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Apple sued over iPhone touch-screen kybd

updated 11:40 am EDT, Sat August 4, 2007

Apple sued over iPhone

Apple this week was sued by a Florida company over a patent it claims is used in the iPhone's touch-screen display. Apple was notified that the iPhone allegedly infringes on a patent issued in 2004 to SP Technologies LLC, which is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The patent describes a "method and medium for computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination." The company is calling for Apple to pay "reasonable royalties" for each iPhone already sold and is also seeking a permanent injunction against Apple to prevent the use of its intellectual property in Apple's mobile device. The company also alleges "willful and deliberate" infringement of the patent, which it claims the Cupertino-based company used illegally for the iPhone's keyboard, according to the complaint.

The complaint was filed on August 2nd in a federal court in Tyler, Texas-- a district considered sympathetic to plaintiffs in patent infringement cases. Apple, the complaint argues, conducts business in the area by selling the iPhone in local stores.

If Apple is found guilty of "willful and deliberate" patent infringement, it could be forced to pay punitive damages equal to three times the economic loss that the plaintiff suffered.

Over the past year, Apple has filed dozens of patents related to its iPhone and the embedded touch-screen and gesture technology.

by MacNN Staff

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coldfusion1970
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Joined: Nov 2004

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08/04, 12:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
another lawsuit

I can only hope and pray Apple can get this patent dispute dismissed. I desperately want to see the iPhone get released in the UK.

HombrePhaty
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Joined: Oct 2003

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08/04, 01:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
hilarious!!

This is good stuff. Very funny.

It is also the kind of stuff that doesn't matter and that I am making it matter (by posting) says something about me--and all Apple loyalists. We probably should just use the products--or not--and go on with real living.

As a side note, I am claiming to be the first to break wind while using an iPhone and will expect "reasonable royalties" from each person who does so hereafter... otherwise you're just engaging in "willful and deliberate" copying.

appleisgreat
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Joined: Feb 2006

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08/04, 01:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Interesting

When Apple has a hit product, all of these other companies come crawling out of the woodwork to sue. If they have the patent already, where is the product that benefits from the patent?

horvatic
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Joined: Apr 2002

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08/04, 01:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
This is the state of pat

This is the awful state of patents. Companies can hold patents with no proof of products and sit on them and as soon as another company comes along with a hit product, they sue. I don't know about this particular company and if they have a leg to stand on because Steve Jobs said he patented the h*** out of the iPhone to protect it. So this will be a hard fight for that other company to win.

cooner
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Joined: Sep 2003

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08/04, 01:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
Patents

"method and medium for computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination."

Whut? Oh, right.

I'm going to file a patent for "a mechanical or electronic device that does something useful for the user in some way." Then I'll just wait for Apple or some other company to release something useful that turns out to be a hit. Gold mine!

TheBum
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Sep 2001

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08/04, 02:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
you gotta admit

These patent squatting companies are shrewd. By not actually producing a product, they can't be sued for patent infringement, which puts them in a very low risk position. I would really like to see civil law system changed such that if a lawsuit is determined to be frivilous, the plaintiff must pay the defendant the amount the plaintiff was seeking. That would put a stop to this c***.

Bruck
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Sep 2003

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08/04, 03:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
new patent laws

New recent laws about patent disputes will destroy this lawsuit. Recently they ruled that if a technology can be figured out using ideas like pieces of a simple puzzle then its not a new and inventive idea and thus not issued a patent. Apple will probably argue that the onscreen keyboard was obvious and thus is a dumb patent.

Flying Meat
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08/04, 03:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
patent patemt lawsuits

I'm filing for a patent on patent lawsuits, whereby, anyone, any entity, or group may file suit for patent infringement as their only foreseeable way to make money from their patent, even of that was - either in whole, or in part - their intent when they filed for said patent.

I should be filthy stinking rich in no time.

All fun aside though. if I own a patent but have been frozen out of producing a product through industry shenanigans, or my own stupidity, it doesn't matter whether I have a product to show for my patent.

It's a very fine line between protecting the patent holders rights, and allowing the unscrupulous to spawn camp.

deVilliers
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Joined: Feb 2007

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08/04, 03:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
loser pays

As in the UK - in every case, where the loser in the High Court must pay the costs of the winner.

You wrote: you gotta admit These patent squatting companies are shrewd. By not actually producing a product, they can't be sued for patent infringement, which puts them in a very low risk position. I would really like to see civil law system changed such that if a lawsuit is determined to be frivilous, the plaintiff must pay the defendant the amount the plaintiff was seeking. That would put a stop to this c***.

King Bob On The Cob
Mac Elite

Joined: Apr 2002

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08/04, 04:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
Uhhh... Prior Art?

Apple's had a software based keyboard that works with touchscreens since at least the OS 9 Era. Key Caps was a godsend.

Guest
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Joined: Nov 1999

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08/04, 05:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
Uhh.. Newton?

The Newton had an onscreen keyboard - in 1994.

ender
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 1999

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08/04, 05:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
prior art

While I don't know what "keyboard display incapable of user termination" means, you can Google "on screen keyboard" and get nearly 60 million hits. A pretty strong indicator of prior art. I've used touch screen keyboards on everything from ATMs to photocopiers to airline checkin terminals.

And perhaps companies such as Apple who are frequent targets of these lawsuits should stop selling their products in and around Tyler, Texas, which is a notorious venue for what most would consider to be frivolous lawsuits. Maybe that will get the attention of the residents in that area and prompt them to get their congressional reps to do something about it.

suhail
Senior User

Joined: Nov 1999

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08/04, 06:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
yup

like I said before, 50% profit margin without royalties in mind is not really a profit margin. You're gonna see some more serious lawsuits popping-up many years from now. Once the iPhone becomes a more popular products, and Apple sells millions of them, then the real lawsuits will start appearing. The patent office is F�U�

beeble
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Joined: Mar 2004

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08/04, 06:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
keyboard display

A keyboard display is not a keyboard that is displayed. It's a display of some kind that is integrated into a keyboard. Some high end keyboards have these but none are Mac compatible that I've found.

The iPhone doesn't have a keyboard so how can it have a keyboard display? It seems this company may have a dispute with the English language rather than Apple.

Cleverboy
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08/04, 07:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
Less Features=Innovation?

I used Google Patents to look up the claim. http://www.google.com/patents?id=YPIRAAAAEBAJ&dq=method+and+medium+for+computer+readable+keyboard+display+incapable+of+user+termination Patent No.: 6784873 Inventors: Peter V. Boesen, Thomas J. Mann Filing date: Aug 4, 2000 Issue date: Aug 31, 2004

As much as I'd like to think this is only about it being a virtual keyboard, after reading the patent description, it seems clear, that the iPhone's soft-keyboard is probably THE BEST implementation of the EXACT technology described in the patent.

That said, this patent should NEVER have been granted. At best, the patent even admits that the ONLY distinction between the claims of the patent and existing soft-keyboard technology, is that none of the implementations they'd seen REMOVED the option of the user closing the keyboard. Why is it an "invention" if you simply "remove" an option for users to close the keyboard (when input is needed, the keyboard opens itself, and when its not, it goes away)? They proceed to say ANYTHING even in the same spirit should be covered by this vague and useless claim.

New patents are generally about ADDING features, not removing them. You add a back to a stool, and you've invented a chair. These guys are effectively saying that they've "invented" the three-legged stool, after removing the forth-leg of the normal stool, and claiming that customers will have an easier time assembling it so they now have a patentable "innovation". They then proceed to describe how many existing keyboards work and how this minor omission is useful in eliminating customer confusion.

Boy, I'd love to find an existing invention... REMOVE functions from it that might cause customer confusion, and patent it. Wow, sounds like a winner!

How pathetic. Hear that people? Don't take the close/minimize buttons off your on-demand virtual keyboards, or they'll come after you too!

Guest
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08/05, 01:01am | report spam | close Reply |
Tyler Texas???????????

If you have ever been there you will understand this is a joke. They filed there to find a sympathetic Judge or technically uninformed Jury who does know any better.

Good BBQ restaurants in Tyler Texas so if it goes to trial they will eat pretty good.

Loren
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Joined: Mar 2001

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08/05, 02:41am | report spam | close Reply |
definitely prior art

[REMOVE functions from it that might cause customer confusion, and patent it.]

Don't laugh; some would consider that a "significant improvement"-- a major patent consideration,along with Prior Art-- where I think this patent will be deflated. Even the reference patent cited actually shows an implementation closer to iPhone-- but of course both patents describe stylus-driven input. Nobody's talking about finger-touch in their abstracts, and the engineering problems overcome for that purpose.

['m filing for a patent on patent lawsuits]

Forget it, that's not a machine or article of manufacture. Your court is the Copyright Office, and you can't copyright an idea-- only an embodiment.

The thing that bothers me, the patent office long ago used to require "reduction to practice"-- actual working prototypes-- and they don't anymore. I think they should return to that policy. I realize that makes home fusion reactor innovation unlikely but a lot of blue sky stuff could be tested for efficacy this way, ejected, and ease the load on the PTO.

It's just a bit possible more than one company has "cleanly" arrived at the notion of a vitrtual keyboard and even implemented it. Apple did it, Palm did it, tons of examples. The iPhone is definitely a significant improvement on these.

Apple reduces to practice, or put another way by big Steve, "real artists ship."

IMHO, this will be another nuisance suit with some merit-- I predict a settlement but no mandatory licensing whatsoever. Even in Tyler, Texas.

LouZer
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08/05, 09:17am | report spam | close Reply |
Comments

As a side note, I am claiming to be the first to break wind while using an iPhone and will expect "reasonable royalties" from each person who does so hereafter... otherwise you're just engaging in "willful and deliberate" copying.

Claiming to be the first is one thing, but you can't demand royalties unless you patent or copyright it. And then you'll have to prove you were the first. But then you'll lose there, because others will argue that the iPhone is just a portable communications device, of which have existed for years, and people have been farting while using them for ages (h***, people s*** while using them - I'd love to be on the other side of that call). Sorry, but you lose on all counts.

When Apple has a hit product, all of these other companies come crawling out of the woodwork to sue. If they have the patent already, where is the product that benefits from the patent?

Well, if they didn't have a hit product, there wouldn't (a) be any reason to sue apple (for what, $6 of royalties?) and (b) no one would pay attention and hear about it.

As for the 'product that benefits', you do not need to have to make the product in order to have the patent. It could be you're working on gaining capital investment to produce a product. Or you're trying to license the product to others (a virtual keyboard, by itself, is useless unless you have an application to use it with, and a device to use it on). The point of a patent is to give you the time to develop a product and put it on the market. You all act like the second a patent is given, a product must exist.

Apple's had a software based keyboard that works with touchscreens since at least the OS 9 Era. Key Caps was a godsend.

KeyCaps was around since v1.0 of the MacOS. But its not the same thing. You could not type in keycaps in lieu of the keyboard (typing on it did not enter the text into MacWrite, for example). You would have to click keys, then highlight the resulting text, copy it out, and paste it into your document. It was also user terminatable, whatever the h*** that's supposed to mean.

LouZer
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Joined: Nov 2000

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08/05, 09:27am | report spam | close Reply |
tyler texas

And perhaps companies such as Apple who are frequent targets of these lawsuits should stop selling their products in and around Tyler, Texas, which is a notorious venue for what most would consider to be frivolous lawsuits. Maybe that will get the attention of the residents in that area and prompt them to get their congressional reps to do something about it.

Um, well, if the residents are like most people, they would take that more as a slap in the face and actually find against the companies even more.

If you have ever been there you will understand this is a joke. They filed there to find a sympathetic Judge or technically uninformed Jury who does know any better.

This isn't a joke. Lawsuits are serious. If you take it as a joke, you're going to lose. The lawyers pick Tyler texas because it has a history of successful outcomes. This is done ALL the time. Generally, the venue for a case is picked based on the history and leanings of the courts and people in the area. Some circuit courts are a lot more liberal then others, some juries more sympathetic for the little guy then others. Its the way the system works. Maybe Tyler Texas is filled with a bunch of PC-loving Apple-haters (the only people who would ever find Apple had infringed, as we all know).

Terrin
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Joined: Jan 2006

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08/05, 11:03am | report spam | close Reply |
Not a good idea

The problem with requiring the loser to pay all is often small inventors could never protect their patents under such a system. The law is not always clear, and courts do not always make fair decisions. Go into any low level court, and on a daily basis you will see a judge making the law up. Lower level judges 1) do not care if the case is reversed, and 2) know that most cases are never appealed. Federal courts on a whole are better then state courts, but it occurs in both.

Between big companies loser pays all may be a good system because it puts pressure on the big companies to settle to law suit. A company will not settle if it feels it will win because it can afford to pay the other side's court fees. A small company or inventor cannot afford to lose even if he thinks he is right and loser pays all puts unequal pressure on that person or company to settle or withdraw from the suit.

No instead, judges should be more proactive in dismissing clearly frivolous suits in the beginning stages of a suit. In such cases, the loser should pay all. If a judge deems a suit is not frivolous at the beginning stages the parties should carry their own legal bills unless it later becomes clear the suit should have been settled or dismissed but was not.

Moreover, the patent system needs to be reformed.

Monde
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08/05, 11:11am | report spam | close Reply |
Why lawyers are hated

This is simply a patent parking company stretching the description of their patent to encompass the iPhone. They're looking for fast cash and many times get it. Little do they know the 40 years left to them of the good life will be followed by an eternity of burning in h***. Not a good return on investment I'd say.

Terrin
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08/05, 11:12am | report spam | close Reply |
Fingerworks

It is also worth noting that Fingerworks was granted a patent for what seems to describe Apple's iPhone keyboard.

Moreover, Apple bought Fingerworks, so it owns the patent.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=dygWAAAAEBAJ&dq=fingerworks

yticolev
Forum Regular

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08/05, 11:34am | report spam | close Reply |
fingerworks?

That patent is for a physical 10 key system. Nothing to do with the iPhone.

macmedics
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08/05, 12:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
An example of Prior Art

Back in the late 90s through about 2002 I worked at a software company (First Wave Inc. - now out of business) that authored and sold a program called Kiosk Communicator. One feature our software had was customizable touchscreen keyboards that appeared when needed and then went away after data input to free up screen space. We deployed these nationally and partnered with Apple to promote our product (it was generally deployed on touch-enabled iMacs).

Take a look - http://web.archive.org/web/20010218122050/www.first-wave.com/com_kc_tour_04.html

Fast iBook
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08/05, 05:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
If this...

If this company filed the suit in their local district etc i'd think twice about the validity of their claim, but since they chose to manipulate the situation, i say let them rot in h***, them and other patent farmers only out to make money and not actually produce anything. Bunch of progress hindering c***-heads!!

Tom Murray
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08/05, 05:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
Simple solution...

Stop selling the iPhone in Florida. Then let's see how long the suit lasts.

Flying Meat
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08/05, 07:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not a fan

Of the notion that one should extort in order to win. Seems rather morally bankrupt to suggest that the market fixes everything.

suhail
Senior User

Joined: Nov 1999

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08/06, 02:10am | report spam | close Reply |
you just wait

this is patent law-suit No.1 There'll be a No.2 and No.3 and so on for many years to come. That's how many of those 'innovative' companies function. They patent everything under the sun, and just sit-around and wait for someone to use it.

A few friends of mine work for the PTO and they told me that IBM makes billions of dollars a year from patents. IBM and I think HP are patent nuts.

LouZer
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08/06, 08:30am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: simple solution

Stop selling the iPhone in Florida. Then let's see how long the suit lasts.

Ah, apparently you're either still in the fifth grade, or handle all tasks in your life like you're still in the fifth grade. Someone doesn't kiss your feet, so you pout and take your ball home?

And exactly how would Apple taking the iPhone out of florida somehow magically get this lawsuit dismissed? What, a groundswell of potential buyers storming the company, setting it on fire and killing all the owners? Or laws passed that no lawsuits can be filed against apple inc?

LouZer
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08/06, 08:32am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: prior art

Back in the late 90s through about 2002 I worked at a software company (First Wave Inc. - now out of business) that authored and sold a program called Kiosk Communicator. One feature our software had was customizable touchscreen keyboards that appeared when needed and then went away after data input to free up screen space. We deployed these nationally and partnered with Apple to promote our product (it was generally deployed on touch-enabled iMacs).

And so maybe you're prior company will be suing apple for stealing their idea. And since you say you 'partnered' with apple, there might be even more litigation available to them. Woohoo!

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

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08/06, 12:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
come on

testudo/louzer!! geesh, pick a name already. you act like you're in the fifth grade and we're a bunch of 3rd graders and can't possibly see the similarities.

Roehlstation
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08/06, 01:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: come on

He he....busted.

Dan Oblak - MacBigot.com
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08/06, 05:34pm | report spam | close Reply |
Newton = prior art?

Shouldn't the existence of the Newton (and PalmOS) make this claim a short-lived one?

Guest
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08/06, 06:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
N800

The N800 device also provides a keyboard only when needed without user termination required. They should also sue Nokia

DarrenStarr
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08/07, 04:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Invalid Patent

In september 1999, in preparation for CeBit in Germany, while working on a project for Ericsson, I implemented a virtual, on-screen keyboard which in fact covered all the "art" specified by the patent in question. It was for a "screen-phone/web pad" which contained pretty much all the features iPhone sports, but in a more primitive implementation, with a much bigger screen.

What's even better is that I spent a great deal of time hacking on the touch screen driver to add for multi-touch support which actually functioned relatively well, with the exception of two presses on the identical horizontal line, that was the whammy.

So, the reason Apple ignored their warning is that they don't have even half a leg to stand on.

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Apple sued over iPhone touch-screen kybd

updated 11:40 am EDT, Sat August 4, 2007

Apple sued over iPhone

Related Articles

Recent Articles

another lawsuit

hilarious!!

Interesting

This is the state of pat

Patents

you gotta admit

new patent laws

patent patemt lawsuits

loser pays

Uhhh... Prior Art?

Uhh.. Newton?

prior art

yup

keyboard display

Less Features=Innovation?

Tyler Texas???????????

definitely prior art

Comments

tyler texas

Not a good idea

Why lawyers are hated

Fingerworks

fingerworks?

An example of Prior Art

If this...

Simple solution...

Not a fan

you just wait

Re: simple solution

Re: prior art

come on

re: come on

Newton = prior art?

N800

Invalid Patent

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