The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a new patent titled “Projected display shared workspaces” which details technology that would integrate small projectors in future iPhone and iPads. Obviously being granted a patent doesn’t necessarily mean that the […]
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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.
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Apple’s been imagining the things of the future again, with a newly-discovered patent showing it has plans to combine USB and SD card slots to save yet more space on the Macs of tomorrow.
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Patent trolls are like the obnoxious cousins of domain squatters, their confrontational methods being inversely proportional to the passive coat tail riding of those who take advantage of popular URLs. The scheming of the patent troll is simple: buy up a patent portfolio or two, then start tossing around lawsuits in an effort to make
In case you forgot, Samsung and Apple’s legal squabbles didn’t end in US federal court last year: the litigation rages on in international courts. Stop us if you’ve heard this one — Samsung and Apple are caught up in a lawsuit focusing in part on Cupertino’s bounce back patent, and things aren’t looking great for Sammy’s lawyers. It’s a familiar story, but this time it’s playing out in a Japanese courtroom, with a Tokyo judge deciding that a number of Samsung devices are in violation of Apple’s scrolling technology. What’s this mean to the consumer? Nothing yet — the court still hasn’t calculated damages or approved an injunction, and this isn’t the only legal battle the firms are waging in the country’s court system. Feel free to brush up on your kanji and check out the source link below for more details, or skip on over to Bloomberg for a more digestible account.
Filed under: Cellphones, Apple, Samsung
Sick of endless patent wars yet? According to the New York Times, so is the Federal Trade Commission. Referencing the usual persons briefed on the matter, the NYT reports that FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez is preparing to propose an inquiry that will put patent-assertion entities — companies that exist solely to buy and collect royalties on patents — under federal scrutiny. If approved, patent trolls that catch the FTC’s attention will need to detail how they operate and if their legal proceeds pay out to the original patent owner. The chairwoman is expected to explain the proposal in more detail at a patent law workshop later this week. According to the NYT, Ramirez doesn’t have any specific company in mind, but aims to investigate companies that might hamper innovation. With any luck, the inquiry will help curb spurious litigation and rampant patent trolling — something most of us can probably get behind.
Filed under: Misc
Source: New York Times
To use NVIDIA’s graphics technology, you’ve typically had to buy gadgets using NVIDIA chips — good for the company’s bottom line, but not for influencing the industry as a whole. The firm is expanding its ambition today with plans to license some of that technology on a broader scale. Beginning with the Kepler architecture, other firms can use NVIDIA’s GPU cores and graphics-related patents for their own processors and chipsets. The deal could affect a wide range of hardware, but it mostly pits NVIDIA against the likes of Imagination Technologies: a system-on-chip designer could integrate a Logan-based GPU instead of the PowerVR series, for example. While it will be some time before third-party silicon ships with NVIDIA inside, it’s already clear that the company’s in-house design is now just one part of a larger strategy.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA
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