I have been following news around patents lately. I have followed what happens on patent field because I am an inventor that has made some patents and being referenced on some other. The patent situation seem to be quite insane right now, especially on smartphone field.
I can agree the comment Patent law is a very imperfect tool for establishing moral culpability I saw in Linux Magazine. Whether you favor patents or not, it is important to face the fact that patent law is a construct of the business world. Patents protect opportunities for patent holders and restrict opportunities for others. What engineers need to know about patents article tells that most engineers know what a patent is broadly; for example, a bundle of rights related to an invention.
Patents are considered by many parties as vitally important to protecting intellectual property. Plenty of creativity occurs within the technology industry, and without patents, executives say they could never justify spending fortunes on new products. And academics say that some aspects of the patent system, like protections for pharmaceuticals, often function smoothly. It’s clearly demonstrably true that wielding patents to stop people copying protected methods obliges them to come up with new methods of their own. This is why patents are so widely supported by inventors, industry and governments. It’s an irreplaceable component of industrial organisation that produces and propagates invention. In April 2012, in its report on Intellectual Property, the US Patent Office (USPTO) concluded that the entire US economy relies on some form of IP, because virtually every industry either produces or uses it.
Patents have become a technology industry battleground as mobile-phone, tablet and computer makers try to lure consumers with constant improvements to their video and sound. Smartphones have become the focal point for lawsuits and licensing talks because the market is so huge, it is growing so quickly and cutting-edge technology is used in them. There Are 250,000 Active Patents That Impact Smartphones; Representing One In Six Active Patents Today. And this is for for an industry that is certainly less than 1% of US GDP. It definitely appears that there’s something of a “bubble” going on around smartphone patents. The explosive growth of the smartphone market means mobile patents are particularly valuable these days. Major players are increasingly going to court with one another over alleged infringements. It also makes for an astounding minefield for anyone new who wants to enter the space, especially if you don’t have a massive war chest to license or fight in court.
Patents have been a very important tool on industrial era to protect companies. Many people argue that the nation’s patent rules, intended for a mechanical world, are inadequate in today’s digital marketplace. Nowadays patents seem to be especially on on the software side especially old-fashioned and even harming economy. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis recently published a working paper calling for the abolition of patents, saying they do more harm than good. Import bans over patents cause ‘substantial harm,’ FTC says.
Unlike patents for new drug formulas, patents on software often effectively grant ownership of concepts, rather than tangible creations. Today, the patent office routinely approves patents that describe vague algorithms or business methods, without patent examiners demanding specifics about how those calculations occur or how the software operates. The patent office has a reputation for being overworked, understaffed and plagued by employee turnover, and employees concede that some of their work is subjective. As a result, some patents are so broad that they allow patent holders to claim sweeping ownership of seemingly unrelated products built by others. And it happens more and more often. Yes, the system is frequently gamed, it generates avoidable costs, it’s unnecessarily complex, and it creates many absurdities. There Are Too Many Patents In America.
Recent research supports view that patent troll activity is rising — costing America a fortune in wasted legal fees and lost jobs. Patent trolls are a plague. And they are every day armed with more and more patents. ‘Patent trolls’ cost other US bodies $29bn last year, says study. And this figure does not include indirect costs to the defendants’ businesses such as diversion of resources, delays in new products, and loss of market share. Direct costs are large relative to total spending on [research and development], which totalled $247bn in 2009, implying that NPE patent assertations effectively impose a significant tax on investment in innovation. Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Calls For Governments To End Patent Wars. The problems with the current system are so pervasive, that many companies say, that the courts, lawmakers and Silicon Valley must find their own fixes.
In the smartphone industry alone, according to a Stanford University analysis, as much as $20 billion was spent on patent litigation and patent purchases in the last two years — an amount equal to eight Mars rover missions. Last year spending by Apple and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products, according to public filings. Apple’s CEO thinks that patent system is broken in a fundamental way. It allows companies to exploit standards-essential patents — patents that must be licensed in order for products to function according to accepted industry standards. The Patent Wars: Infographic confirms that everyone in the tech world is way too sue-happy.
Apple vs. Samsung patent verdict was a lot of talked about event lately. Apple-Samsung trial has clarified that patents are the “lifeblood of business” and putting powerful short-term legal protections under inventions is overwhelmingly more convincing than any mooted alternative. Apple v. Samsung case highlights money to be made from patent litigation. Linux Magazine editor is amazed at how little all the “authorities” seem to know. Is there a lesson in all this? A huge team of lawyers billing US$ 200 to US$ 800 per hour erected weeks of elegant arguments and a jury thought about the whole thing for 21 hours and 37 minutes. The 109 pages of jury instructions contained 700 questions, which means that jury reached consensus on one point approximately every 33 seconds.
The Apple v. Samsung case really ought to shame the industry. It let a jury, also known as “people off the street”, decide on liability and damages amounts and kept a lot of lawyers in alligator skin shoes. And while it is probably the lawyers that benefited the most from the whole ordeal, no one else is. And I’m not convinced that any of these patents are actually valid. Of course, Samsung argued that Apple also copied, which is no doubt true, but just because Apple got away with it doesn’t make it okay. Apple and Samsung would be better off — and their consumers would be better served — if the tech giants took their epic patent battle out of the courtroom and into the marketplace. The best thing about the case is that it has exposed just how awful the patent situation has become in the US.
A new patent case has just started. Microsoft v Google judge could shape the world in new patent punchup because that could finally tell tech companies how much a standards-essential patent is worth is about to kick off in the US. Microsoft filed a lawsuit in 2010 that challenges Google-owned Motorola over the its use of standards-essential patents (SEP) in court cases. Microsoft and Apple have tried to argue that Samsung and Motorola shouldn’t be allowed to use their SEP in court cases. Both European and US authorities have also been investigating whether any firm should be allowed to get the law involved in SEP but haven’t come to any conclusions yet. Motorola has tried to get 2.25 per cent per device out of Apple and Microsoft. The patents this case is are related to for example to H.264 video coding. Redmond is accusing Motorola of violating its responsibilities to standards organisations to license the patents at fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory rates (FRAND).
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese PC giant Lenovo aimed at the mobile market – to buy patents for $ 100 million
China’s Lenovo to buy a 3G and 4G patents from the American Unwired Planet from a total of 100 million dollars, or about 73 million Euros. Shopping for an additional increase of its weight in January, Motorola Mobility acquisition (for $ 2.9 billion). Lenovo’s patents will help it to increase its position in the smartphone and mobile markets.
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/kiinalainen+pcjatti+tahtaa+mobiilimarkkinoille++ostaa+patentteja+100+miljoonalla+dollarilla/a976134
Tomi Engdahl says:
Collaborative Advantage: Blocked From Designing 3D Circuits?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1319482
The promise of 3D includes greater functional density, reduced footprints, and lower power consumption, because the distance and capacitance of interconnect can be reduced.
A casual Internet search for “design of 3D circuits patents” quickly reveals at least five patents describing methods and systems for the design of 3D ICs, focused on design software tools.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft and Dell sign Android, Chrome OS patent agreement
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-and-dell-sign-android-chrome-os-patent-agreement-7000027754/
Summary: Microsoft and Dell have renewed their patent cross-licensing agreement, with Dell agreeing to pay Microsoft royalties for Dell’s products running Android and Chrome OS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Owner of Nortel Patents Sues Cisco For ‘Immense’ Patent Infringement
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/03/26/2013217/owner-of-nortel-patents-sues-cisco-for-immense-patent-infringement
“The venerable Nortel Networks may have vanished into bankruptcy five years ago, but thanks to U.S. patent law, it can strike back at its old rival Cisco from beyond the grave.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
In new case, Supreme Court revisits the question of software patents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/in-new-case-supreme-court-revisits-the-question-of-software-patents/2014/03/28/a3da1c52-ad3a-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html
If you write a book or a song, you can get copyright protection for it. If you invent a pill or a better mousetrap, you can patent it. But for decades, software has had the distinction of being eligible for both copyright and patent protection.
The patent system, critics say, is complex and expensive — and a bad fit for the fast-moving software industry. And they wonder, doesn’t the protection offered by copyright suffice?
On Monday, for the first time since 1981, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether software — or more precisely, computer-implemented inventions — can coninue to be patented. The case, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Sammy patent trial: Apple seeks $40 PER ‘infringing’ handset
Korean firm expected to call in Google engineers
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/31/apple_samsung_new_patent_trial/
Apple and Samsung are due to open up a new front in their epic patent war in the US today, with the fruity firm seeking an astonishing $40 per infringing device and Samsung planning to get Google engineers in to defend its case.
Apple is claiming that 10 Sammy devices, including the popular Galaxy SIII, infringe on five of its patents
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple lays out its new case against Samsung, says 50 patents could have been at stake
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/1/5566668/apple-lays-out-its-case-against-samsung-says-50-patents-could-have-been-at-stake
Apple provided an overarching vision of its legal attack against Samsung today, a case it’s filed to win $2 billion in damages, and get Samsung’s products removed from store shelves. Once again that plan centers around a handful of patents for smartphone and tablet features Apple says Samsung knowingly took and implemented in its own products.
At the heart of Apple’s argument is that the company changed the very face of consumer electronics with the iPhone in 2007, and risked nearly everything in the process. Moreover, Apple says Samsung took the fast track to success, copying many of its features and making billions in the process.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung: Apple’s Patent Claims Are “Gross Exaggeration”
http://recode.net/2014/04/01/samsung-apples-patent-claims-are-gross-exaggeration/
Samsung began its opening argument on Tuesday, saying that Apple’s patents aren’t nearly as broad or important as the company claims in seeking $2 billion in damages.
“I’ll prove to you that is a gross, gross exaggeration, and an insult to your intelligence,” Samsung lawyer John Quinn said as he kicked off his opening statement.
“It’s an attack on Android,” Quinn said. “It is trying to gain with you in this courtroom what it has lost in the marketplace.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supreme Court Skeptical During Software Patent Arguments
http://recode.net/2014/03/31/supreme-court-skeptical-during-software-patent-arguments/
Supreme Court justices jumped into the debate about how software patents are enforced Monday, but their questioning suggested a desire to avoid any massive changes to how courts should examine infringement cases.
On Monday, the court heard arguments in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the software industry, as the justices took up the issue of whether the Patent Act authorizes the granting of patents on software based on abstract ideas.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple: You’re a copycat! Samsung: This is really about Google, isn’t it?
New Apple v Sammy trial kicks off with the same old arguments
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/02/apple_samsung_trial_opening_arguments/
Tomi Engdahl says:
University wins $1.5bn patent suit
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26838975
A federal judge has ordered US chip maker Marvell Technology Group to pay $1.5bn (£900m) to Carnegie Mellon University for infringing two hard-disk patents.
The case concerned patents issued in 2001 and 2002 that relate to how accurately hard-disk drives detect data stored on the drives.
Carnegie Mellon said at least nine Marvell chip boards incorporated the patents, amounting to billions of chips worldwide.
The initial award of $1.17bn in December 2012 was the third largest ever in a patent case at the time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Puts Android on Hot Seat
Samsung case examines Google code
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321828&
Apple examined details of Google’s Android code in testimony Monday as part of its patent infringement case against Samsung. Attorneys for both sides debated how much of the source code running on Samsung’s handsets would be brought into evidence for review by the jury.
The software includes a mix of proprietary code — some written by Samsung and some by Google — along with some open-source code.
Only the jury will be allowed to see the proprietary code, some of which even Apple’s attorneys have not been allowed to view.
Google is not being sued for patent infringement in the case
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft: We’ve got HUNDREDS of patents on Android tech
Just ask the Chinese, they’ll admit it
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/08/microsoft_holds_200_android_patents/
Microsoft has been hush-hush about specifics of the patent licensing deals it has been signing with Android device makers, but a new blog post suggests Redmond might be wielding a larger intellectual-property club against the open source smartphone OS than had previously been thought.
Buried in Tuesday’s announcement that China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has approved Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s smartphone division was a surprising affirmation of Microsoft’s patent rights.
“In reaching its decision, MOFCOM concluded after its investigation that Microsoft holds approximately 200 patent families that are necessary to build an Android smartphone,” Microsoft deputy counsel David Howard wrote in the blog post.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Take Action Against Patent Trolls
http://www.nfib.com/article/how-to-take-action-against-patent-trolls-64895/
If you’re a small business owner who has faced a frivolous patent dispute recently, you’re not alone. Thanks to patent assertion entities—or “patent trolls,” whose sole business is bringing patent infringement lawsuits to extract settlements—abusive patent litigation has skyrocketed since 2010.
These three steps help small business owners defend their intellectual property from frivolous threats.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s What Android Looked Like Before the iPhone
http://recode.net/2014/04/13/heres-what-android-looked-like-before-the-iphone/
One of the more interesting documents that came to light during the Apple-Samsung document last week was an early internal Google document on what Android looked like as of 2006 — before Apple had unveiled the iPhone.
Android, at that point, was based on Linux 2.6, and didn’t actually have support for touchscreens.
“Touchscreens will not be supported,” Google said in a 2006 specification for Android devices. “The product was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an assumption. However, there is nothing fundamental in the products architecture that prevents the support of touchscreens in the future.”
The document also notes that Android would use Microsoft’s FAT 32 file system
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Designer Denies Apple Influence: “Absolutely Not”
http://recode.net/2014/04/14/samsung-designer-denies-apple-influence-absolutely-not/
Did Samsung steal its slide-to-unlock feature from Apple’s smartphone software?
“Absolutely not,” said Samsung senior UI designer Youngmi Kim, who has worked on user experience strategy on the Samsung design team since 2004.
Apple’s patent on slide-to-unlock is one of five over which Apple has sued Samsung, saying that the Korean electronics giant owes it more than $2 billion for using its patented technology in various phones and tablets. Samsung denies its products infringe and also says the patents at issue are invalid. Meanwhile, it has countersued Apple for infringing on two of its patents.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Takes Stand Against Apple
Samsung exec calls original iPhone “niche”
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321927&
A Samsung executive said he thought the original iPhone was an impressive but niche product, in testimony on Monday. Three Google senior software engineers also took the stand defending Samsung against charges it infringed five Apple patents.
The original iPhone “was very impressive, a nice product [but] at that moment only AT&T distributed it exclusively, so I felt it would be a niche market,”
Nevertheless, Sohn executed “a paradigm shift” in Samsung’s approach to the US cellular market in 2011.
The first full day of Samsung’s defense began by suggesting Google is responsible for much of the disputed software features on its handsets. Google software engineering managers for search, email, and other Android features testified they were responsible for some of the features in question and that they did not copy Apple’s software.
Apple attorneys noted several times the case is focused on Samsung because it received the revenue and profits from the handsets accused of infringement. One Google engineer pushed back on that argument saying, “Everything I described here you really need to use or else you will break applications in Android.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
PC Prior Art Cited on iPhone
Old DOS app surfaces at Apple v. Samsung
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321948&
Old PC-era products invalidate Apple’s iPhone patents, Samsung experts claimed in testimony here Tuesday. Samsung cited Borland’s Sidekick and WAIS servers as examples of prior art in its defense against two of Apple’s five patent infringement claims.
A Samsung expert witness said the Sidekick, a DOS-based personal organizer launched in 1984, used similar techniques as Apple’s ’647 patent on quick links. He also cited the 1991 EmbeddedButtons research project at Xerox PARC as prior art invalidating the patent.
The smartphone code uses different techniques from what Apple’s patent describes, he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Patents Android-Like Gesture Unlocking Tech For Mobile Devices
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/17/apple-patents-android-like-gesture-unlocking-tech-for-mobile-devices/?source=gravity&cps=gravity
Apple has a pair of new patent applications published by the USPTO today (via AppleInsider) which describe a gesture-based unlocking system for iPhone or iPad devices.
Apple’s patent describes gesture lock screen user interface elements that can be changed by a user, in terms of both size and position.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple patents Wi-Fi access point location lookup
Cupertino turns world into 50m x 50m grid
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/apple_patents_access_point_location_lookup/
Apple has once again demonstrated that it’s no slouch as a patent troll, applying for and receiving a patent to tell you where you are, by performing a database lookup of WiFi access points.
US Patent 8700060, “Determining a location of a mobile device using a location database”, covers a phone-stored location database that Apple can remotely update from its servers.
That’s too simple and obvious, so Cupertino has kindly added some extra wrinkles
“The mobile device can calculate a current location of the mobile device using current access points that are within a communication range of the mobile device
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU antitrust bods: Motorola, Samsung too dominant to take on poor little Apple
Lawsuits using standards-essential patents are out – EC
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/30/moto_samsung_eu_sep_rulings/
Motorola and Samsung have escaped with a stern finger-wagging from the EU after using standards-essential patents (SEP) to stop the sale of Apple devices in Europe.
The European Commission’s antitrust division said that Moto’s attempt to enforce an injunction on Apple gear based on a smartphone SEP was “an abuse of a dominant position” and was prohibited by anti-competition laws.
“The so-called smartphone patent wars should not occur at the expense of consumers,” competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement. “This is why all industry players must comply with the competition rules.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jury Finds Samsung Phones Infringe on Several Apple Patents, Awards $119.6 Million
http://recode.net/2014/05/02/jury-finds-samsung-infringed-on-apple-patents/
A federal jury in the Apple-Samsung case delivered a mixed verdict Friday.
The panel ruled that various Samsung products infringed on two patents that Apple had sued over in its latest patent case and found damages on a third patent, awarding more than $119.6 million in damages. However, it found Apple did not infringe on two other patents and also awarded Samsung $158,400, saying Apple infringed on a Samsung patent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung to Fight Apple Smartphone Trial Verdict: Lawyer
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-05/samsung-will-fight-apple-smartphone-patent-verdict-lawyer-says.html
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will challenge a jury’s $120 million award to Apple Inc. in a patent-infringement verdict that was “unsupported by evidence,” a lawyer for the Suwon, South Korea-based company said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple v. Samsung patent trial recap: How it all turned out (FAQ)
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-v-samsung-patent-trial-recap-how-it-all-turned-out-faq/
The tech companies battled in a San Jose, Calif., court over patents. CNET breaks down what happened during the monthlong trial.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AltCoin Alert: Western Union Obtains Alternative Currency Exchange System Patent from USPTO
Alternative value exchange systems and methods
https://medium.com/p/23f9de5dc65e
No Joke Patent 8,688,563 Granted on April Fools Day 2014..was Filed in October 2009
“…Methods and systems for exchanging alternative currencies…”
To be clear there is no specific mention of everyone’s favorite cryptocurrency “Bitcoin” within this patent. But based on when it was originally filed, that was to be expected because Bitcoin was obscure.
this has made it past the application stage and has been granted patent status by USPTO
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oracle wins copyright ruling against Google over Android
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/us-oracle-google-ruling-idUSBREA480KQ20140509
Oracle Corp won a legal victory against Google Inc on Friday as a U.S. appeals court decided Oracle could copyright parts of the Java programming language, which Google used to design its Android smartphone operating system.
The case, decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, is being closely watched in Silicon Valley. A high-profile 2012 trial
A San Francisco federal judge had decided that Oracle could not claim copyright protection on parts of Java, but on Friday the three-judge Federal Circuit panel reversed that ruling.
“What we have is a decision that will definitely shake up the software industry,” said Samuelson.
Google had argued that software should only be allowed to be patented, not copyrighted. However, O’Malley wrote that the Federal Circuit is bound to respect copyright protection for software, “until either the Supreme Court or Congress tells us otherwise.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Survey: Patent litigation skyrocketing, trolls top 10 sueball chuckers
Most sued company? Some fruity firm from Cupertino, California
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/13/survey_patent_litigation_skyrocketing_trolls_top_10_sueball_chuckers/
A new survey confirms what your own good common sense has already told you: 1) patent-infringement cases are increasing, ii) the most litigious plaintiffs are patent trolls, and C) the most-sued company is Apple.
“The patent case load of the district courts has more than doubled since 2008, and verdicts like Apple-Samsung have captured headlines with eye-popping damages,”
Patent litigation had been relatively stable from 2005 until 2011, when a surge began that continues today.
“Every single one of the top ten most prolific filers of patent lawsuits in 2013 was a patent monetization entity,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ten States Pass Anti-Patent-Troll Laws, With More To Come
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/05/15/233258/ten-states-pass-anti-patent-troll-laws-with-more-to-come
“With patent reform stalled in the Senate, many states have decided to take up the issue themselves.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ten states pass anti-patent-troll laws, with more to come
With reform stalled in the Senate, states do what they can—which isn’t much.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/fight-against-patent-trolls-flags-in-the-senate-but-states-push-ahead/
The anti-patent-troll bill passed by the US House of Representatives last year appears to have stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) promised that a vote would come shortly after the April recess, but it keeps getting delayed.
The delays are causing real concern among supporters.
The debate over this problem, however, isn’t confined to Washington. The whole reason “patent trolls” became a hot topic on the Hill is because the trolls’ aggressiveness reached an unprecedented level. Instead of just going after settlements from the usual big tech companies, trolls invaded Main Street, seeking license fees from small businesses for simply offering Wi-Fi or using scanners.
As states kicked off their legislative sessions this winter, lawmakers responded to the threats against small businesses by writing bills that would ban “bad faith patent assertions” as a violation of consumer-protection laws. The bills target a specific type of patent troll: the kind that sends out vaguely worded letters demanding licensing fees.
The new laws allow trolls that break rules around letter-writing to be sued in state court, either by private companies they’ve approached for licensing fees, or by state authorities themselves.
Other well-known trolls that have used demand letters include Lodsys, which seeks license fees from iOS developers, and Personal Audio, which is seeking to enforce a set of patents it says cover podcasts.
Limited powers
In general, most patent trolling behavior can’t be regulated by states at all. Patents are granted by the federal government, and patent disputes are resolved by federal courts.
The new bills will give states some authority over patent trolls that have demand letters as a key part of their strategy. The bills typically allow state courts to consider a variety of factors in deciding what is a “bad faith” patent assertion. Patent owners who don’t disclose the ownership of their patents, or show that they haven’t investigated the target’s alleged infringement at all, are more likely to be considered to be using their patents in “bad faith.”
States can’t do much to change the rules around patent trolls that actually file federal lawsuits, which is still the backbone of the patent-trolling industry. In fact, successfully enforcing patents through lawsuits is a factor in the state bills that weighs against a finding of “bad faith patent assertion.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
IT’S OVER! Apple and Googorola call end to patent war
Does the settlement mean peace in our time?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/17/its_over_apple_and_google_end_patent_war_over_motorola/
Apple and Google have reportedly asked a federal judge to dismiss all patent litigation between the two companies after four years of legal battles.
“Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Settles With Motorola: Samsung Next?
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322437&
Late last week, Apple and Motorola announced a settlement agreement regarding the patent lawsuits between them. Today, a report from Korea suggests Apple is on track to do the same with bitter rival Samsung. Together, the change in tone from Apple over smartphone patents suggests the company is ready to move forward and focus once again on innovation.
The news from Apple and Motorola came as a surprise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patent reform dies in Senate as Leahy pulls plug on key bill
http://gigaom.com/2014/05/21/patent-reform-dies-in-senate-as-leahy-pulls-plug-on-key-bill/
It was a good day for patent trolls as the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that a popular reform bill has died.
In a statement, Leahy said he hoped the Committee “will return to this issue,” but made clear the process is finished for now. The statement read, in part:
“We have been working for almost a year with countless stakeholders on legislation to address the problem of patent trolls who are misusing the patent system …Because there is not sufficient support behind any comprehensive deal, I am taking the patent bill off the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patent Reform? Experts Say No
Qualcom sees smartphone suits declining
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322441&
The US patent system is imperfect but essentially sound, according to a handful of papers presented at a Stanford symposium. Patent reform is not needed, experts said, despite calls for it from the White House, Congress (where two draft bills seek it), industry, and academia.
The mobile patent wars appear to be on the decline and generally do not involve standards-essential patents, a Qualcomm expert said. Most patentees lose infringement suits, but that situation has not significantly changed in 20 years, according to a separate study. And other experts said the patent system is essentially sound, despite those who call for replacing it with a prize system.
Stanford’s Hoover Institute is hosting a multi-year effort to study intellectual property in the US. The latest batch of papers was presented here this week.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oculus VR Sued Over Virtual-Reality Technology Trade Secrets
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-21/oculus-vr-sued-over-virtual-reality-technology-trade-secrets
Oculus VR Inc., the maker of virtual-reality goggles that Facebook Inc. (FB:US) is acquiring for $2 billion, was accused by ZeniMax Media Inc. of misappropriating intellectual property it claims is worth billions of dollars.
Oculus wrongfully took copyrighted computer code, trade secrets and technical know-how and exploited it, according to a complaint filed yesterday by ZeniMax, a video-game maker, in federal court in Dallas.
With the Oculus acquisition, Facebook is pushing into wearable hardware for the first time.
“The lawsuit filed by ZeniMax has no merit whatsoever,” Oculus said in an e-mailed statement. “As we have previously said, ZeniMax did not contribute to any Oculus technology. Oculus will defend these claims vigorously.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple requests retrial of Samsung patent case, demonstrates dissatisfaction with jury verdict
http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/05/apple-requests-retrial-of-samsung.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple granted patent for embedding sapphire displays in LiquidMetal iPhone chassis
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/27/apple-granted-patent-for-embedding-sapphire-displays-in-liquidmetal-iphone-chassis
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday issued Apple a patent describing a process in which an iPhone’s display glass — including sapphire — is integrally joined with a bezel made out of amorphous metal alloy, namely LiquidMetal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patent Troll Ordered To Pay For the Costs of Fighting a Bad Patent
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/06/02/0355243/patent-troll-ordered-to-pay-for-the-costs-of-fighting-a-bad-patent
“FindTheBest had spent about $200,000 on its legal fight”
” In a first-of-its-kind implementation of new fee-shifting rules mandated by the Supreme Court, US District Judge Denise Cote found that the Lumen View lawsuit was a ‘prototypical exceptional case.’”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Payback time: First patent troll ordered to pay “extraordinary case” fees
Supreme Court’s change on fee rules allows FindTheBest to pummel a patent troll.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/its-payback-time-as-findthebest-wrests-legal-fees-from-patent-troll/
When Santa Barbara startup FindTheBest (FTB) was sued by a patent troll called Lumen View last year, it vowed to fight back rather than pay up the $50,000 licensing fee Lumen was asking for. Company CEO Kevin O’Connor made it personal, pledging $1 million of his own money to fight the legal battle.
Once FindTheBest pursued the case, the company dismantled the troll in short order. In November, the judge invalidated Lumen’s patent, finding it was nothing more than a description of computer-oriented “matchmaking.”
At that point, FindTheBest had spent about $200,000 on its legal fight
Now the judge overseeing the case has ruled (PDF) that it’s Lumen View, not FindTheBest, that should have to pay those expenses. In a first-of-its-kind implementation of new fee-shifting rules
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supreme Court nixes idea of ‘indirect’ patent infringement
Akamai v Limelight decision overturns partial liability rule
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/03/supreme_court_nixes_idea_of_indirect_patent_infringement/
The US Supreme Court has issued a ruling that could help shield companies and end users from patent-troll lawsuits.
The court on Monday issued a unanimous ruling to overturn a Federal Circuit court ruling in the case of Akamai v. Limelight.
In the opinion, written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito on behalf of the unified court, the Supreme Court argued that in order for a patent infringement decision to be issued, a defendant has to have been shown to infringe upon all steps in a patent rather than a portion.
In issuing the ruling, the court said that in order for a group or individual to be found in violation of a patent, that single party must perform all the steps involved in the infringement. As end users performed the final steps in its process, Limelight could not be found liable.
“Liability for inducement must be predicated on direct infringement.”
EFF said that in overturning the Circuit Court ruling, the nation’s top court had protected users from being hit with infringement suits when they hadn’t knowingly done so.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supreme Court Limits Suits Over Encouraging Patent Infringement
Court Sides With Limelight Networks in Patent Fight With Akamai Technologies
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/supreme-court-wont-make-it-easier-for-companies-to-sue-over-patent-infringement-1401720402-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwMzEwNDMyWj
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to make it easier to hold companies liable for encouraging others to commit patent infringement, in its latest rejection of a decision by a specialized court that hears appeals in the nation’s patent cases.
Several leading technology companies, including Google Inc., GOOGL -1.74% Facebook Inc. FB -0.33% and Oracle Corp. ORCL -0.38% , had urged the Supreme Court to return to the traditional rules, saying the appeals court’s approach could have opened the door to a new wave of patent-infringement lawsuits and escalating litigation costs.
The high court, however, acknowledged Akamai’s concern that companies could evade the rights of patent holders by performing some steps in a patent and having another party, such as their customers, perform the remaining steps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Inks $500M Wireless Patent Deal With InterDigital
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/03/samsung-interdigital-patents/
Some more closure in the ongoing, foot-dragging world of patent infringement, at a very lucrative price: Samsung and InterDigital have signed a patent license agreement and dropped all litigation, active and pending, against each other. They have not released the terms of the deal but from what I understand the deal is worth just under $500 million
InterDigital, you may recall, filed a suit in January 2013 against Samsung, along with Huawei, Nokia and ZTE in the U.S., at the International Trade Commission, asking for import bans on products that InterDigital claimed violated its patents. That suit came in the wake of a previous agreement with Samsung expiring the month before, in December 2012.
Samsung, the world’s biggest handset maker in terms of volumes both of basic phones and smartphones, was the key fish for InterDigital to land in that collective dispute.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One EURO PATENT COURT ruling for all from ‘early 2015′
Soz, inventors – delays remain likely
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/10/unified_patent_court_rulings_possible_from_early_2015_but_delays_remain_likely/
New EU rules have been created which allow the judgments of new unified patent courts (UPCs) to have legal affect from early 2015.
A new EU regulation has been published in the trading bloc’s official journal and changes existing laws on the jurisdiction of courts and recognition of their rulings. The changes mean that the judgments of new UPCs in dealing with disputes over unitary patents can be issued from 10 January next year.
The UPC system will see local, regional and central divisional courts hear disputes about the validity and infringement of unitary patents. Unitary patents are protections businesses will soon be able to obtain for their inventions that will apply across 25 of the EU’s member states.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New study suggests patent trolls really are killing startups
Heavy patent litigation scared off about $22 billion in VC funding over 5 years.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/new-study-suggests-patent-trolls-really-are-killing-startups/
Patent reform advocates have long argued that “patent trolls”—companies that do nothing but sue over patents—are harmful to innovation, not just a plague on big companies. A new study attempted to find out if there’s any real data behind that accusation or if it’s just a few sad anecdotes.
Turns out there is a very real, and very negative, correlation between patent troll lawsuits and the venture capital funding that startups rely on. A just-released study [PDF] by Catherine Tucker, a professor of marketing at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, finds that over the last five years, VC investment “would have likely been $21.772 billion higher… but for litigation brought by frequent litigators.”
The study defines “frequent litigators” as companies that file 20 or more patent lawsuits, which limits the definition to true-blue “patent trolls,” or Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), the term used by the paper. The study covers the period from 1995 to 2012.
Tucker’s paper estimates a 95 percent confidence interval for the amount of lost investment to be between $8.1 billion and $41.8 billion. Those numbers are relative to a baseline of just under $131 billion of investment that actually occurred during that five-year period of time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
All Our Patent Are Belong To You
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you
Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.
Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.
At best, the large automakers are producing electric cars with limited range in limited volume. Some produce no zero emission cars at all.
Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis.
Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Torvalds on patents: ‘Sane people know it’s bullsh*t but making real change is difficult’
‘In 1991, Captain Cyborg said we’d have real life Terminators’
By Brid-Aine Parnell, 13 Jun 2014
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/13/quotw_ending_june_13/
, Torvalds recovered his plucky declamatory nature when asked about patents:
It’s all bullshit, sane people know it’s bullshit, but making real change is difficult. Politically, the US patent system also tends to help US companies, because once you get into a court of law, it’s not about the law any more (and it’s certainly not about the patent, which is crap and which neither the judge, the lawyers, nor the jury will understand anyway), and it’s much easier to sell as an “us vs. them” story.
How do I love patents? Let me count the ways.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesla’s plan to share its tech is bold, exciting, and a sign of weakness
Big bets are nothing new for CEO Elon Musk
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5804668/tesla-plan-to-share-its-tech-is-bold-exciting-and-a-sign-of-weakness
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“This is actually good for Tesla and EV industry, that’s really important to appreciate, and I really do believe that,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on a call today. He’d just done something a little off-kilter: told his competitors to use his technology without the threat of a lawsuit. “I did get some wide-eyed looks from people on the board and management team, but they have all been really supportive.”
Tesla’s stock was up slightly on the news of the announcement, but the company is struggling financially.
The auto industry norm — for better or worse — is for car companies to generally work in isolation on battery and power-train technology, a byproduct of competition that makes a paradigm shift like EVs unusually difficult to pull off. “For Tesla to succeed it has to create vastly more vehicles, and that will only be possible if other big manufacturers buy into their technology,” says Koslowski. “The Gigafactory they have is good, but they can’t make it alone.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese gov’t reveals Microsoft’s secret list of Android-killer patents
Microsoft crows about transparency, but it didn’t reveal this list of 310 patents.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/06/chinese-govt-reveals-microsofts-secret-list-of-android-killer-patents/
For more than three years now, Microsoft has held to the line that it has loads of patents that are infringed by Google’s Android operating system. “Licensing is the solution,” wrote the company’s head IP honcho in 2011, explaining Microsoft’s decision to sue Barnes & Noble’s Android-powered Nook reader.
Microsoft has revealed a few of those patents since as it has unleashed litigation against Android device makers. But for the most part, they’ve remained secret. That’s led to a kind of parlor game where industry observers have speculated about what patents Microsoft might be holding over Android.
That long guessing game is now over. A list of hundreds of patents that Microsoft believes entitle it to royalties over Android phones, and perhaps smartphones in general, has been published on a Chinese language website.
The patents Microsoft plans to wield against Android describe a range of technologies. They include lots of technologies developed at Microsoft, as well as patents that Microsoft acquired by participating in the Rockstar Consortium, which spent $4.5 billion on patents that were auctioned off after the Nortel bankruptcy.
The list of patents was apparently produced as part of a Chinese government antitrust review relating to Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft makes billions on Android patents.
Each year, Microsoft nets you the Android devices patent on its way from 1 to 2,000,000,000 U.S. dollars.
The Chinese website has published a document that lists the total of 310 patents, which the Android device manufacturers pay Microsoft. Patents cover everything from iron to software and RF solutions for user interfaces and standards.
Microsoft in terms of the end of the list of the network is bad news. It can help businesses make decisions based on that allow them to avoid the Microsoft royalties payable.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1532:microsoft-tekee-android-patenteilla-miljardeja&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supreme Court Rules Against Software Patents
Decision creates gray ‘generic’ term
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322823&
A Supreme Court decision today may affect the technology industry for years to come. The justices’ unanimous vote in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International renders software patents ineligible as abstract ideas. Such ideas, the court said, have always been patent ineligible.
Open-source advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a step in the right direction to curb patent trolls and improve consumer experience.
“We think that it will cut down on a lot of the worst patents that are out there, the most ridiculous and overbroad software patents… A lot of patent trolls’ patents are now more questionable then they were,”
“Those applying for or defending software patents will argue that their inventions are not ‘generic’ computer implementations of abstract ideas,”
Nazer expects “wide and narrow interpretations” of the ruling, as well as the invalidation of many software patents. Still, the ruling “doesn’t purport to be a decision invalidating software patents.” Trolls will likely continue to operate, but they will try harder to avoid court rulings.
“It’s going to be 2-3 years before we have a good understanding of what the decision will mean in practice. But this is promising. There’s a lot of good language here.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nintendo’s Wii infringes on Philips’ remote control patents, UK court rules
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2366200/nintendos-wii-infringes-on-philips-remote-control-patents-uk-court-rules.html
Nintendo’s Wii and Wii U game consoles infringe two Philips remote control patents, the England and Wales High Court ruled Friday.
Both infringed patents are for a “user interface system based on a pointing device.” The patents describe a computer system with a handheld pointing device with both a camera and a physical motion sensor. The device is used for hand-gesture commands to a fixed unit with the gesture analysis based on motion trajectory of the device.