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I made a cardboard robot out of packaging boxes about 35 years ago when I was 7/8. It had all sorts of amazing 'features' and my mum has pictures of me with it.

Just biding my time, I will be rich......
 
More like a rip off Alan Kay's DynaBook from 1972

dynabook-01.gif
 



Florida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD). The court filing claims the plaintiff was "first to file a device so designed and aggregated," nearly 15 years before the first iPhone.

Apple-vs-Ross.jpg

Between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992, Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device, primarily consisting of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners that "embodied a fusion of design and function in a way that never existed prior to 1992."Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention in November 1992, but the application was declared abandoned in April 1995 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after he failed to pay the required application fees. He also filed to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2014.

Apple-vs-Ross-design-drawing.jpg

While the plaintiff claims that he continues to experience "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money," he has demanded a jury trial and is seeking restitution no less than $10 billion and a royalty of up to 1.5% on Apple's worldwide sales of infringing devices.

Ross v. Apple, Inc. was filed with the Florida Southern District Court on June 27. The case number is 0:2016cv61471.

Article Link: Florida Man Sues Apple for $10+ Billion, Says iOS Devices Copy His 1992 Drawings
Apparently this guys attorney is the same one who invented the "dormant cyber pathogen" in the San Bernadino shooters iPhone 5c
 
Well I'll have to sue NASA for all those space shuttle drawing I did in 5th grade before it actually existed.. Seriously, the only damage to his credibility is how dumb he believes people are. Why didn't he sue when Apple made the Newton, or Palm when they made the Palm Pilot? Now we know what you are sir, we're just haggling on a price.
 
You never know when one of these patent challenges will prove legit. Despite the hilarity and nonsense of the claim, it’s comforting that we live in a society that will hear challenges from the most humble plaintiffs. Ideas are seldom original. The same idea can occur to multiple persons eventually and concurrently. The patent office occasionally grants patents for nearly identical concepts—especially in computer technology. It’s their responsibility and the applicant’s responsibility to perform a patent search first and determine if someone was first. Some wealthy applicants ignore existing patents and blatantly infringe, or file similar applications, knowing they have the resources to out-lawyer the rightful inventor.

As someone who was a co-applicant on a copyright application, I can tell you that powerful corporations monitor the Patent and Trademarks Office’s weekly gazette. If they see a patent application for an idea that could disrupt their business or benefit them, their lawyers will contact the applicant and try to intimidate them into withdrawing the application, even if their challenge is baseless.
 
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Funny. I just Googled and this guy didn't seem to sue Palm or Research In Motion (BlackBerry) when they clearly violated aspects of this "invention" long before now. Wonder why he chose Apple? Oh, yeah, that was rhetorical. Because, he's a schmuck!

I hope he gets a day in court and a judge that laughs him out of his courtroom while threatening his lawyer with disbarment for abuse of process, if not malicious prosecution. What a hack! He had his chance to get a patent, couldn't afford it and now cries fowl. Puh-leez. I have a drawer full of napkin sketches like that from the 1990s, too. Doesn't mean I can use them as prior-art to defend a non-existent patent, trademark or copyright. Can't enforce what you don't register, bub.
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More like a rip off Alan Kay's DynaBook from 1972

dynabook-01.gif

LOL ... Yup, but that was actually published and could be claimed as prior-art, unlike the dim bulb and his accomplice lawyer that have what amounts to a napkin sketch of dubious provenance.
 
What I find unbelievable about hardware patents is that the concept itself is patentable before the technology exists to prove the concept can be manufactured. Anyone who regularly follows this site, has seen the patent drawings and summary of abilities that Apple filed for concepts. One has to ask, how many of these concepts were actually prototyped in Apple's labs to demonstrate their achievability?

In the old days, an inventor had to build a working model of his idea and present it to the patent office. As inventions proliferated, that process became impractical for the patent office. Their requirement became a drawing. Even then, the drawings were sufficiently detailed that One could imagine or build a prototype from. Today, patent concepts are little more than science fiction illustrations with intentionally non-technical explanations.

Patent laws should be revised to only allow submissions that can be produced with existing technology and materials. This would prevent someone like Florida Man from being recognized for an abstraction rather than an actual invention that required effort and knowledge to make a reality.
 
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Florida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD). The court filing claims the plaintiff was "first to file a device so designed and aggregated," nearly 15 years before the first iPhone.

Apple-vs-Ross.jpg

Between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992, Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device, primarily consisting of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners that "embodied a fusion of design and function in a way that never existed prior to 1992."Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention in November 1992, but the application was declared abandoned in April 1995 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after he failed to pay the required application fees. He also filed to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2014.

Apple-vs-Ross-design-drawing.jpg

While the plaintiff claims that he continues to experience "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money," he has demanded a jury trial and is seeking restitution no less than $10 billion and a royalty of up to 1.5% on Apple's worldwide sales of infringing devices.

Ross v. Apple, Inc. was filed with the Florida Southern District Court on June 27. The case number is 0:2016cv61471.

Article Link: Florida Man Sues Apple for $10+ Billion, Says iOS Devices Copy His 1992 Drawings
Hmmm...pretty sure I doodled something in 2nd grade that was roughly the shape of an idevice. That'll be $10 Billion, Apple.
 


Wow, I like this guy. He is a visionary who has been on medication. A meager settlement could help to pay for his marijuana prescription!

Florida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD). The court filing claims the plaintiff was "first to file a device so designed and aggregated," nearly 15 years before the first iPhone.

Apple-vs-Ross.jpg

Between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992, Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device, primarily consisting of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners that "embodied a fusion of design and function in a way that never existed prior to 1992."Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention in November 1992, but the application was declared abandoned in April 1995 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after he failed to pay the required application fees. He also filed to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2014.

Apple-vs-Ross-design-drawing.jpg

While the plaintiff claims that he continues to experience "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money," he has demanded a jury trial and is seeking restitution no less than $10 billion and a royalty of up to 1.5% on Apple's worldwide sales of infringing devices.

Ross v. Apple, Inc. was filed with the Florida Southern District Court on June 27. The case number is 0:2016cv61471.

Article Link: Florida Man Sues Apple for $10+ Billion, Says iOS Devices Copy His 1992 Drawings
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I foRgot to mention the reason he brought this suit forward is that his cousin recently passed the bar exam fater 12 tries.



lorida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD). The court filing claims the plaintiff was "first to file a device so designed and aggregated," nearly 15 years before the first iPhone.

Apple-vs-Ross.jpg

Between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992, Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device, primarily consisting of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners that "embodied a fusion of design and function in a way that never existed prior to 1992."Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention in November 1992, but the application was declared abandoned in April 1995 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after he failed to pay the required application fees. He also filed to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2014.

Apple-vs-Ross-design-drawing.jpg

While the plaintiff claims that he continues to experience "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money," he has demanded a jury trial and is seeking restitution no less than $10 billion and a royalty of up to 1.5% on Apple's worldwide sales of infringing devices.

Ross v. Apple, Inc. was filed with the Florida Southern District Court on June 27. The case number is 0:2016cv61471.

Article Link: Florida Man Sues Apple for $10+ Billion, Says iOS Devices Copy His 1992 Drawings
 
Not even close to any iPhone ever produced for sale.
I guess people are desperate for money nowadays, and will do anything possible.
I doubt I
This guy has a case here in Florida. He should have filed at a hillbilly court for a better chance of success.
 
Not even close to any iPhone ever produced for sale.
I guess people are desperate for money nowadays, and will do anything possible.
I doubt I
This guy has a case here in Florida. He should have filed at a hillbilly court for a better chance of success.



Hope doesn't jump into an alligator pond if he loses
 
It looks a lot like a Newton which came out about the same time. Who is stealing from who?
 
The mother of all "Florida Man" stories.
I always stop as soon as I see "Florida" in the title.
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Florida resident Thomas S. Ross has filed a lawsuit against Apple this week, claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon his 1992 invention of a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD). The court filing claims the plaintiff was "first to file a device so designed and aggregated," nearly 15 years before the first iPhone.

Apple-vs-Ross.jpg

Between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992, Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device, primarily consisting of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners that "embodied a fusion of design and function in a way that never existed prior to 1992."Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention in November 1992, but the application was declared abandoned in April 1995 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after he failed to pay the required application fees. He also filed to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2014.

Apple-vs-Ross-design-drawing.jpg

While the plaintiff claims that he continues to experience "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money," he has demanded a jury trial and is seeking restitution no less than $10 billion and a royalty of up to 1.5% on Apple's worldwide sales of infringing devices.

Ross v. Apple, Inc. was filed with the Florida Southern District Court on June 27. The case number is 0:2016cv61471.

Article Link: Florida Man Sues Apple for $10+ Billion, Says iOS Devices Copy His 1992 Drawings
 
i like how no one even reads the comments but rather types as quick as possible their witty remarks, not even realizing how much of a sheep they are because they just typed the same, almost exactly worded comment as 30 other people in the thread.
 
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