A great unbiased article detailing the iPhone IP war being waged (against android).

[Phokus]

Apples FCC docs predate that by 2 months. There is simply not en

And? FCC is an American government office, nothing to do with a Korean phone maker. The Prada already won a design award in 2006 on it. You're comparing 2 very different things.

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This is all pointless argument anyway, Sharp has everyone (INCLUDING APPLE) beat, and the US courts acknowledged it.

Turning to the concept of “obviousness,” Koh showed sympathy for Samsung’s argument that Apple’s claims of “earthshaking” innovation may be a tad exaggerated. She analyzed a Japanese patent issued to the Japanese company Sharp on June 6, 2005, well before Apple obtained its relevant patents. Foreign patents can be cited as “prior art” to undercut U.S. patents. Illustrating her opinion with sketches from U.S. Patent Office records, Koh said the Sharp patent, like Apple’s D’087, has “rounded corners, a bezel, a similarly shaped speaker, and similar proportions of screen and border.” The Sharp patent “discloses an overall simple, minimalistic design.” She added: “An ordinary observer would likely consider [Apple’s] D’087 to be substantially the same” as Sharp’s patent.

 

[ChrisTX]

You got the wrong phone, this is the phone they're referencing, and yes, the iphone ripped off their design:

Image

The original iPhone, and this device look NOTHING alike. The problem with most of Apples patents that they're pursuing is they're so common place in Phones now people tend to forget that they didn't exist before the first gen iPhone. Heck there was even a time when Apple had asked Google not to implement multi touch in the Android OS for fear that it might confuse the consumer. Google obliged but later they quickly added the functionality into the OS. It would be nice if Google would cross license these Apple patents so that life could go on, but I don't see that happening any time soon. My biggest fear is that while Apple tends to be winning these cases what happens when they lose like they have to Motorola? Will there ever be an injunction against Apple in the US? It could go both ways and really hurt everyone in the end.

 

[racer1441]

Yes, and Apple's patent trolling is anti-consumer, for BOTH apple and android users. I only hope the retaliation by Samsung and Google will make Apple pay the price and they eventually enter into some agreement to end this nonsense or the patent laws get changed.

You know they have to defend their patents right?

 

[kdarling]

You know they have to defend their patents right?

You're thinking of trademarks, which have to be constantly defended.

Patents have no such requirement.

 

[onthecouchagain]

What does this injunction actually mean to Samsung? I see the GN still being sold on the Google Play website...

 

[racer1441]

You're thinking of trademarks, which have to be constantly defended.

Patents have no such requirement.

That is not correct. If you do not defend your patents, you can weaken your case if you ever decide to do so.

 

[blackhand1001]

Copying other company's intellectual properties slavishly is not a competition. Fandroids are trying to cover thieves.

If you forgot what made Apple mad first, here is it:

Image

Why do they have the app drawer open and the little squares around the icons aren't there anymore and were never there on the home screen. The home screen of the original galaxy s never looked like the iphone.

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The original iPhone, and this device look NOTHING alike. The problem with most of Apples patents that they're pursuing is they're so common place in Phones now people tend to forget that they didn't exist before the first gen iPhone. Heck there was even a time when Apple had asked Google not to implement multi touch in the Android OS for fear that it might confuse the consumer. Google obliged but later they quickly added the functionality into the OS. It would be nice if Google would cross license these Apple patents so that life could go on, but I don't see that happening any time soon. My biggest fear is that while Apple tends to be winning these cases what happens when they lose like they have to Motorola? Will there ever be an injunction against Apple in the US? It could go both ways and really hurt everyone in the end.

Apple hasn't been winning these cases. Every preliminary injunction has been over turned and they have already had almost 100 patents invalidated by courts. They are not doing this to protect innovation. They have no desire to license these out. They want to delay the competition. They know that they behind the competition in certain areas such as screen size, battery life (razr maxx), and durability and consumers are noticing and considering it. Instead of moving forward they are trying to unfairly block the competition. Go use the galaxy nexus and honestly tell me its a copy of the iPhone. You'll realize its not and that apples patents will most likely be thrown out. They are taking advantage of how slow the court systems are, by the time of the trial in 2014 the galaxy nexus will be old news. The only thing Samsung can do is appeal the preliminary injunction which should only be used for unsafe products like drugs. Not for tech products. Apple is stifling innovation right now, not promoting it. Just look at how android has moved forward so much in the past few years while ios has remained the same. Android is not the cheap copycat that many people on this forum like to call it.

 

[BowTheMan89]

God I hate lawyers. That article made me hate them just a bit more.

Many people hate them until they need one. Personally I direct my hate more toward bankers.

 

[ixodes]

Apple is like the consummate politician, they can spin anything in their favor.

Masters in the use of hypocrisy, deft in the art of preaching to their followers, Apple knows no limits. Their massive cash reserves enables them to be backed up by some of the best legal minds in the USA.

One minute they're playing the victim, then next they're crushing the competition with ruthless abandon. They've become everything the younger Steve Jobs abhorred.

 

[taipan61]

Apple is like the consummate politician, they can spin anything in their favor.

Masters in the use of hypocrisy, deft in the art of preaching to their followers, Apple knows no limits. Their massive cash reserves enables them to be backed up by some of the best legal minds in the USA.

One minute they're playing the victim, then next they're crushing the competition with ruthless abandon. They've become everything the younger Steve Jobs abhorred.

this is true of any large conglomerate, of which apple is one, they just buy up the lesser companies and make them a part of apple...resistance is futile, all will be assimilated...
they are now a antithesis of their own core believes

 

[Kurwenal]

Except is APPLE who is belligerently suing everyone claiming everyone ripped them off.

I'm sitting here wondering how you "non-belligerently" sue someone for an injunction to stop them from shipping a product.

 

[lannisters4life]

If Apple had a legitimate competitor, with a long history in both hardware and software, a focus on research and key personalities like Jony Ive and Jobs who know (knew) how to turn functional pieces of technology into meticulous, refined products, I would have jumped ship over this patent war. But I then think, had this fantasy company existed, there probably wouldn't be a patent war to speak of. I wish they'd just take it easy, and litigate in clear cases (which do exist), and let their arrogance have them pity Android rather than scorn it... yes, just as obnoxious, but better for everyone.

 

[quagmire]

Yep, Apple copied a phone that was unveiled one month before the iPhone was unveiled. Apple thought their iPhone design was crap and Jobs decided to copy the Prada. In that one month time, Apple redesigned the hardware and software of the iPhone and the drastic changes were production ready in one month.....





I do think these legal battles are a joke. I am sick of it. I can't wait until they are over.

 

[FrankHahn]

Steve Jobs： Good artists copy, great artists steal.

Thus, according to Steve Jobs, Apple must have stolen many things from others!

 

[Frankied22]

Steve Jobs： Good artists copy, great artists steal.

Thus, according to Steve Jobs, Apple must have stolen many things from others!

I was just about to post this same thing. Even Jobs knew Apple copied others. All these companies copy each other. It's how they bounce off ideas and innovate. However, once someone copies Apple it's all over. They can't handle a taste of their own medicine, so they go full out with their hoard of cash and waste money trying to protect pathetically vague patents, and get competitors products banned from being sold.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Good article: "Apple's patent absurdity exposed at last"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/01/apple-google-patent-case-john-naughton-comment

 

[blackhand1001]

Good article: "Apple's patent absurdity exposed at last"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/01/apple-google-patent-case-john-naughton-comment

Very good article. I have a lot of respect for judge Richard Posner. He has said that the current patent system is a mess and that it needs to be changed dramatically. He also knows that these recent suits have nothing to do with innovation and are all about stifling it rather than helping it.

 

[Mac.World]

I was just about to post this same thing. Even Jobs knew Apple copied others. All these companies copy each other. It's how they bounce off ideas and innovate. However, once someone copies Apple it's all over. They can't handle a taste of their own medicine, so they go full out with their hoard of cash and waste money trying to protect pathetically vague patents, and get competitors products banned from being sold.

I'm not saying Apple is perfect and haven't 'used' ideas from others, but they have combined known good products to create a single great product. They have also created some amazing designs, that have been copied by others. I mean, how many iMac, Macbook Air, iPad, Macbook Pro clones have we seen?

You can argue semantics, but mimmicking a successful product is a business strategy and a lot of companies have mimicked Apples products. Why not, if that is what people are buying? But some companies go a tad too far. Asus not only copied the outside of the MBA, but the inside as well. Samsung copied the iPad (not so much with their tablet, but the power connector cord and plug connector are downright photocopies.) It's beligerant copying like Asus and Samsung have done in the past that is distasteful and wrong and deserves punishment. Apple claiming patent b.s. on things like the Nexus and S3 is pure horsesh...

And I personally don't want to see anything banned from any country. The only people that really lose out are you and me, the consumers.

 

[cyks]

They want to delay the competition. They know that they behind the competition in certain areas such as screen size, battery life (razr maxx), and durability and consumers are noticing and considering it. Instead of moving forward they are trying to unfairly block the competition.

That would make sense if Apple wasn't just going after Android.

Microsoft, historically Apple's nemesis, and their Mobile Window products aren't and haven't been in Apple's cross-hairs. In fact, Microsoft has been a vocal supporter of Apple recently.

If Apple wanted to get rid of all competition, they'd be going after everyone. Instead, they're only going after Android since they believe they're the only ones who blatantly copied their work.

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And I personally don't want to see anything banned from any country. The only people that really lose out are you and me, the consumers.

That depends on how you look at it.

One could just as easily say that they wish products that were merely copies were banned... as to force the parent company to develop and design something new and better- and not just copy what's already out there.

 

[blackhand1001]

That would make sense if Apple wasn't just going after Android.

Microsoft, historically Apple's nemesis, and their Mobile Window products aren't and haven't been in Apple's cross-hairs. In fact, Microsoft has been a vocal supporter of Apple recently.

If Apple wanted to get rid of all competition, they'd be going after everyone. Instead, they're only going after Android since they believe they're the only ones who blatantly copied their work.

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That depends on how you look at it.

One could just as easily say that they wish products that were merely copies were banned... as to force the parent company to develop and design something new and better- and not just copy what's already out there.

Microsoft has under 1% market share. That's why apple is not going after them. Also Microsoft wants android gone so it can take its place
.

 

[Mac.World]

That depends on how you look at it.

One could just as easily say that they wish products that were merely copies were banned... as to force the parent company to develop and design something new and better- and not just copy what's already out there.

this is why I said, blantant ripoffs like that Asus MBA clone or the old Samsung 10.1 deserve punishment for these products. I say this because any rational, non-biased person can see the copying in these cases.

But the S3 and Galaxy Nexus (phone and tablet) look nothing like an Apple product. These products don't deserve banning, imho. And I can not see how Apple can claim that Android is copying iOS, when Apple has done the exact same thing. I just don't believe this is right. But this is just my lowly opinion and I'll be the first to admit, my opinion doesn't mean much. (except to me. )

 

[Technarchy]

Microsoft has under 1% market share. That's why apple is not going after them.
.

Wrong. Microsoft and Apple have a broad cross licensing deal the almost ensures they can't sue each other.

This stems from when Steve Jobs returned to Apple; Jobs and Bill Gates made a deal that was quite beneficial to both firms in terms of how patents and disputes are handled.

Google and their copycat buddies in Asia blatantly decided to steal off Apple's plate and those chickens are finally coming home to roost.

 

[Mac.World]

Wrong. Microsoft and Apple have a broad cross licensing deal the almost ensures they can't sue each other.

This stems from when Steve Jobs returned to Apple; Jobs and Bill Gates made a deal that was quite beneficial to both firms in terms of how patents and disputes are handled.

Google and their copycat buddies in Asia blatantly decided to steal off Apple's plate and those chickens are finally coming home to roost.

This has more to do with the NORTEL patents and the Rockstar consortium that does patent exploitation at the behest of Apple and Microsoft. That's 4000 patents ranging from 3G to LTE that each company can exploit against HTC, Samsung, Sony etc... But not against each other. M$ and Apple are tied at the hip when it comes to phone patents. It's nearly impossible for them to sue each other in this case.

 

[kevinof]

Until RIM goes bust and Google buys up whats left , and ends up with RIM's patent portfolio. Remember RIM was part of the Rockstar consortium.

This has more to do with the NORTEL patents and the Rockstar consortium that does patent exploitation at the behest of Apple and Microsoft. That's 4000 patents ranging from 3G to LTE that each company can exploit against HTC, Samsung, Sony etc... But not against each other. M$ and Apple are tied at the hip when it comes to phone patents. It's nearly impossible for them to sue each other in this case.

 

[Mac.World]

Until RIM goes bust and Google buys up whats left , and ends up with RIM's patent portfolio. Remember RIM was part of the Rockstar consortium.

RIM's patents could go to Google, but I doubt Apple and M$ would let them. Google simply doesn't have the money to engage in a bidding war with them.