Apple Vs. HTC Patent litigation

[Hamish]

If you have been reading the tech news today you will notice that Apple has filed a lawsuit against HTC over 20 patents they claim HTC have infringed, presumably on their Android and WinMo OS Phones.

TBH I'm not that bothered about the case. I'm just suprised about the intensity of the opinions being offered, mainly Anti Apple and anti the US Patent Office.

Most arguments seem to be along the lines of 'This patents all cover an obvious idea, apple should have never filed the patent, USPO should have never granted it and even if they did Apple should have let other manufacturers use the ideas in good faith.

While the Engadget comments are very anti Apple, the Slashdot comments are mainly Anti USPO and even Pro Apple

I was wondering what OcUK's take on this was.

Personally although now many of the ideas seem completely obvious (pinch to zoom, proximity sensor to turn off the screen when on call, screen rotation using accelerometer) I think at the time they were new ideas and had not been widely implemented before. Apple is one of the biggest investors in R&D in the industry and although many patents which are granted are ridiculous I think these ideas are truly patentable and should be granted in order to keep the incentive for companies like Apple to continue to invest in R&D

 

[Amp34]

There is already a thread in the mobiles section on this: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18120837

TBH most of the "anger" is towards the really broad and unspecificness of the patents, which is why there is a lot of anti USPO comments. There is also a lot of anti-apple comments due to this being the third massive litigation that Apple are getting themselves into in the last couple of years. They almost got a kick in when trying to get Palm done for apparent patent infringement when Palm turned round with enough patents to force Apple out of the phone market. They also have a long running suit with Nokia (who I think started that one).

One thing that gets me is the date of some of the patents, some are quite old, yet one is from last month...

 

[Kainz]

I've been expecting this. In my yearly roundup blogpost I pretty much hailed 2010 as a year of the mobile OS wars where Apple would face stiff competition from the rest. I always saw Android evolving at a speed that would scare the balls out of Apple.

The anti-apple comments are to be expected, it's cool to hate them just like MS, despite the fact that they forced every manufacturer to panic and bring all their R&D projects forward because of the newly announced iPhone.

I've read all about the patents, I am not sure what to make of it all. Some of them are rather scant on details and from what I have read, the US Patent office have 'loose' rules on what gets patented. I'm not too clued up on this though.

 

[Caged]

Screen rotation has been done before a long time ago - I had a Canon IXUS in 2004 that would always show the time and date the right way up no matter what direction the camera was rotated in. I can't see this being over quickly.

 

["andy"]

big thread on this in the mobile section if anyones interested

 

[Deleted member 651465]

You can patent anything, providing you give reference to someone if you use their patent in your process.

E.g. If I created a multitouch device that involved using my ear to navigate the device, I'd have to mention that the process in which the capacitive screen passes the input back to the device is already patented, unless I could invent a new way of doing it.

Now, most companies file for patents properly, but occasionally some try to claim ownership as the specific "method" they attempt to patent is vague. It's hardly their fault, but then they do employ legal teams...

 

[JAMAL]

Screen rotation has been done before a long time ago - I had a Canon IXUS in 2004 that would always show the time and date the right way up no matter what direction the camera was rotated in. I can't see this being over quickly.

Since when has a canon ixus been mobile communication device?