toys R' Us was selling Microsoft Windows based tablet computers in the aisle right between Speak & Spell and Lite Brite.

There's no need for insults on either side. If that's what this has devolved to, there's not much reason in discussing this further.

To the point, though, the Windows tablets in the picture were pretty much cherry picked to make a biased point. Most of those are ruggedized tablets for the business market. A better example of one designed for the consumer market was the Compaq TC1100. It had a detachable keyboard and had a strikingly similar form factor to the iPad in 2003 and was discontinued by 2005. Microsoft has been pioneering tablets for a while, but could never get any traction.

That's because they were terrible and useless.  When I was at MSFT in 2005, I was given a Toshiba convertible laptop (two of them actually) that turned into a tablet for no apparent reason whatsoever.  It served no actual purpose that I could discern.  I hated that machine more than I've hated any other device I've used.  Apple did not just make tablets pretty - they made tablets actually functional and useful.

It's abundantly clear that Apple 'made' the tablet space.  Everything before then was beyond terrible. 

Now as far as their litigation goes, Apple is very good at getting patents for things.  It's part of their business model to patent everything they do and aggressively go after anyone who violates those  patents.  You can disagree with the method, but it's obviously quite successful.

To be clear, Apple aren't the only ones.  Most technology companies in the SV do the exact same thing.

[gellar]

By the way, if you actually read the Samsung suit, Apple is specifically suing over four patents:

1) predictive text
2) a data-tapper feature, which recognizes data such as phone numbers and provides a link directly to the dialer, for example;
3) a voice search feature that Apple believes is imitative of Siri;
4) and the popular using-an-image-to-unlock feature.