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Controversy Over Apple Travel Patent Application

it appears that Apple's designers and patent staff simply used the Where To? screenshot as an example of an interface a user might find when entering an airport, without claiming any invention of the interface's design itself or even the functionality behind it.
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so if they didn't design the interface, and haven't worked out how the functionality would be accomplished under the hood, what the heck are they patenting, the idea? nobody really owns ideas. if you want something secret, don't tell anyone, and if you want market exclusivity, implement it better than your competition (also don't rip them off). patents have become a joke.

say: i have an idea for this big sphere of fire hovering in space which may or may not already exist but would consequentially cause other non-flaming spheres to revolve around it and be illuminated and maybe burned and would generally make life possible on one or two. haven't worked out the details yet but r&d tells me that it might involve gases or whatever and something called fusion? doesn't matter. anyway i thought of it first and i'm submitting my "proof" so's nobody else can waltz along and claim it, even if they took the initiative to work their ass off on the details of a "stolen" idea and make it a reality out of the goodness of their heart in their basement over a weekend...
 
Stella said:
The developer is quite pissed off, Ambela thought it was a big enough deal to make it more public. Maybe its not a big deal for you, but for others, i.e,. the developer, it is.

Apple are lazy, they couldn't even be arsed to create their own mock up for a patent application.
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The developer doesn't even have a rat's ass clue about patents.

As said by the developer:
I’m not a lawyer. I can’t really judge whether the inclusion of a 1:1 copy of our start screen in someone else’s patent is legal. I just have to say, it doesn’t feel right
 
Salacion said:
They're not "stealing" other website designs, just using them as an example. [/I]
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Ah, okay... It's that easy, huh? So I can use anyone's copyrighted designs or other works without permission as long as I use it to demonstrate something? Cool. I think I'm gonna download some MP3's now to demonstrate what good music is to my friends. :rolleyes:
 
Tyre said:
You guys need to realize that they are not patenting anything that is shown here. They are not patenting Where To?'s app or anything like it. Read the patent, it isn't for anything UI related but rather a reactive application - one that, if it knows you have a plane flight (for example) can ready your boarding passes by checking you in or giving you maps of connecting airports.

This isn't "you are in coordinates x,y and here are stores/things-to-do nearby" (Where To?). Apple's idea is far more complex: "Based on your information, you will be in x,y and here are things you may need." I.e.: We see that you have a 10am flight that connects in Roanoke, here are your boarding passes and this is a restaurant in the Roanoke airport near your gate.

Read before Rage.
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But such an app would be a competitor for Where To? and that's pretty cold to use their screenshot for such a thing. Or, if I'm reading correctly, more specifically they are trying to patent the process so any such app author would have to license it from Apple in order to use it in their app. Also cold.
 
Apple is not copying anyone... but if you are too lazy to read the patent and understand that apple was using "where to?" to show how the app can use the technology that Apple is trying to patent then please keep carrying on like a fool.

Apple used the app's design and showed the app's name because they were trying to demonstrate through drawings how that specific app, where to?, could use the new technology.

god you people are ignorant
 
Well...lucky for the developers AND Apple, the way the USPTO works is that the patent applications "claims" have to teach new art in relation to prior art (other inventions, books, products, anything that came before). The description (specification) and figures only add support to the claims, but are NOT compared to prior art.

So...long story short. As long as the claims are novel, teach new art, and do not step on the toes of any prior art (including the developer's app in question), Apple will likely get this patent. AND it won't affect the developer, with the exception that they will have to license any new ideas Apple introduces (likely not, because Apple will include the features as part of their APIs). But hey guys, this is the way inventions work. Nobody builds inventions in a vacuum, they all sit on top of other inventions.

Just look at the image, it's a picture of an iPhone using an iPhone interface elements constructed in the form of a software application. The developer's don't own that look, they built on top of it. They also don't own the underlying patents that enable that software to run on an iPhone. Same way, Apple is using the UI and building on top of it by adding additional backend features.

This is a non-issue. People are going to make it bigger than it is because it's a big company sort-of stepping on the toes of a little one. And the little one is probably mad they didn't think of some of the ideas, which could potentially enable competitors.

How do I know all of this? Because I have 1 patent issued, 6 pending, and have had to argue my case before a Patent Examiner three times.
 
Stella said:
The developer is quite pissed off, Ambela thought it was a big enough deal to make it more public. Maybe its not a big deal for you, but for others, i.e,. the developer, it is.
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Only because by making all this controversy they can bring some attention to that piece of crap rip-off app they are peddling.

Apple has done nothing wrong. FutureTap is seizing on an opportunity to fool people into thinking they've been victimized.

Don't be fooled.
 
Apple didn't even change the name of the app in the diagram. What does that tell you? People who steal things don't advertise the fact.

Look, Apple makes mistakes. The iPhone 4 antenna issue is proof of that. But they're not stupid enough to start blatantly stealing IP from their own developers. Keeping developers on side and loyal to iOS is absolutely critical to Apple's mobile strategy.

What I don't understand though is why Apple haven't responded yet. These fires need to be put out quickly before they get out of control. Silence just looks bad.
 
I wonder if there is a claus in the developer agreement about handing over intelectual rights under certain circumstances. I know Apple uses this for there employees and contractors.
 
To everyone who has said "Apple's done nothing wrong": I'm going to be taking verbatim copies of all your Macrumors posts and any photography I can find on web sites you claim to own and use them unattributed in some work I'm preparing.

This will increase sales for whatever-it-is-you-sell so I think you should be grateful.

And since I'm just violating copyright, not trying to make a patent out of your ideas, we're cool, yeah?
 
mangoduck said:
so if they didn't design the interface, and haven't worked out how the functionality would be accomplished under the hood, what the heck are they patenting, the idea? nobody really owns ideas.
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And nobody can patent ideas. IF you'd even give the patent a cursory look you'd see what they are patenting.

Which would have saved you from having to type out that rant.
 
Veri said:
And since I'm just violating copyright, not trying to make a patent out of your ideas, we're cool, yeah?
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Interesting that your post presumes that copyright is patent, and then at the end you shoot yourself in the foot and not that a patent and a copyright are not the same.
 
econgeek said:
Only because by making all this controversy they can bring some attention to that piece of crap rip-off app they are peddling.

Apple has done nothing wrong. FutureTap is seizing on an opportunity to fool people into thinking they've been victimized.

Don't be fooled.
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Okay, that's just a little too intense. Rip-off app? No. It's also a pretty functional app.

I'm not really sure about the devs portraying themselves as victimized. I think they're just clueless.
 
mangoduck said:
so if they didn't design the interface, and haven't worked out how the functionality would be accomplished under the hood, what the heck are they patenting, the idea? nobody really owns ideas. if you want something secret, don't tell anyone, and if you want market exclusivity, implement it better than your competition (also don't rip them off). patents have become a joke.

say: i have an idea for this big sphere of fire hovering in space which may or may not already exist but would consequentially cause other non-flaming spheres to revolve around it and be illuminated and maybe burned and would generally make life possible on one or two. haven't worked out the details yet but r&d tells me that it might involve gases or whatever and something called fusion? doesn't matter. anyway i thought of it first and i'm submitting my "proof" so's nobody else can waltz along and claim it, even if they took the initiative to work their ass off on the details of a "stolen" idea and make it a reality out of the goodness of their heart in their basement over a weekend...
Click to expand...

JAT said:
But such an app would be a competitor for Where To? and that's pretty cold to use their screenshot for such a thing. Or, if I'm reading correctly, more specifically they are trying to patent the process so any such app author would have to license it from Apple in order to use it in their app. Also cold.
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Well Apple must demonstrate in their idea that their idea is both unique and has never existed before. Therefore the sun example wouldn't fly, since you can't claim to have invented something that already exists.
 
Mattie Num Nums said:
I wonder if there is a claus in the developer agreement about handing over intelectual rights under certain circumstances. I know Apple uses this for there employees and contractors.
Click to expand...

Now we're in complete fantasyland.

Ok, well I have read the developer agreement and without giving away anything that is in it, I can confirm to you that there is no such clause.
 
I'm not sure where this stands legally, since they aren't trying to patent the interface, but it would have been the right thing to at least ask for permission to use another developers GUI as an example.

On the bright side for the developer: this is really good press for them. Talk about free exposure. I think this app will certainly get some extra downloads from the app store out of this.
 
DirtySocks85 said:
I'm not sure where this stands legally, since they aren't trying to patent the interface, but it would have been the right thing to at least ask for permission to use another developers GUI as an example.

On the bright side for the developer: this is really good press for them. Talk about free exposure. I think this app will certainly get some extra downloads from the app store out of this.
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I definitely agree with you about Apple asking them to use the diagram. That's most certainly where Apple is wrong in this whole debacle.
 
econgeek said:
And nobody can patent ideas. IF you'd even give the patent a cursory look you'd see what they are patenting.

Which would have saved you from having to type out that rant.
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You are quite incorrect, as in the United States there is something called intellectual property. That means, quite literally, that you own an idea.

You don't have to make it or have any intention of doing so, but you have patented an idea. Remember this https://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/21/apple-google-and-others-hit-with-patent-lawsuit-over-spam-email-identification/ ?

InNova never intended to do anything but patent the idea and sue anyone that infringes on it.
 
The proper end result is Apple should pay some money to the developers. It's essentially a copyright violation at best. They should resolve it quickly, too. Apple should know better than to do this.
 
ByteOfApple said:
Here's my issued patent. When you read it (it's from early 2005), how does it make you feel about the Wii's "innovation"?
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just because you patent something doesn't mean someone else can't patent the same idea. they have to do it differently. just like people made cameras that did things differently than Kodak. and everyone is making motion controllers these days. these things involve more than one patent so yours is probably useless
 
As a developer this doesn't sit well with me.

I have no choice but to give my application to a competitor, and hope that they allow me to sell it. Apple is obviously looking at iPhone apps designs and using them. Maybe not in Apple's applications yet.

I've been a big supporter of the App store, but that support is quickly changing.

I suspect that it was someone independent, who liked the interface. I don't think Apple as policy is going to rip off app store developers, but individual employees of Apple will unless Apple puts a stop to it.
 
Looks like some lazy low level employee couldn't be bothered to draw his own sketch. But since he/she is an Apple employee, it makes Apple (the Company) look bad. This isn't Apple stealing anything, folks. This is just a lazy Apple employee getting caught being lazy.
 
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