Apple Faces Lawsuit Over Continuity Camera Patent and Antitrust Claims

[MacRumors]

Apple this week got sued in a New Jersey Federal court by the maker of mobile video app Camo, alleging Apple stole its technology when the company integrated its Continuity Camera feature into iOS 16 in 2022.

Released by London-based Reincubate in 2020, the Camo app enables iPhone and Android smartphones to be used as webcams for desktop-based video calls.

Apple's Continuity Camera serves a similar function within its own ecosystem, allowing an iPhone to be used as a wireless webcam with a nearby Mac that is signed into the same Apple Account.

Reincubate said the tech giant copied patented features from its Camo app and incorporated them into its mobile operating system in order to "redirect user demand to Apple's own platform-tied offering."

According to the lawsuit, Apple "actively induced and encouraged" Reincubate to develop and market Camo for iOS, then later copied its functionality and built it into iOS as Continuity Camera.

"In most of those cases, Apple has not actively induced the developer to test and build software," the lawsuit said. "Here, Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera."

Reincubate called Apple's conduct an example of "Sherlocking," which refers to Apple building an app or system feature that duplicates functionality previously offered by a third-party app.

"Rather than competing with us, Apple deployed a series of obstacles to tilt the playing field, infringed our IP, and did so in service of preventing competition from rival platforms," Reincubate CEO Aidan Fitzpatrick said in a statement given to Reuters.

"Apple competes fairly while respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and these camera features were developed internally by Apple engineers," Apple responded in a statement.

Aside from accusing Apple of infringing its patents, Reincubate's suit was filed as an antitrust claim, alleging that Apple violates U.S. law by locking users into its ecosystem and preventing them from switching to competitors. Reincubate has requested unspecified monetary damages and court orders that would block Apple's alleged misconduct.

Article Link: Apple Faces Lawsuit Over Continuity Camera Patent and Antitrust Claims

 

[jonnysods]

"In most of those cases, Apple has not actively induced the developer to test and build software," the lawsuit said. "Here, Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera."

That is wild - pure evil tactics.

 

[Kkspire]

So the maker of the hardware and software for all the products, has to find a no name mom and pops to make its camera work with its own devices? I mean it doesn’t even sound right.

 

[10anta]

Surprised they were able to achieve hardware level access and functionality that Apple themselves could not or did not enable.

To be honest it feels a lot like a retailer complaining their supplier offers a product direct to the consumer.

 

[topgunn]

"In most of those cases, Apple has not actively induced the developer to test and build software," the lawsuit said. "Here, Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera."

That is wild - pure evil tactics.

Which is exactly what you would say if you were bringing a suit against one of the largest tech giants in the world. It doesn't mean it's true.

 

[ChrisMac47]

So the maker of the hardware and software for all the products, has to find a no name mom and pops to make its camera work with its own devices? I mean it doesn’t even sound right.

Apple uses a lot of third-party SW to drive its hardware (I worked for a company supplying them and other phone integrators). They usually operate by initially licensing it, but after a couple of years stop paying the license fees, claiming they are using their own SW. That's either a blatant lie, or their own SW is just a crude copy. In this case, they apparently did not even bother licensing.

This is the DNA of Apple. They are so big and wealthy, they use their size to bully small companies. The other large tech companies do the same in their determination to get their own way.

 

[rroach3753]

Apple this week got sued

"Apple was sued this week..."
"This week, Apple was sued..."

 

[macdisciple]

"In most of those cases, Apple has not actively induced the developer to test and build software," the lawsuit said. "Here, Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera."

That is wild - pure evil tactics.

I mean, maybe, but "victims" will use the most inflammatory language possible in order to win the highest award possible.

 

[neuropsychguy]

"In most of those cases, Apple has not actively induced the developer to test and build software," the lawsuit said. "Here, Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera."

That is wild - pure evil tactics.

While their version of events might be true, it’s also possible that it is not true and this lawsuit is completely without merit. Why are the people in the company that instigated that lawsuit automatically more trustworthy than Apple? Do you know them personally and know the history of what really happened?

I think the wisest approach is to withhold judgment until the case is done.

 

[macfacts]

sherlock'd again. Tim is going to use the same playbook when some indy dev has a killer app idea for vision pro.

 

[VPsmith]

“Apple "actively induced and encouraged" Reincubate to develop and market Camo for iOS”

Give me a break lol what a joke

 

[I7guy]

Okay we’ll see. This time the lawsuit is in New Jersey.

 

[zarmanto]

Sigh... here we go again.

Every single time someone claims that Apple Sherlocked them, I'm immediately skeptical.

 

[Pezimak]

Apple uses a lot of third-party SW to drive its hardware (I worked for a company supplying them and other phone integrators). They usually operate by initially licensing it, but after a couple of years stop paying the license fees, claiming they are using their own SW. That's either a blatant lie, or their own SW is just a crude copy. In this case, they apparently did not even bother licensing.

This is the DNA of Apple. They are so big and wealthy, they use their size to bully small companies. The other large tech companies do the same in their determination to get their own way.

Yeap capitalist world for you run by giant corps with enough money power and political influence to do as they please.

But we shall see what happens in this case. Interesting they claimed Apple encouraged them to develop the app, hope they have evidence of that.

 

[Hajj.david]

Yeap capitalist world for you run by giant corps with enough money power and political influence to do as they please.

I hope they win the lawsuit and get the feature removed. Apple is extremely obnoxious about this feature and regularly decides to connect to my phone as a webcam when I freaking have a built in one already. Even their messaging is like windows "Show me later" doesnt actually dismiss it, you have to press OK and then go to settings to disable it. Very Windows like and terrible.

 

[Pezimak]

As opposed to what? A socialist government that simply nationalizes your company and they can do so whenever they want and seize assets as they please?

I hope they win the lawsuit and get the feature removed Apple is extremely obnoxious about this feature and regularly decides to connect to my phone as a webcam when I freaking have a built in one already. Even their messaging is like windows "Show me later" doesnt actually dismiss it, you have to press OK and then go to settings to disable it. Very Windows like and terrible.

This isn't in the Political thread so can't discuss that I'm afraid.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

Honestly, this is very possible for Apple to have done. All the people out there who think Apple can’t have trade practices that infringe on others are sticking their heads in the sand.

 

[ScooterComputer]

What's funny is I hadn't been able to get Continuity Camera to work on my Mac since it was introduced as a feature, and about a year ago I stumbled on Camo while working on another project… it works great! And even today, Continuity Camera STILL only works about a quarter of the time. Because there is no user interface with it, getting it to work is akin to having to "stand on your head, spin around three times, and kill a chicken". Whereas with Camo, I launch it, it shows a list of devices, and I chose the camera-device I want—AND it works with my iPad mini and older iPhone! Seems like Apple didn't steal enough… which tells me that Reincubate is likely to prevail at some level here.

 

[Anaxarxes]

So let me get this straight.

You launch an app that turns your mobile phone to a webcam and when the maker of that phone adds that feature later to their laptops and the mobile phones you originated the idea from, this is IP theft?

Another analogy: I can make a bicycle carrier for a car, and when the car manufacturer creates one as well, I tell them it was my idea and therefore they should pay me for it?

Can you patent ideas?

 

[ScooterComputer]

Honestly, this is very possible for Apple to have done. All the people out there who think Apple can’t have trade practices that infringe on others are sticking their heads in the sand.

And, in actuality, Apple has a long documented history of doing just this. Not 'rumors', or 'innuendo'… straight out documented history of pulling these stunts. And getting caught. Worse, they tend to go into 'lawyer mode' when caught and attempt to use lawfare to bleed the victim I.P. holder dry, rather than 'do the right thing'. Over and over we've seen this in the last 2 decades. (This was a Steve thing. It is 'known'.)
The folks on here saying Apple didn't do it simply don't know what the fsck they're talking about, useful idiots in the Apple PR propaganda effort.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

You mean to tell me that Apple mislead this developer, used their privileged position to get information from them, then went and built the same thing this developer did? At the same time they also shut the door on how the developer made their feature work - making Apple's version the best (and effectively only) version?

Normally we call this cheating, lying and stealing, but I guess this is Apple we're discussing so it's innovation.

 

[jonnysods]

Which is exactly what you would say if you were bringing a suit against one of the largest tech giants in the world. It doesn't mean it's true.

I could be wrong but surely they have the receipts if they are going to make a claim like that and go to court over it.

 

[Plutonius]

A generic "Apple faces a lawsuit" should be pinned to the top of the news .

 

[CapitalIdea]

Apple uses a lot of third-party SW to drive its hardware (I worked for a company supplying them and other phone integrators). They usually operate by initially licensing it, but after a couple of years stop paying the license fees, claiming they are using their own SW. That's either a blatant lie, or their own SW is just a crude copy. In this case, they apparently did not even bother licensing.

This is the DNA of Apple. They are so big and wealthy, they use their size to bully small companies. The other large tech companies do the same in their determination to get their own way.

Is it a crude copy, or did they finally get tired of flaws and decided to do it in house? After all that’s what happened with the chips and Intel.

 

[zarmanto]

Can you patent ideas?

As Apple learned, many, many years ago, the answer to that tends to vary from one idea to the next.

Some life lessons that we all need to learn to appreciate:

• The big guy isn't always the bad guy... but sometimes, they are.
• The little guy isn't always crying wolf... but sometimes, they are.
• Ideas aren't always patentable... but sometimes, they are.
• The situation is almost never as clean and straightforward as armchair litigators wish to believe.