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Steve Jobs iPhone Keynote Invalidates Apple's Rubber-Banding Patent in Germany

Konrad9 said:
The idea is this:

Someone shows something off, you ask about it, they say they haven't patented it. Clearly, they don't care about it enough to patent it. You (and others) start using it, then the original company patents it and sues you for using their stuff.

This law prevents that.

If it's important enough to patent, patent it.
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Yeah, that's right. If the party you're sharing the information with is under NDA, then it's still protected, but a public showing is equivalent to publishing and putting it into the public domain.

Surprising mistake for Apple-- anyone involved with patents should be aware of this. I'm glad to see they enforce it against the big guys too.
 
samcraig said:
Sorry - there's something funny about Apple's patent being invalidated by themselves.

Where's the Delorean so we can fix this?
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If you read the article, German law required its invalidation. In Germany. In other words, the US is being too kind to the innovator, because we allow them to wait as long as a year to file. This made the patent invalid in Germany, where they value the copier, I suppose. So things are more secret, because a company can't talk about something they are doing in a few months' time, because they lose the patent protection. But that's not important, it's German law so that for them to say for something that affects them.

I think Apple didn't move fast enough to develop the cheap cell phone, which was when they locked up the iPod market. It's time to drop the networks as subsidizers of smartphones on a long, profitable contract, and just make them common carriers.

Honestly, it's a complex societal question, and I do think copyright should be for less time, and more easily available to Joe Blow, too. I think in tech, the protection should be brief; maybe at most 7 years. After that, they've got five years, tops, of FRAND status, until the invention becomes part, or not, of a standard that is free. Ideally, for the corporations, the world's IP laws should be equalized, but I don't think we should give away the air to corporate entities. You shouldn't be sued by tech from the decade before you. Also, I'd make patents untransportable after 7 years, so it becomes useless to patent trolls who are monetizing dead patents that will never see production, or were bought in bulk at corporate estate sales. It always belongs to the patent holder him or herself.
 
rubber-banding

Spectrum said:
I see it now. Cheers! No mention of it as a feature by Steve.
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He actually does mention rubber-banding at 16:27 and demonstrates it.

oops, I see someone else also saw this at 16:27. (Khroach, etc.)

what a stupid little thing to patten and sue over. It's amazing the crap that can be patented
 
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roland.g said:
And you wonder why the Europeans are so backwards. Case and point. It may be the law and Apple should have known and followed. But just because it is the law, doesn't mean it should be the law. What can you do but laugh at the fools.
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Please, accept my apologies on behalf of Europe. Would you like fries with that?

See? I can do half hearted racial slurs too!
 
Ah for the days when Apple keynotes were genuinely surprising. It just isn't the same these days.

Also, amusing Steve said that the iPhone software was "5 years" ahead of the competition. 5 years of no change to the UI later, and the competition has caught up.
 
Patent first, public second. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of patents should be able to tell you this, so I have no idea why Apple didn't know. With a legal team the size of Apple's, I can't believe it's naivety or incompetence.

Even with the US 'grace period', you're risking an expensive patent trial if you don't follow this principle.
 
The whole patent system should just be a universal system across all countries, this whole "i wanna make a slightly different rule crap is getting annoying"
 
What the hell is this germany you're talking about?
Apple, buy them so they can shut up.:mad:
 
roland.g said:
And you wonder why the Europeans are so backwards. Case and point. It may be the law and Apple should have known and followed. But just because it is the law, doesn't mean it should be the law. What can you do but laugh at the fools.
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So, that was about 15 minutes before the first crass,europhobic comment, congratulations. <cough>t0sser</>
 
Man, He could really give a presentation. Whenever I watched him present a new product he always seemed genuinely excited to show you what they have developed, and excited about the technology vs. now when it just feels like they are listing off features they want you to buy... Way different from then to now for Apple presentations.

His salesmanship skills and being genuinely excited/interested in what he's presenting always drove it home for me. :apple:
 
samcraig said:
Sorry - there's something funny about Apple's patent being invalidated by themselves.

Where's the Delorean so we can fix this?
Click to expand...

Every country has their own laws surrounding patents. In the US, it's whomever applies for the patent gets the rights even if someone else had it prior but didn't file the patent or didn't file it properly. That's probably why some courts find something a violation and some not. It's messed up since there is no consistency to the laws from one country to another. It used to be that if you showed the patent publicly you couldn't apply for a patent afterwards, but I think that's changed in the US.

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urbanlung said:
Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?
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They aren't known for their sense of humor, but some of them do have one.

Just look at the price tag for a Porsche replacement part that's identical to a VW replacement part. If you don't crack up at how much money they charge between that and a VW part where the only difference is a name on the part, then someone doesn't have a sense of humor. I would call that a sense of humor on the part of the Germans.
 
WiiDSmoker said:
Isn't that what Apple did with GUI, Mouse, etc?
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Apple watched Apple keynotes to invalidate their own patents? I don't understand how people can continue to be so uninformed about the GUI and mouse. You must be trolling because I can't believe anyone would be so blind to not do a simple Google search and get the facts.

mrbyu said:
I wonder who thought this was only apparent at 32:40... When I read the title I instantly remembered thet Steve actually mentioned it in the keynote. See at 16:24... He names the feature literally. The article might need an update.
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This patent is for bounce back within the photo app only.
 
Nothing to say. If corporations fail to follow the country's rules, it never happened.
 
First-to-Invent was a fair and workable system that rewarded innovators.

First-to-File is a system that rewards large corporations with limitless legal budgets.

Congress truly threw the baby out with the bathwater. It's a travesty. This story is a good example.
 
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