Jul 03
Jul 03
We usually associate Boston University with brain studies and bat-chasing UAVs; we’ll have to add technology patent lawsuits to the list. Following similar claims versus the likes of Amazon and Samsung, the university has sued Apple for allegedly infringing on a 1997 patent for making gallium nitride thin films used in semiconductors. The university wants both financial compensation (likely the real objective) and a ban on US sales of the purportedly offending iPad, iPhone 5 and MacBook Air. Neither side is commenting on the case, although we suspect that it will end with a whimper, not a bang. Like many big tech firms, Apple tends to fight patent lawsuits when it expects to win, and settle out of court when it doesn’t. We’d add that the patent expires in 2015 — a Boston University victory would have relatively little effect on Apple’s future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Apple
Via: AppleInsider
Source: Boston Herald
Jul 03
In what is probably the most interesting patent lawsuit we’ve seen in a while. Boston University is suing Apple over claims that the company is infringing on a patent that the university obtained in 1997 dealing with a method of making thin and compact semiconductors that can produce blue lasers on the cheap.
Boston University claims that Apple is infringing on the patent with a part that’s used in the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air, and says that it was patented by computer engineering professor Theodore Moustakas in 1997. The patent, which is called “Highly insulating monocrystalline gallium nitride thin films,” was first filed for way back in 1995.
Boston University said in the complaint that Apple’s “acts of infringement have caused and will continue to cause substantial and irreparable damage to the university.” The only question is whether or not this is simply just patent trolling, or if the university has a legitimate claim. This isn’t the first time that Boston University has brought in the legal dogs over the same patent. They’ve filed the same complaint against Samsung and Amazon over the past year.
Boston University’s complaint also asks for an injunction to ban Apple from selling the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air. Of course, though, the likelihood of that actually happening are pretty slim, and if Boston University does end up winning the court battle (which isn’t too farfetched), the court will most likely reward the university monetarily — possibly up to $75 million, which would come from a percentage of Apple’s profits from sales of the three devices listed.
VIA: Boston Herald
SOURCE: BU vs. Apple
Apple sued by Boston University over semiconductor patent infringement is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 02
Apple is exploring active phone and tablet bezels that would be able to dynamically change between giving a place to grip and extending the interface, maximizing the potential display space for small-screen devices that possibly includes the iWatch. The research, detailed in a new Apple patent for “Electronic device, display and touch-sensitive user interface”, centers
Jul 02
New Apple Patent Could Finally Take Gadgets Like An iWatch Beyond The Bezel
Posted in: Today's Chili
Apple has just been granted a new patent (via AppleInsider) for unique bezel technology that could not only add touch controls to a bezel on a small device screen (like one for an iWatch), but that would also make it possible for that bezel to fade in and out of view, providing maximum screen real estate when required, and then coming back into view when it would work better to have a bordered screen.
Why is that useful? Take a look at the iPad mini, and it begins to make sense. With the mini, Apple wanted to maximize screen real estate but minimize hardware footprint, so it reduced the size of the bezel considerably. The new narrower bezel on the sides is great for portability, but also makes it harder to hold without touching the screen itself, which necessitated building new tech to discount accidental touches around the edge of the screen.
The new patent granted today specifies a bezel area that could be hidden or revealed as needed, based on context and touch, changing the appearance of the bezel component when certain touch situations are detected. This could illuminate a part of the defined bezel area, change its color, or even turn it from completely transparent to opaque, creating a bezel where there apparently wasn’t one before.
This has a number of potential implications for use in gadgets: It could make the bezel fall away completely for applications that are best suited to full-screen use, like video playback. Enabling full-screen video wouldn’t even require that much extra in terms of development resources, so it’s a prime use case.
Other potential applications including making the most of a very small screen, like one you might find on a smart watch. Apple has been ramping up trademark applications for the “iWatch” moniker in a number of countries including Japan, Mexico and Taiwan, so it looks more and more likely we’ll see that device come to market soon. And the iWatch would be the definition of a small-screened device, since I can’t imagine Apple wanting to go much larger with the screen than it did for the previous generation, square iPod nano.
A disappearing bezel allows for the combination of maximum versatility with very little available screen real estate, to build interfaces that work differently for different apps, and yet suit each perfectly. It would be rare to see an Apple patent go into effect so quickly, but this one does seem quite situationally appropriate.
Jun 28
ITC judge rules against InterDigital in first round of 3G patent case (update)
Posted in: Today's Chili
After two long years, the International Trade Commission has finally come to a decision in favor of Huawei, Nokia and ZTE in a 3G patent case brought by InterDigital in 2011. According to an ITC judge, the three phone manufacturers did not violate the seven InterDigital-owned patents that covers various WCDMA and CDMA2000 technologies used to make their devices. InterDigital even went so far as to request the ban of US sales of these devices pending a decision. The Philadelphia-based company filed a similar complaint against LG, which chose a settlement instead of going through the courts but it argued it had a right to arbitration based on a previous licensing agreement and was taken out of the case (see update below). Still, this is just a preliminary ruling; the final decision of the case is expected in October.
Update: The story initially said LG chose a settlement instead of going through the courts, which is incorrect. We learned from InterDigital that while LG was in the original case, the ITC took the Korean company out once LG said it had a right to arbitration. However, the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit ruled earlier in June that the ITC has made a mistake in excluding LG. So, LG could still face the initial charges brought to it by InterDigital.
Source: Reuters
Jun 27
Port space is very limited on laptops, but Apple has just received a patent that could solve that problem in the simplest way possible: cramming two ports into one. Expanding on what we’ve seen with some multi-format card readers, Apple has designed a layered port whose staggered electrical contacts and overall shape let it accept two different connectors. While the company uses the combination of a USB port and SD card reader as its example, the patent could theoretically apply to any two technologies that make sense together. The real question is whether or not Apple will use its invention at all. The Mac maker has a few slim portables that could use some expansion, but there’s no evidence that the company will tweak its computer designs in the near future.
Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals, Apple
Source: USPTO
Jun 27
Microsoft patent filing attempts to lock down games with multiple engines running concurrently
Posted in: Today's Chili
Shortly after Microsoft released its Xbox 360 HD update to Halo: Combat Evolved — a game which allowed players to seamlessly switch between the original game’s graphics and the update — the company filed a patent for games “having a plurality of game engines.” That patent filing just got published today, and it seemingly attempts to specifically lock down the concept of gaming classics being re-released in an updated form while also allowing longtime fans to switch between the original game and the update.
Microsoft-owned Halo developer 343 Industries is at the forefront of the filing, with executive producer Daniel Ayoub’s name listed first and two other 343 employees rounding out the list. The description of the patent does allow for some flexibility. “A game having a plurality of engines is described. In one or more implementations, a computing device displays an output of a first engine of a game by a computing device. An input is received by the computing device to switch from the output of the first engine of the game to an output of a second engine of the game, the first and second engines being executed concurrently by the computing device,” it reads. However, later on in the filing, it specifically speaks to “remakes of games” that “attempt to captivate their audiences by leveraging emotions associated with the initial game.” Certainly a blunt way to put that, eh?
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Pat2PDF (PDF Link), USPTO
Jun 27
Apple isn’t allowed to add the Galaxy S4 to its ongoing Samsung patent lawsuit… because, apparentl
Posted in: Today's ChiliApple isn’t allowed to add the Galaxy S4 to its ongoing Samsung patent lawsuit… because, apparently, there’s just not enough time. There’s a lesson to learnt there, we suspect.
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Jun 27
Apple could further slim its MacBook Air and Pro range by combining ports, a new patent application suggests, developing hybrid USB and SD card reader ports that save notebook space without sacrificing connectivity. The newly published patent, simply titled “combined input port“, describes a single connector that, thanks to offset pins inside, could work with
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