Google Android in danger & HTC to be banned in the US?

[ArmageddonX]

This is scary stuff guys:
ITC rules that HTC is violating two Apple patents, threatens all of Android - Phone Arena

In a legal victory for Apple, the International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that HTC is in fact infringing on two of the ten patent filings listed in a complaint by Apple............. In the worst case, these two infringements could lead to HTC being prohibited from importing phones to the US....

Here is the kicker:

Both of these processes (the patent infringements) are at the core of Android itself, and so could cause problems for any Android phone maker.

Ohh sheesh... This makes my stomach turn... Hopefully HTC will just have to pay Apple $5-$15 per unit sold like they do to Microsoft. No idea if if will ultimately effect Android on a larger scale but the article says that indeed it could. Apple must be really, really, scared to be slamming these companies with patent lawsuits over and over...

I wonder if some point if Google itself is going to step in here with these lawsuits. This is getting ridiculous!

 

[EarlyMon]

Relax, it's not all that bad.

From Google+:

David Schlesinger originally shared this post:For those interested, here are the patents HTC was found to infringe:


5,946,647: "System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data"—Just on the face of it, this seems to have a decent shot at passing the "transformation" hurdle...

6,343,263: "Real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data"—as I said, this doesn't appear to actually be a "software patent" at all, at a quick scan...

First - there will be an appeal.

Second - this is evidence that Apple is simply worried in their case against Samsung and they're simply trying to muddy the waters. Even if they prove to have a valid case, most of these tech patent wars are very normal. (See illustration from Oct 2010.)

From Microsoft sues Motorola over Android - and all the other mobile lawsuits, visually | Technology | guardian.co.uk

And from I Love Charts - There sure are a lot of lawsuits in the mobile... we have -

And, from Who’s Suing Whom In The Telecoms Trade? you get -

(Although that last one is disputed by the first one.)

If any of the pictures don't come through, that's a cookie thing, please just follow the source link.

Third - HTC will pony up a reasonable amount if all else fails. They're already paying Microsoft something like $15 per phone over a similar deal.

~~~~~

Samsung and Apple have sought an injuctions to stop sales of each others phones in the US - the HTC case is the latest fallout from lawyers gone wild.

We heard a few months ago that Google was going away because of Oracle. That fizzled.

In 2009/2010, Sony, Samsung and Sharp were all on their way to putting each other out of business over patent lawsuits.

~~~~~~~~

It's a show for the press and the stockholders.

The real story is about all of the insane cross-licensing deals that are a part of tech - and they're every bit as tangled to understand as quantum theories.

HTC and Android are not going away.

 

[ArmageddonX]

Thank you EarlyMon. You always know just how to write things to explain them. I really appreciate it. I certainly hope (if anything) that's what happens here. Small royalties per phone. Anyway, I tend to be the sky is falling "type" and the way that article was written didn't help; Sorry. Thanks again.

Apple is really getting ridiculous with these lawsuits. Especially with iOS5 copying Android in so many ways....

 

[EarlyMon]

I like iOS 5, it's pretty cool - we used to call it Android 1.6.

Just remember, most news blogs are in the click and view business, and alarming stories generate more clicks.

 

[RiverOfIce]

The two patients that apple is trying to force. The first was programed with ABC. The following commands are commands to perform an action on a data structure. For, or, and, nor. But you could easily say the first patient goes back to 1880's with Herman Hollerith. The second was also first used in ABC, but could be argue the first radio did the same thing.

Both of them are hardly original, unique, or new.

 

[Drhyde]

Apple is going to give themselves a major case of Streisand Effect with HTC. HTC makes some of the nicest, elegantly designed hardware in the mobile business. It's the reason they have gained so much ground thanks to that and Android. The risk of HTC losing USA as an importer is only going to drive more people to buy it thinking that they may not be able to in the future.

Plus, if what RiverOfIce says is correct, these patents should be invalidated right on appeal. In fact, with my limited understanding of coding, these seem pretty fundamental to all computing. Certainly something that could be considered public domain by this point.

Still, the Google/Oracle thing is the only one that scares me. Cross licensing between hardware companies is one thing, but a full out assault on Android's code could hurt Google seriously. Either way, I guess this whole open source thing is a bit much for these corporations to deal with.

As far as iOS5 goes, since Android is open source, I doubt Google could sue for Apple copycatting (<---see what I did there? LOL) them.

 

[EarlyMon]

As it turns out, the ruling judge in this case completely ignored his own staff's position write up to the contrary, and they are especially confused by the opinion.

The patents in question are much more specific than they sound on the surface. Normally, that would make a reasonable person think there's therefore merit here.

Until you discover that Motorola is already engaged in suing Apple and legally appealing that the specifics of these two patents are part of Motorola's prior art and are therefore simply invalid.

Fearful in that case, Apple simply broke these two and escalated the battle here - can you say, end run?

Like I said, tech patent wars are the norm and things are NEVER as they seem.

 

[El Presidente]

Loads of stuff

That was intense.

 

[Vanquished]

Here's an interesting article you can read as well, including the comments that follow it.

 

[novox77]

Here's an interesting article you can read as well, including the comments that follow it.

*looks around*

 

[alostpacket]

My post from another thread on this:

I think the ITC has more bark than bite. Also IIRC these are preliminary findings.

Also dont listen to any article that quotes Florian Mueller. The guy is suspected of being a paid shill for Microsoft and he has a huge anti-android slant to everything he says.

He is not a "patent expert" nor is he a technical expert, he's just a blogger and (imo) spammer.

Just to add something too, I doubt the patents would hold up. But they might cause some cross licensing deals.

But that to me is the tragedy of the patent and legal systems in the US: this is not the function they were intended to perform.

 

[alostpacket]

More patent stuff:
Company Claims Ownership of Digital Messaging - Slashdot

I'm gonna patent lost packets i think

 

[Vanquished]

*looks around*

Whoops...

DailyTech - Apple's Plot to Kill Top Android Maker HTC Nears Fruition With Win

 

[ArmageddonX]

And here's another "doom" Article:
What would a world without HTC-made Android phones be like? | PhoneDog

Are.... are we sure we shouldn't be worried here? lol

 

[Rabid1]

The first article kind of has it backwards. This was a panel decision allowing two of 10 supposed infringements. Even with this decision it still has to go to the actual ITC and they have to agree with the decision before Apple can move forward. This is just another round and nowhere near the end. from most of these "articles" it would seem that a lot of Apple fanboys from the 70s and 80s have grown up to be bloggers and online contributors judging from the spin.

 

[Drhyde]

I think the ITC has more bark than bite. Also IIRC these are preliminary findings.

Also dont listen to any article that quotes Florian Mueller. The guy is suspected of being a paid shill for Microsoft and he has a huge anti-android slant to everything he says.

He is not a "patent expert" nor is he a technical expert, he's just a blogger and (imo) spammer.

Definitely this. Florian Mueller (what kind of weird ass name is that anyway?) is not only anti-Android, but anti-open source. He runs his little blog about "competitiveness of free and open source software", but never has anything good to say about it. His anti-Android stance can't even be masked effectively as he seems to hold this immense amount of contempt for Google and any company involved with Android. I'd rather listen to what Nilay Patel has to say than him.

He's also really creepy looking, like someone who might be on "To Catch A Predator", but that's just my opinion, sort of like his goofy opinions.

 

[Guamguy]

It should be noted that one of the offending patents actually expires...next month.

 

[_mw_]

It should be noted that one of the offending patents actually expires...next month.

Just looked it up and answered my own question about the ability to renew patents... but perhaps somebody who knows a little more about patents and patent law can chime in and answer this question: is there anything stopping Apple from filing a similar and nearly as vague patent to pick up where this one leaves off when it expires?

 

[Drhyde]

Just looked it up and answered my own question about the ability to renew patents... but perhaps somebody who knows a little more about patents and patent law can chime in and answer this question: is there anything stopping Apple from filing a similar and nearly as vague patent to pick up where this one leaves off when it expires?

The patent itself aside, I suppose Apple could just rename the patent in some intentionally vague and confusing way. It seems to have got them the patent in the first place, couldn't hurt to try again.

 

[Medion]

I'm thinking of making an automotive company that sells windshield wipers, and then obtaining a patent for an "apparatus for mechanically removing liquid and debris from an automotive front or rear windshield" and then suing every company that sells cars and/or windshield wipers. We'll see how well that goes over.

I swear to God the tech industry is the ONLY place we see this bullshit.

 

[partridge]

In no way am I an expert in any of this suing business, but I follow a few tech sites and it's now a daily event for someone to be suing someone else over a tech patent. It's almost always in America and I keep seeing references to the "broken patent system"; so is that the problem?

Is Apple simply exploiting a patent system that wasn't designed (or isn't able) to deal with these kinds of situations?

I can't really imagine Apple will get a result that bans Samsung and HTC goods from the US, but it seems to be what they are looking for.

Trouble is, if they do end up paying Apple, surely the cost of that settlement means more expensive handsets in the shops?

 

[El Presidente]

Trouble is, if they do end up paying Apple, surely the cost of that settlement means more expensive handsets in the shops?

It's a win-win situation for Steve Jobs then

 

[alostpacket]

I'm thinking of making an automotive company that sells windshield wipers, and then obtaining a patent for an "apparatus for mechanically removing liquid and debris from an automotive front or rear windshield" and then suing every company that sells cars and/or windshield wipers. We'll see how well that goes over.

I swear to God the tech industry is the ONLY place we see this bullshit.

You know what's really funny (in a sad way) about that: the guy who invented the (intermittent) windshield wiper spent his life trying to recoup money from the US auto-makers. He finally won in the Supreme Court but it was just about 10 years before he died.

Robert Kearns - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The patent system just doesn't work for the little guy as it was intended.

 

[inmotion000]

Hey all.

I'm pro-apple but not anti-android. Try not to bash me too much. I will make my post as neutral as possible without looking like some troll. I think android has alot to offer. I like alot of the OS/Google/Phone integration. Ultimately I've gone with apple for various reasons not needing discussion.

I have a few questions though.

Do you think android copied a few things from apple or vice versa depend on your knowledge on who patented what first.
Do you think apple has some validity to their claims
Do you think if apple is right in their claims that android OS will experience a critical blow to it's mainstream proliferation

If my questions sound trollish, I apologize and will reword. I'm normally on apple forums but often get tired of hearing the one sided stories of apple product lovers.

 

[dan330]

what has apple done.. that was not copied form others.?????


their only claim to fame.. they patent it first and
everything and
more and
things they have not developed.