Two months after Apple sued HTC for violating 20 patents, HTC’s hitting back, alleging that Apple’s violated 5 of HTC’s patents, asking the ITC to ban the import and sale of all iPhones, iPods and iPads in the US. UPDATED. More »
Looks like settlement negotiations in the various Nokia / Apple patent lawsuits aren’t going too well — Espoo’s just hit Cupertino with a second federal patent lawsuit, this time alleging the iPad 3G and iPhone infringe five patents related to “enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.” Interestingly, Nokia’s filed this one in the Western District of Wisconsin, a so-called “rocket docket” that’s well-known for bringing patent cases to settlement or trial in just over a year. That means we could see some real movement in this dispute within our lifetimes, but we’re not holding our breath for a definitive conclusion — by our count, Apple and Nokia now have some five pending legal actions between them, including one that’s been placed on hold pending an ITC decision. Anyone want to bet how long it takes for Apple to add another countersuit to the mix?
Nokia sues Apple again, says the iPad 3G infringes five patents originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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You know that little sleep indicator light on the front of your new MacBook Pro — the one that simply disappears when your notebook is wide awake? Apple wants to do that for buttons, too. Cupertino’s latest patent application is for pressure-sensitive, capacitive touchscreen materials it could build right into the surface of its aluminum-clad devices, and identify with laser-cut, micro-perforated holes that let light shine from within. According to the filing, the technology could potentially be used to eliminate existing buttons in favor of a smooth, solid slab, and / or integrate new ones into surfaces that weren’t previously considered for use. Engineers imagine light-up controls on a laptop’s lid that could be used while closed for things like USB charging and media playback, and local heat and sound sensors that selectively light up interface opportunities when users are in close proximity. Not bad, Apple. As long as you let us keep our nice, springy keyboards, we’re all for revolutionizing the rest of modern input.
Apple applies for ‘disappearing button’ patent originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The lawyers up in Redmond seem to have been woken from their slumber with the sudden realization that — oh look! — Google’s Android OS infringes on Microsoft’s boatload of software patents. How specifically it does so is not identified, but Microsoft believes that elements from both the user interface and the underlying operating system are in violation of its rights. This is very much in keeping with the Windows maker’s crusade to assert patent claims over Linux, which in the past has garnished it with cross-licensing deals with Amazon and Xandros, as well as a settlement from TomTom. Lawsuits are not yet being discussed here, but lest you think this is a small-time disturbance, longtime Windows Mobile / Windows Phone partner HTC has already decided to shorten its list of troubles by ponying up for a license from Microsoft that covers its Android phones — it would be pretty insane if Microsoft sued one of its biggest and most important hardware manufacturers for patent infringement, after all. Even still, it’s now an unfortunate fact that HTC is having to pay Microsoft royalties to use Google’s operating system. Strange days, indeed.
Update: Microsoft deputy general counsel of intellectual property Horacio Gutierrez just sent us a statement saying that the company’s been “talking to several device manufacturers to address our concerns relative to the Android mobile platform.” We’re taking that to mean the same as above: Microsoft isn’t too interested in suing any of its Windows Mobile / Windows Phone partners, so it’s trying to work out patent license deals with those companies in advance of any nastiness. It’s an interesting strategy: patents forbid anyone from making, using, or selling your invention, so Redmond can protect its partners while still leaving open the possibility of a lawsuit with Google itself down the line. In fact, we’d almost say it seems like Microsoft’s agreement with HTC is as much of a threat to Google as Apple’s lawsuit — Redmond’s basically saying you can’t sell an Android device without paying a license fee, and we’d bet those fees are real close to the Windows Phone 7 license fee. Clever, clever — we’ll see how this one plays out. Here’s Horacio’s full statement:
Microsoft has a decades-long record of investment in software platforms. As a result, we have built a significant patent portfolio in this field, and we have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to ensure that competitors do not free ride on our innovations. We have also consistently taken a proactive approach to licensing to resolve IP infringement by other companies, and have been talking with several device manufacturers to address our concerns relative to the Android mobile platform.
[Thanks, Jack]
Microsoft says Android infringes on its patents, licenses HTC (update: talking to other Android manufacturers as well) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Although we’ve got the feeling that Palm will eventually be sold off, apparently that’s not the only option on the table: Reuters and Street Insider have followed up last night’s news that Palm is up for sale with some more details, including the revelations that Cisco is an interested buyer and Palm is also considering licensing webOS and / or seeking an additional infusion of cash from an outside investor. We’re at all sure who’d be willing to join Bono’s Elevation Partners in pumping more cash into Palm as it stands right now, but we can certainly see the company loosening the strings and licensing webOS to other manufacturers, something it did with great success back in the Palm OS days. Of course, that success eventually led to a string of terrible business decisions and the brink of failure, from upon which Palm has never returned, but hey — at least it’s familiar territory, right? Sigh.
In other news, Palm CTO Mitch Allen is scheduled to talk about Palm’s patent strategy next month, and the press release announcing his talk straight-up values the company’s IP portfolio at $8-$9 a share, or around a billion and a half dollars. If that’s true, it means anyone buying Palm at today’s closing price and market cap of $6 and $1.01b would be getting a nice little discount — which is probably why bids are expected to come in this week. We’ll see what goes down; it looks like most of you agree with us that HTC would be a terrific match here, but anything can happen. Stay tuned.
Palm also looking at licensing webOS and / or finding new investors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re just as annoyed as you are when certain rumor sites claim that Apple is on the verge of selling a new gadget just because it has submitted a patent application. After all, a large company will patent every idea it has, just in case. It’s like that junk-drawer in the kitchen, full of things you may need one day.
This little filing, although far from being made (and surely far from being a patentable idea) is worth a look. It shows MacBooks with pico projectors, those tiny little projectors that sit inside cellphones, cameras and even matchbox-sized standalone packages.
The filing’s diagrams show the projectors in various places on the notebook’s body, although to us the most useful seems to be the one on the top of the lid, on the opposite side to the iSight webcam. This would allow you to beam an image of your boring business presentation whilst reading every word on the PowerPoint slide. It would also let you fold the lid almost shut and project the latest 30 Rock onto the ceiling as you lie in bed.
The filing adds some extras, such as sensors which would detect the position of the surfaces around the MacBook and process the image to fall square, even if coming from an angle. I’m all in on this one, although I doubt we’ll see it for some years, if ever. It’s not something you’d use every day, but if it is built-in, why not have it?
Apple Illustrates Pico Projector Coming to MacBooks [Patently Apple]
Portable Computing System With a Secondary Image Output [USPTO]
It’s pretty rare that Apple patent applications reveal much more than vague plans and ideas about future devices, but a newly-public filing out of Cupertino just comes right out and states the truth about gaming on touchscreen devices like the iPhone: it can be “somewhat awkward, particularly on a portable electronic device having a touchscreen” because the “user’s fingers block the action.” So what’s the solution? Buttons, dude-man. The patent describes a handheld gaming dock that fits around a “substantial portion” of an iPhone or iPod that has both physical input controls and secondary storage for game information like scores and save data. That’s certainly a nice idea, and one we’d love to see supported by Apple, but we’re also pretty certain this patent doesn’t have much of a chance as written, since we’ve been hearing about this concept since games first hit the App Store and similar products — including a keyboard — are on the market now. We’ll see — like so many of Apple’s patent applications, this one might well just linger on the vine forever.
Apple patent application shocker: games need buttons originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a “contiguous background” that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored “mixed-media” elements being littered atop it — all of which is to be served on a “media-playing device.” That should sound pretty familiar, given that it’s the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness. Before you start wondering about potential conflicts with other UIs, take note that this requires a continuous graphical background rather than a tiled or repeating image, plus space-orientating graphical elements, which should make it sufficiently nuanced to avoid any more patently unnecessary squabbles should Microsoft’s claims be validated by the USPTO.
Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
So here’s the sales pitch: Amazon wants to film the packaging and preparation of your goods as they get ready to ship out in order to make sure your order is properly fulfilled and addressed. Stills or the whole video are then forwarded along to you, so you can check ’em out. Granted yesterday, the patent for this oh-so-complex monitoring system is actually quite specific — it’s only operative if your order includes “at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry,” so it’s not like Amazon can keep everyone else from doing this — but hey, it also references verification of “collateral items,” which is a fancy way of saying it’ll be used to make sure third party fliers and advertisements make it into the box along with the stuff you actually want, so it’s not all roses and sunshine.
[Thanks, JagsLive]
Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Our man Nicholas Negroponte was certainly excited about pushing the state of the art forward with future versions of the OLPC when we hosted him on The Engadget Show earlier this month, and now he’s got one more tool to help make that happen: the OLPC Foundation and Pixel Qi just signed a permanent and free cross-license on a slew of next-generation screen technology patents, including Pixel Qi’s sweet dual-mode displays. If you’re recall, Pixel Qi’s Mary Lou Jepson actually developed part of the 3Qi screen tech while at OLPC, so there was some mild confusion over who owned what — but the two organizations have solved that problem by cross-licensing all future and current IP covering multi-mode screens. See, it’s easy for two tech companies to get along… especially when one is actually a charity that’s not at all concerned with profits. Super simple. So — let’s get working on that OLPC XO-3, shall we?
Pixel Qi and OLPC to share all current and future screen tech originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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