Apple successfully blocks HTC sales in the US

[Nick R]

http://www.dailytech.com/Game+Over+Apple...rticle24691.htm

what a victory. Less competition and choice, is always good for the consumer. And the patent in question?

"Specifically, Apple's import ban focuses on U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647. The patent claims the invention of a process that converts phone numbers or addresses found inside apps into queryable objects. Called "data tapping" for short, the feature allows you to tap a number on a webpage within the web browser or from an email inside the email client app and be redirected to the phone app to make a call to that number."


Strange, I seem to recall using this on phones before the iphone came out. My first phone, Samsung Sync, a flip phone, had this. =|

 

[440Magnum]

There's a very fine line between protecting your corporate intellectual property, and being a giant corporate ____. Without knowing the workings of the case, its hard to say for sure... but this seems to cross that line ;-/ Also- blame the US patent system for letting overly simplistic concepts be patented.

I like Apple products, but I worry that with Jobs (weird as he was) no longer there to be the visionary, they may lapse into trying to wring all that they can from past good ideas, rather than looking to the future and the NEXT big idea...

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
...

I like Apple products, but I worry that with Jobs (weird as he was) no longer there to be the visionary, they may lapse into trying to wring all that they can from past good ideas, rather than looking to the future and the NEXT big idea...


Excellent point. We'll know in a few years. Jobs may have had a few things in the pipeline.

 

[MysticGold04]

My blackberry does that from 'Where' and 'Yelp' apps. You can search for a store or whatever, click on the phone number and it calls.

 

[Nick R]

This isn't the only example of this. Apple sued all android manufacturers for having "slide to unlock' basically. They also sued samsung in germany for their samsung galaxy tab 10.1 looking too much like the ipad. this is their wording "apple should be the only company allowed to produce and sell minimalistic tablets in germany" And yes, they did use the term minimalist. You know what they say, when you can't innovate, litigate.

 

[SLCraig]

Useless company.. Would be nice to see their demise someday.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
This isn't the only example of this. Apple sued all android manufacturers for having "slide to unlock' basically. They also sued samsung in germany for their samsung galaxy tab 10.1 looking too much like the ipad. this is their wording "apple should be the only company allowed to produce and sell minimalistic tablets in germany" And yes, they did use the term minimalist.

They got caught with the pants down and their fingers in the cookie jar in the Germany case. The documents submitted to the court as "proof" that Samsung was infringing were doctored.

Specifically, Apple's 'shopped the images submitted in the court documents. They altered the dimensions of the Samsung tablet to appear identical to those of the iPad.
Quote:

Dutch website Webwereld discovered that the images of the Galaxy Tab and the iPad 2 side by side had the aspect ratio of the Tab increased, so that its dimensions matched those of the iPad 2, and made the bezel surrounding the screen wider than in reality.


And did it again:
Quote:

After uncovering evidence that Apple may have altered images of Samsung's Galaxy Tab submitted as evidence in its ongoing patent dispute in Germany, a Eurpoean blog has discovered a similarly edited photo in a different patent dispute between Apple and Samsung in the Netherlands.

Webwereld.nl spotted both rounds of Photoshop magic and created to-scale images of what Samsung's products should look like when sitting beside Apple's devices. As you can see in the image above, the Galaxy S handset is taller and wider than the iPhone, with a noticeably larger display. Apple has yet to respond to questions posed by the media, but it could be asked to defend its evidence when the court case resumes later this month.

Quote:
You know what they say, when you can't innovate, litigate.

In the context of Apple I would say it be more appropriate to say: "If you can't innovate, lie, doctor, and obfuscate."

If their claims had enough merit to stand on their own, they wouldn't bother going through with doctoring evidence.

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Useless company.. Would be nice to see their demise someday.

Agreed.

I can't remember the specifics but a few years ago Apple tried to patent something and when taken to task lost on "prior art" grounds because the idea was originally developed and used back in the the 1980s.

But remember, when Microsoft does similar things they're Evil. However, if its Apple then its hey no big deal.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Agree 100%, Apple turned into an evil company relaying on their lawyers to generate profits.

Among interesting things Apple did recently was sending Cease and deceits letters to a person known on various forums to fix Apple devices and suing other phone makers for using "rectangular screen."

Even iPhone trademark is not theirs. Cisco used it for their Skype phones (I have on of those with the Cisco iPhone logo) and Apple stole it from them. Had to settle that later in court.

 

[itguy08]

And I say go Apple! The patent in question has been in use for a while in OS X. Basically it detects the data in e-mail, messages, and webpages and turns it into clickable text. That's different than the app doing it for, say a phone number and passing it off to the dialer to call.

And let's not forget that if you came up with a different idea that had not been done before you'd want compensation for it. And not having people blatantly rip off your ideas. When I was shopping for an Android phone (first and last one), I looked at Samsung's offering. It was 99.99% of the look and feel of my iPhone. That's a rip off. Same with how Payless, Skechers, Wal-Mart, etc rip off Nike, Adidas, and Reebok with shoe designs. So, yes Apple is justified there too.

This is different than MS's bullying of Android. Apple at least lays the patents out for all to see. Nobody knows what patents MS has against Android as they seal the documents and refuse to discuss them. I thought Barnes and Noble would shed some light on MS's patents but that didn't happen as they settled. Hopefully Motorola/Google will bring some clarity to the situation. But I doubt it as MS doesn't want to have their claims invalidated or they could be on the hook for refunds of all those royalties they get from those they have extorted.

Cry me a river about lack of choice. If Motorola, Samsung, LG, ZTE, Sony Ericsson, etc can all figure a way out around Apple's patent then HTC can too.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Useless company.. Would be nice to see their demise someday.


I say the same thing about Microsoft. They have done more to stifle innovation and competition in the IT sector than anyone. If/When they go under I'm going to be throwing a party!

 

[Win]

I'm all for U.S. Companies squashing their competition by whatever legal means available, fair or unfair.

That's what the competition does to us at every opportunity.

 

[PandaBear]

Nasty lawsuit. Dislike.

 

[buickman50401]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

Among interesting things Apple did recently was sending Cease and deceits letters to a person known on various forums to fix Apple devices

That's hilarious.

How dare you fix our broken products. We can't have you cutting into our bottom line of mindless consumers buying the latest shiny toy we make.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: buickman50401
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

Among interesting things Apple did recently was sending Cease and deceits letters to a person known on various forums to fix Apple devices

That's hilarious.

How dare you fix our broken products. We can't have you cutting into our bottom line of mindless consumers buying the latest shiny toy we make.


This seems over the top. I'd love to see a link to this. There's tons of sites and people out there that fix Apple gear....

 

[dishdude]

When someone comes out with a product better than yours, I guess the court system is one way of dealing with it.

 

[440Magnum]

Apple has always tried to walk a fine line between exercising very strong version control over all their hardware and software, while not quashing developers. The goal has always been to make sure that all software and optional hardware conforms to standards so that it works reliably, and doesn't spread malware. Classic example is the App store versus Android apps. More freedom with Android, but they're also a lot more buggy and malicious apps out there. The problem is going too far to the "quash development" side of the line, and certainly stepping on someone performing simple hardware service is over the line.

 

[kb01]

Given how crucial of a supplier of iPhone parts Samsung is, I'm surprised they put up with the lawsuits.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: buickman50401
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

Among interesting things Apple did recently was sending Cease and deceits letters to a person known on various forums to fix Apple devices

That's hilarious.

How dare you fix our broken products. We can't have you cutting into our bottom line of mindless consumers buying the latest shiny toy we make.


This seems over the top. I'd love to see a link to this. There's tons of sites and people out there that fix Apple gear....


OK, I was wrong, it was not a letter, if was a phone call from an Apple attorney.

Quote:

After a long day at school, the house phone rang and my mother answered. It's Apple and they want to have a word with you, she said. At the time, I was 16 and I had been hustling iPod parts to all parts of the world.
"I'm not telling you this as an authority but as say, an uncle figure: you need to stop what you're doing," said the Apple attorney on the other end.


http://gizmodo.com/5906616/hacking-the-ipod-how-i-earned-65k-in-high-school

 

[antiqueshell]

Apple sues when the ideas or products they are protecting weren't even their own.

Most hypocritical company ever.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: buickman50401
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

Among interesting things Apple did recently was sending Cease and deceits letters to a person known on various forums to fix Apple devices

That's hilarious.

How dare you fix our broken products. We can't have you cutting into our bottom line of mindless consumers buying the latest shiny toy we make.


This seems over the top. I'd love to see a link to this. There's tons of sites and people out there that fix Apple gear....


OK, I was wrong, it was not a letter, if was a phone call from an Apple attorney.

Quote:

After a long day at school, the house phone rang and my mother answered. It's Apple and they want to have a word with you, she said. At the time, I was 16 and I had been hustling iPod parts to all parts of the world.
"I'm not telling you this as an authority but as say, an uncle figure: you need to stop what you're doing," said the Apple attorney on the other end.


http://gizmodo.com/5906616/hacking-the-ipod-how-i-earned-65k-in-high-school




I am all for scrapping junk gadgets for parts and reselling them, but that's not what got him in trouble. The kid got in trouble because he was buying broken iPods that were under warranty, sending them to Apple for replacement under warranty, then reselling them.

While it does not violate the terms of Apple's warranty, it is blatant abuse. If this type of abuse becomes common, I'm sure Apple, like any other corporation, will change the terms of the warranty. Ultimately, the people who will end up paying for it most are purchasers who aren't out to make a buck, but instead buy an iPod on eBay and it legitimately breaks during use. Warranties all have a cost associated with them.

Also, I don't think it's very smart to go on Gizmodo and brag about how much coin you're making. Better make sure you (or your parents) understand how much of that is taxable as earned income and how much state sales tax should be paid on all those eBay purchases.