By: Jon Brodkin
Source: http://arstechnica.com
Category: Patent News
Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/the-week-in-patent-wars-apple-wins-one-loses-another-and-asks-for-money.ars?clicked=related_right
Source: http://arstechnica.com
Category: Patent News
Tech industry members are suing each other and left and right, and lots of money is at stake.
Tech vendors seem to spend as much time suing each other as they do actually making products. The patent wars can be fascinating—but also a confusing mess of suits, countersuits, motions, settlements, and a billion news articles trying to make sense of it all.
We're trying a slightly different approach this week, with a recap of the week's top news in patent lawsuits, featuring some stories we've already reported and others that are notable but haven't yet received a mention on Ars. Apple in particular was busy this week, but the Oracle vs. Google case had some developments, Linux organizations looked to shore up their patent portfolios, and patent trolls targeted the gaming industry (and Apple).
Apple's week wasn't all roses, though. The company's attempt to sue Eastman Kodak Co. was halted by a US Bankruptcy judge, who said Apple's pursuit of claims against Kodak would be inappropriate while the company is in bankruptcy. "Apple in February had asked the court for permission to lift a stay freezing a patent lawsuit pending in a federal court in Kodak's hometown of Rochester, New York,"Reuters reported.
In the pending case, Apple claims Kodak "misappropriated" its technology to wrongly obtain a patent allowing previews of digital images on LCD screens, The Register reports. The court suggested that Apple and Kodak find a way to settle the case without interfering with Kodak's plans to sell off its patent portfolio and emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters said. But Apple also wants to file a new infringement lawsuit against Kodak claiming that it violates Apple patents related to digital cameras and printers. The judge rejected Apple's request to revive its pending litigation as well as the request to launch a new lawsuit against Kodak.
Apple's strategy has generally been to prevent the sale of competing products that allegedly violate its patents, particularly when it comes to Android. But as Ars' Chris Foresman reported this week, Apple has softened that stance by offering to license some of its smartphone-related patents to Motorola and Samsung. Apple has reportedly asked for as much as $15 per handset in exchange for the patent licenses.
"At issue for Oracle is the problem that nearly all of the patents they brought against Google in the patent and copyright infringement case have either been found to be invalid or are undergoing re-examination by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a process that could take up to 18 months and offers no guarantee for Oracle that the reexamined patents will even be found to be valid," Proffitt wrote.
On Friday, Oracle decided to drop all but two of its remaining patent infringement claims against Google, which will help get the trial underway faster.
The case involves both patent and copyright claims. Even if all the patent claims had been dropped, the copyright claims would move forward. Either way, Oracle wants royalties on those millions of Android phones being sold with each passing week. Groklaw has been posting frequent updates on the Oracle/Google case for those who want to catch up on the latest happenings.
Android isn't the only Linux-based open source project to face frequent patent threats. We've written about how Red Hat handles patent trolls. Red Hat is also part of an industry consortium called the Open Invention Network, which, along with IBM, Sony, Phillips, Facebook, HP, and dozens of others are building up a defensive patent portfolio to protect Linux-using members from potential lawsuits.
The more patents you have, the less prone you are to lawsuits. The threat of a countersuit can be enough to scare off a competitor's threat, or at least pave the way for mutually beneficial cross-licensing deals. The Open Invention Network is in the process of greatly expanding its coverage of software packages and Linux-based mobile operating systems, as ZDNet's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols wrote this week.
Core Wireless has an indirect affiliation with Microsoft. Core's parent company, Mosaid, owns patents it acquired from Nokia last year. Microsoft paid for a license to those patents and receives a "passive financial interest in future revenue generated by Mosaid from the licensing of those patents to others," Microsoft told The Register.
Patent trolls—loosely defined as companies that make no technology of their own but acquire patents to assert against companies that actually build products—have also been going after businesses involved in social gaming. In case you missed it, Ars' Kyle Orland examined this trend in the March 2 story "Patent troll lawsuits strike at the heart of free-to-play games, apps."
Among a couple other happenings this past week, Samsung filed a new lawsuit against Apple in South Korea on Wednesday, saying the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringe three patents related to displaying data, the user interface, and short text messages, Reuters reported.
Apple was already suing Samsung, in California. Samsung has been trying to get Microsoft to testify in the case because it believes Microsoft has prior art that would undermine Apple's claims. Microsoft doesn't want to get involved, however, and filed a motion on Tuesday seeking to block Samsung's subpoena because it's overly vague, Patently Apple reports.
On the e-book intellectual property front, Amazon looks to be bolstering its patent portfolio either to defend itself against lawsuits or launch attacks of its own. On Tuesday, Amazon was granted a new patent covering a method and system for annotating digital works. As you may recall, Microsoft's case against Barnes & Noble's Nook devices involves a couple of patents related to annotating documents. Amazon already has a licensing deal with Microsoft allowing it to use annotation technology in Kindle e-readers, however, so the company is safe on that front. We're trying a slightly different approach this week, with a recap of the week's top news in patent lawsuits, featuring some stories we've already reported and others that are notable but haven't yet received a mention on Ars. Apple in particular was busy this week, but the Oracle vs. Google case had some developments, Linux organizations looked to shore up their patent portfolios, and patent trolls targeted the gaming industry (and Apple).
The Apple patent chronicles
Let's start with Apple. On Monday, Apple won a motion to gain access to previously secret details about Google's development of Android, as part of its lawsuit alleging that Motorola smartphones violate Apple intellectual property. Despite protests from Google and Motorola (which are in the process of completing a merger), US District Court Judge Richard Posner sided with Apple's claim that it needs insight into the Android development process to determine how much money in licensing fees or court damages Apple should be entitled to from Motorola's (allegedly) infringing Android-based products. Exactly what is contained in those details wasn't revealed, and the judge also granted Apple access to information on Google's acquisitions of Android, Inc., and Motorola.Apple's week wasn't all roses, though. The company's attempt to sue Eastman Kodak Co. was halted by a US Bankruptcy judge, who said Apple's pursuit of claims against Kodak would be inappropriate while the company is in bankruptcy. "Apple in February had asked the court for permission to lift a stay freezing a patent lawsuit pending in a federal court in Kodak's hometown of Rochester, New York,"Reuters reported.
In the pending case, Apple claims Kodak "misappropriated" its technology to wrongly obtain a patent allowing previews of digital images on LCD screens, The Register reports. The court suggested that Apple and Kodak find a way to settle the case without interfering with Kodak's plans to sell off its patent portfolio and emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters said. But Apple also wants to file a new infringement lawsuit against Kodak claiming that it violates Apple patents related to digital cameras and printers. The judge rejected Apple's request to revive its pending litigation as well as the request to launch a new lawsuit against Kodak.
Apple's strategy has generally been to prevent the sale of competing products that allegedly violate its patents, particularly when it comes to Android. But as Ars' Chris Foresman reported this week, Apple has softened that stance by offering to license some of its smartphone-related patents to Motorola and Samsung. Apple has reportedly asked for as much as $15 per handset in exchange for the patent licenses.
Open source patent wars
Oracle's long-running lawsuit claiming Google violated Java patents in Android has been diminished greatly, but is moving forward. Oracle faced a tough decision about whether to drop the remaining patent claims in its lawsuit, open source watcher Brian Proffitt at ITworld wrote this week."At issue for Oracle is the problem that nearly all of the patents they brought against Google in the patent and copyright infringement case have either been found to be invalid or are undergoing re-examination by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a process that could take up to 18 months and offers no guarantee for Oracle that the reexamined patents will even be found to be valid," Proffitt wrote.
On Friday, Oracle decided to drop all but two of its remaining patent infringement claims against Google, which will help get the trial underway faster.
The case involves both patent and copyright claims. Even if all the patent claims had been dropped, the copyright claims would move forward. Either way, Oracle wants royalties on those millions of Android phones being sold with each passing week. Groklaw has been posting frequent updates on the Oracle/Google case for those who want to catch up on the latest happenings.
Android isn't the only Linux-based open source project to face frequent patent threats. We've written about how Red Hat handles patent trolls. Red Hat is also part of an industry consortium called the Open Invention Network, which, along with IBM, Sony, Phillips, Facebook, HP, and dozens of others are building up a defensive patent portfolio to protect Linux-using members from potential lawsuits.
The more patents you have, the less prone you are to lawsuits. The threat of a countersuit can be enough to scare off a competitor's threat, or at least pave the way for mutually beneficial cross-licensing deals. The Open Invention Network is in the process of greatly expanding its coverage of software packages and Linux-based mobile operating systems, as ZDNet's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols wrote this week.
Miscellaneous: Patent troll with tie to Microsoft targets Apple; game companies fend off suits; Amazon shores up e-book patent portfolio
There are a few other stories worth noting before we sign off. Apple was sued by a patent holding company called Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l., which claims the iPhone and iPad infringe eight patents related to wireless communications, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Core Wireless has an indirect affiliation with Microsoft. Core's parent company, Mosaid, owns patents it acquired from Nokia last year. Microsoft paid for a license to those patents and receives a "passive financial interest in future revenue generated by Mosaid from the licensing of those patents to others," Microsoft told The Register.
Patent trolls—loosely defined as companies that make no technology of their own but acquire patents to assert against companies that actually build products—have also been going after businesses involved in social gaming. In case you missed it, Ars' Kyle Orland examined this trend in the March 2 story "Patent troll lawsuits strike at the heart of free-to-play games, apps."
Among a couple other happenings this past week, Samsung filed a new lawsuit against Apple in South Korea on Wednesday, saying the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 infringe three patents related to displaying data, the user interface, and short text messages, Reuters reported.
Apple was already suing Samsung, in California. Samsung has been trying to get Microsoft to testify in the case because it believes Microsoft has prior art that would undermine Apple's claims. Microsoft doesn't want to get involved, however, and filed a motion on Tuesday seeking to block Samsung's subpoena because it's overly vague, Patently Apple reports.
Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/the-week-in-patent-wars-apple-wins-one-loses-another-and-asks-for-money.ars?clicked=related_right
