Hasta La Gadget!

This is a good day for Twitter, which just received a patent on itself from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent describes the Twitter service, covering such things as sent messages that aren’t destined to a recipient. The patent request was filed back in 2007, and lists Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey as its inventors.

You can check out the patent for yourself over at the USPTO website. The abstract details both a method and a system that provides “device-independent point to multipoint communication” able to receive messages from email, web, texting, and more. It then goes on to detail at length the various functions and features of Twitter that make it the update broadcasting service that it is.

Back in April last year, Twitter unveiled the Innovator’s Patent Agreement via its blog, where it details how the company feels on the use of patents and their potential to impact innovation. In the Agreement, which Twitter refers to as the IPA, the company states that it will only use patents in a defensive manner, seeking employee permission for offensive use. The IPA went into effect late last year.

In other Twitter news, we reported yesterday that Twitter’s Jack Dorsey wishes to become mayor of New York City. That will be quite the career change for Dorsey, who currently serves as CEO of Square and Executive Chairman of Twitter. This news came to light during a 60 Minutes interview, where Dorsey said that he is serious but little else about the ambition.

[via The Verge]

Twitter receives patent on itself after years of waiting is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 isn’t even available yet, but already it’s being eyed for possible patent infringement. According to a report from Korea’s Yonhap News, LG suspects the S 4 might violate eye-tracking patents used in the Optimus G Pro. At the crux of this squabble is Samsung’s Smart Pause feature, which LG finds similar to its Smart Video technology. Chiefly, LG is focusing on a patent it applied for in 2009, though the company also plans to investigate whether Samsung infringed other eye-tracking patents dating back to 2005. So far, of course, Samsung has denied any wrongdoing, saying its eye-tracking tech is implemented differently and is based on proprietary technology. Given that the phone isn’t even out yet, we’ll leave it to LG to do its due diligence before accusing Samsung in court.

Filed under: Cellphones, Samsung, LG

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Via: The Verge

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Nokia has been granted a patent injunction against HTC in Germany this week that has to do with power saving technology. The injunction was handed down by Judge Dr. Holger Kircher presiding over the Mannheim Regional Court. Kircher and the panel of judges he presides over found that HTC infringes Nokia’s patent number EP0673175. The patent is for “reduction of power consumption in the mobile station.”

The trial was conducted on February 5 and reports indicate that the HTC legal team was unable to deny infringing on the patent with devices from HTC that use a QUALCOMM baseband chip. The ruling would seem to indicate that Nokia would now have the leverage to force HTC to license the patent unless HTC and QUALCOMM can deactivate the power saving technique. The problem with simply deactivating the power saving technique is that users of the affected devices would see less battery life.

The technology covered in the patent at its basic level is able to save battery power by identifying specific packets of data that can be reconstructed using a portion of an encoded message. The patent covers a system that whenever possible provides power to the receiving component only when further portions must be received in order to decode the message and packets of data sent. The technology is able to save battery power when it senses a strong and clear radio signal by not receiving redundant data.

The technology covered in the patent is apparently particularly effective when the phone is in standby mode. The injunction handed down by a German court is permanent and not preliminary. Nokia was also granted a recall of infringing devices from retail locations and a declaration that it is entitled to damages to be determined during subsequent litigation. Nokia is also alleging that HTC is infringing on the same patent within the US and the UK.

Update: HTC has given us the following statement, and highlighted the fact that the injunction affects only devices which are no longer offered in the German market.

Today, the District Court of Mannheim handed down a judgment that HTC had infringed the German part of patent EP 0673175 (the ‘175 patent) entitled “Reduction of Power Consumption in a Mobile Station”. HTC is naturally disappointed with the decision of the court, as it believes that Nokia failed to prove its case adequately. However, as the judgment only covers three handsets that HTC no longer imports into Germany (the Wildfire S, Desire S and Rhyme), this judgment is of little significance. HTC’s German business will not be affected by it.

The power-saving technology described in this patent is trivial and contributes only a negligible reduction in power-consumption, so HTC has removed any allegedly corresponding functionality from all of its current German handsets as a precaution against any attempt by Nokia to extend the scope of the judgment unfairly. HTC will be appealing the present decision but also believes that this patent is invalid and so will be continuing with the invalidity actions pending before the German Federal Patents Court and the English Patents Court.

To date, of the twenty-two infringement actions that Nokia has brought against HTC in Germany, two (EP 1329982 and EP 1474750) have been stayed because of concerns over validity and two (EP 0812120 and EP 1312974) have been dismissed outright. This decision cannot be described as a ‘win’ for Nokia because it only applies to handsets that are no longer imported into Germany, and newer HTC handsets do not use the accused technology. As Nokia clearly went to great lengths to assert its strongest patents first, we are confident that its non-essential patent portfolio poses little threat to HTC.

[via Foss Patents]

Nokia hits HTC with German power saving patent injunction [Update: HTC statement] is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Audio titan THX has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that Cook and Co. infringed a patent it has for technology regarding narrow profile speakers with enhanced sound output that can be built into electronics. According to the court filing, versions of the iPhone, iPad and iMac are culprits that rely on the tech in question. Apple Insider notes that the new, slender iMacs seem to use a design similar to one described by THX, which includes channeling audio down a slim duct. Though THX is out to stop the infringement or collect damages from Cupertino, both companies could settle their differences before the affair escalates into a full-on courtroom brawl.

Filed under: Apple

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Via: Apple Insider

Source: Bloomberg

Wouldn’t it be awesome if Apple’s Smart Cover could double up as a wireless charging pad for iPhones? We’re not sure how many of you guys actually thought about that, but it seems that in a recently discovered patent, Apple might have toyed with that idea. According to the patent, it reads, “A method for wireless powering a tablet device, comprising: determining if a protective cover is in a closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; enabling a wireless power receiver circuit in the tablet device when it is determined that the protective cover is in the closed configuration with respect to the tablet device; and wirelessly receiving power from a wireless power transmitter associated with the protective cover.”

It’s a pretty outlandish idea and it has been pointed out that there could be some flaws with this idea, namely that you would have to stick a battery into the Smart Cover. This would make the cover heavier, not to mention a lot more dangerous as it could be exposed to heat and what happens when it overheats? Will it damage the iPad in the process? However on the flipside, having a Smart Cover double as a wireless charging pad has its merits – namely convenience. For example if there aren’t enough sockets and you need to charge both the iPad and iPhone at the same time, this could be accomplished by placing the iPhone on the cover.

Now since this is a patent, it’s hard to say if and when Apple will ever turn it into reality, but in the meantime what do you guys think? Good idea?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: TabRider Is Essentially Guitar Hero With Real Guitars, The ampjacket Amplifies Your iPhone, iPad Mini And iPod Touch’s Sound Naturally,