By So around the sixth of October, Motorola sued Apple. We must have missed that one, our bad. But the long and short is that Motorola sued Apple for a whopping 18 patent infringements earlier this month. Apple didn’t take too kindly to that and decided they wanted to remove any and all doubt that the technology world of lawsuits has more plots, twists and title contenders than the WWE; it’s real to me, dammit. The handsets in question are the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, Cliq XT, BackFlip, Devour A555, Devour i1, and Charm 1.
I’m too lazy to type it all out, so I’m going to butcher what’s going down from 9to5mac.com:
One: Apple, Inc patent titled: Ellipse Fitting for Multi-Touch Surfaces: Patent Abstract: Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.
Two: Apple, Inc patent titled: Multipoint Touchscreen: Patent Abstract: A touch panel having a transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time and at distinct locations in the plane of the touch panel and to produce distinct signals representative of the location of the touches on the plane of the touch panel for each of the multiple touches is disclosed.
Three: Taligent, Inc patent titled: Object-Oriented System Locator System: Patent Abstract: A method and system for adding system components (documents, tools, fonts, libraries, etc.) to a computer system without running an installation program. A location framework is employed to locate system components whose properties match those specified in search criteria. The framework receives notification from the system when system components whose properties match the search criteria are added to or removed from the system.
Four: Apple, Inc, patent titled: Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Determining Commands by Applying Heuristics: Apple’s invention generally relates to electronic devices with touch screen displays, and more particularly, to electronic devices that apply heuristics to detected user gestures on a touch screen display to determine commands.
Five: Apple Computer, Inc. patent titled: Method and Apparatus for Displaying and Accessing Control and Status Information in a Computer System: Apple’s invention generally relates to the field of computer systems; particularly, the present invention relates to displaying a status and control function bar or window to enable access of user selected indicia to a computer system user.
Six: Apple Computer, Inc. patent titled: Support for Custom User-Interaction Elements in a Graphical, Event-Driven Computer System: Apple’s invention relates to graphical, event-driven computer systems, more particularly to custom interactive user-interaction elements in a computer system having a window-based graphical user interface.
I also stole this image from 9to5mac.com, it really helps give you a rough idea of what’s going on right now.
Seriously, we should just get this all over with, with a pee-on-a-wall contest. Who would win?
[via 9to5mac.com | Pinwheel of Lawsuits via]
Reminds me of middle school…
Oh, surely there are more outgoing arrows from Apple than that?!? They sue at the drop of a hat. Oh, wait. That’s my doorbell…. Oh look, I’ve just been served.. :P
It seems that Kodak and Nokia are the bad guys here, judging by the volume of lawsuits. Eastman Kodak in particular, because they don’t produce anything of value these days. They’re just a patent troll.
Nokia is just ticked off because they cannot get into the US market and thus have to resort to lawsuits. I’ve always viewed Nokia as a less than ethical company and this reinforces my views – it’s probably for the better that Nokia doesn’t have a big marketshare in North America.
As for Apple, if we included non-mobile lawsuits and lawsuits to others, there’d be a few more arrows I’d reckon.
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I love how nokia is like suing everyone lol
Why is this an American problem?
Ok, so I know that these company’s don’t care about their customers anymore than politicians care about who votes for them, but REALLY???? Apple, go suck an egg, you don’t own the human finger therefore you cannot own our ability to touch things with more than one finger at a time! Motorolla, I know your just upset cause the big bully fifth grader kicked sand in your eyes cause you played in the sand box that he didn’t build but feels he should have exclusive rights to, but is this really the best way to serve your customers? I think that all parties involved in this should realise that we can, working together, advance technology, thereby society as a whole, more than anyother medium in history.
Think about it, if everything aroud us could respond to us approaching, touching, talking to it just as we do each other. If the shoes in a store window could tell us why we should pay more for them than the one in the back on the top shelf. If the fridge knew that we like our milk a perfect 34 degrees and could tell us when it was too warm. If the paintings on the walls knew that we were in a pissy mood and know what images cheer us up because our house watches and know how we respond to diffrent stimuli, but we can NEVER reach this state of supreme interactivity unless we determine what actions should be listed as a basic human interaction responses, like pinch to zoom, or what is a creation of a company, like the actual screen or other surface we touch, that could be owned property.
Get it together or we will all fall behind and fall apart.
just an easy way for some company to make easy money. if nokia wants to have a major part in todays market, they need to change their ways. and not by suing every other company that has moved on, but by making their own top tier products to compete with others!
so i guess apple was the first to make a touch screen phone? These lawsuits are such a joke anymore apple cant handle other companies coming out with products that are as good or better then their product so they sue the company. F*** apple maybe work on making a better product rather then trying to sue every company out of business
Seriously all those patent claims by Apple are totally bogus and BS.
Love how everybody is suing Sharp
The original report came from a site called Patently Apple who monitors …. Apple patents (ha).
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/10/apple-files-lawsuit-against-motorola-to-defend-multi-touch.html
Good homework. Go Apple!
When was this chart made? There are arrows missing, at least one. After Apple sued HTC, HTC filed a suit against Apple. Or are the arrows inclusive of countersuits?
Your picture looks like an episode of the three stooges.
Nokia is busy!!!
Something else I noticed is that this chart is slightly outdated since it dosent show Motorola suing Apple and therefore it would not show Apple’s most recent motosuit.
The people granting apple some of these patents need to either have their heads checked or the a$$es kicked. I mean really?! Apple was granted a patent for unlocking the screen of a touch screen phone with a gesture. Thats like getting a patent for turning on a TV with a power button.
They need to go @#$%^ themselves and get a real job. In all honesty Apple is extremely innovative and could get legitimate patents for original ideas that would be very desirable to other companies, but they are too busy acting like petty common-senseless bit©hs to make good use of their lives. Its a shame.
“So around the sixth of October, Motorola sued Apple.” Why is this not on the image?
Crap, does that mean that apple is gonna come sue me if I multitouch myself?
People, if you clicked the originating link to the pinwheel you would see it was made long before the 6th of October. It was never meant, and mentioned so, to be an accurate representation of current events. Rough idea. Move on.
@alexander
If you’re touching something that recognizes multi touch, then yeah you are gonna get sued big time. If I were you I would stock to dual touch, just to be safe for now ;)
above post edit- stick not stock. Damn
swype auto prediction…..
@ vibrantgeezer: So…. I’m guessing “The Shocker” is out of the question?
nokia sucks anyway so they are trying to sue everyone.
From the looks of that wheel-chart, you haven’t officially arrived in the cell-phone world until you’ve been sued by Nokia. Poor RIM, I bet they’re pretty pissed off to have been left out like that!
I say get the CEOs from each suing company on the Jerry Springer Show and let them fight it out there.
Get the source right, will ya. It makes you look stupid.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/10/apple-files-lawsuit-against-motorola-to-defend-multi-touch.html
Now where’s that pesky “Sue all” button?
Meh, in all likelihood these companies are not really fighting over these patents. As the diagram shows, every player in this business holds a large portfolio of patents that every other company is already violating. Real enforcement would lead to retaliation and a gutting of the whole industry.
IMO, this is a proxy battle over something else, and that something else is Apple’s impending expansion to Verizon. Remember that Motorola’s flagship Droid line has marquee status at Verizon–they are probably not very happy that they’re about to become second fiddle to Apple and all that hype that will precede it. I’m guessing this fight is Motorola’s attempt to derail or delay the launch and/or reduce Verizon’s commitment to market the iPhone (good luck!).
ZuZu says:
Every time a phone rings, a lawyer earns his bling.
:D
Lol @ ElleDee And who’s ZuZu?
Excuse me being a noob and not knowing :(
The reality is that Steve Jobs wants to own the whole orchard and only one fruit should be grown, his.
He lost out to Bill Gates when they both started out in the eighties as young entrepreneurial control freaks and he is really peeved about it.
These days he has this idea that no one has any ideas except his. And if some does come up with an idea he claims that it was his idea first. Get my (sorry, his) idea.
From my understanding the multi touch type screens were invented by a young South Korean man. Maybe it was under the direction of Steve in his orchard.
Apple needs to realise that there are a lot of very intelligent people out there working on the same goal and of course there are going to be similar things developed.
History has shown this time and again.
Who invented the power switch? How many versions of that are there?
Wake up Apple!
You need to do the same as Microsoft has done; remove the control freak that is the mill stone around your neck, then you will move forward.
Steve Jobs is a co-founder of Apple and the current CEO but he is not the owner, the share holders are. It’s time to take the ball from him and tell him he can’t play.
As for Nokia they dropped the ball after the 6300. They and Apple are doing a great job in playground bullying and fighting.
Do their law firms have shares by the way?