Apple in Proxy War with Google

[TheSenator]

Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement.

This is clearly a declaration of war by Apple, going after the hardware makers using the Android OS.

Apple vs Google - Who will win?


Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=31427&tag=nl.e589

Updated: Apple said Tuesday that it is suing HTC for infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone and pursuing a permanent cease and desist order that could derail a wide range of Android devices.

Specifically, Apple is suing HTC in a Delaware district court and the U.S. International Trade Commission for violating patents related to ?the iPhone?s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.? Apple didn?t detail the specific patents involved.

In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said:

?We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We?ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.?

Funny that?s what everyone in the smartphone food chain says. The ITC is going to be quite busy evaluating all the patent lawsuits against various mobile phone players.

HTC wasn?t commenting until it reviewed the complaint.

Apple vs. Android

It?s hard not to take Apple?s HTC suit as an indirect shot against Google. HTC is a big partner of Google and is launching an army of Android devices that are clearly aimed at the iPhone. Bottom line: Google?s Android encroachment is the biggest threat to the iPhone and a patent suit could be a nice way to distract HTC. Would it be surprising if Apple also sued Motorola too?

[candyflip]

I was just typing up a similar thread when the phone rang and I stopped to take the call.

I thought it wise to check before hitting the submit button and look what I find.

The root of the problem is the US Patent System.

[candyflip]

Looks like Apple's going on the warpath, kids. Just a few months after Cupertino got into it with Nokia over phone patents, Apple's filed suit against HTC, alleging that the company is infringing 20 patents "related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware." Steve, you have something to say?

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."
Okay then. We're pulling the complaint filing now, we'll let you know the exact details as soon as we learn them.

Update: HTC just gave us a statement -- this is apparently coming totally out of the blue for them, since Apple hasn't even served the complaint yet.

We only learned of Apple's actions based on your stories and Apple's press release. We have not been served yet so we are in no position to comment on the claims. We respect and value patent rights but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years.

Update 2: We mean it when we say this was all just filed in the past few hours -- it's not yet in the court's systems. We just got the PDFs and put the full list of claims from the federal lawsuit below, but remember not to take the names of the patents literally or directly, since they don't mean much. We'll poke each one apart and tease out what's really at stake as we go along.

Update 3: We've just learned that Apple submitted over 700 pages of exhibits to the District Court, which is a little nuts. In addition, the ITC complaint lists a number of specific HTC handsets as exhibits, including the Nexus One, Touch Pro, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Tilt II, Pure, Imagio, Dream / G1, myTouch 3G, Hero, HD2, and Droid Eris. That's really a full range of HTC phones, running both Android and Windows Mobile, with and without Sense / TouchFLO. Interestingly, the Android sets are specifically included because they run Android, while the WinMo sets are called out specifically for including DSP chips, not anything to do with Windows Mobile.


The '331 Patent, entitled "Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States," was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The '949 Patent, entitled "Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics," was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.

The '849 Patent, entitled "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image," was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.

The '381 Patent, entitled "List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display," was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.

The '726 Patent, entitled "System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device," was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.

The '076 Patent, entitled "Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices," was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.

The '105 Patent, entitled "GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality," was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.

The '453 Patent, entitled "Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor," was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.

The '599 Patent, entitled "Object-Oriented Graphic System," was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.

The '354 Patent, entitled "Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods," was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the '354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/a...phone-patents/

[TheSenator]

Going after Microsoft too huh?

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by TheSenator

Going after Microsoft too huh?

The list of companies directly involved with Android and it's development is HUGE. It's pretty much Apple vs Everyone Else. I'd bet that HTC is one of the smaller on the list:

http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/oha_members.html

[96ukssob]

oh snap

[_Richard_]

should be interesting how this plays out

[candyflip]

They'll both end up suing each other and in the end. Apple will get access to HTC tech that they want and HTC will get to use Apple tech that they want.

Just one outcome.