apple news/media reports
08/04/2007, 11:40am, EDT
Saturday, August 4th
Apple sued over iPhone touch-screen kybd
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.
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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.
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!
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.
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 crap.