Steve Jobs Patent On iPhone Declared Invalid

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Steve Jobs Patent On iPhone Declared Invalid

Posted by timothy on Friday December 7, 2012 @01:08PM from the too-soon dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Apple's most famous multitouch software patents are increasingly coming under invalidation pressure. First the rubber-banding patent and now a patent that Apple's own lawyers planned to introduce to a Chicago jury as 'the Jobs patent.' U.S. Patent No. 7,479,949 covers a method for distinguishing vertical and horizontal gestures from diagonal movements based on an initial angle of movement. For example, everything up to a slant of 27 degrees would be considered vertical or horizontal, and everything else diagonal. The patent office now seems to think that Apple didn't invent the concept of 'heuristics' after all."

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What wrong has Steve done to you? by TwoOfBob · 2012-12-07 13:08 · Score: -1, Troll

That you have to go picking at him like this? Really, this is the new classy Slashdot? Picking on Steve Jobs? Really?
1. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Xenx · 2012-12-07 13:17 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Err.. Apple wanted to call it the Jobs patent, but were denied. How is it Slashdot's fault for actually referring to it as the Jobs patent?
2. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:25 · Score: 2
  
  He maybe passed on to Nirvana and taken his rightful place next Allah, Buddha and Jesus and he may of done great things while is was a mortal, pre and post resurrection (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/11/09/250834/index.htm) and of course we'd all like to this that he was superhuman and invincible.
  The truth is he was none of the above and was simply a mortal human being who's also done a lot of fucked up stupid ass things, this is one of them amongst many.
  I'd say its better to look at him as a real individual though did great things but also did many wrong things in the process. Otherwise get out the stones and carving rocks and etch out some prophecies to be discovered in a 1000 years by archaeologist's of that time deducing the reign of Steve Jobs on society.
3. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Hnice · 2012-12-07 13:28 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Yeah, i bet he's really upset, too.
  Oh wait, he's dead, shut up.
  
  --
  god is just pretend.
4. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Osgeld · 2012-12-07 13:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  the last mac I bought was not even a year old when saint jesus jobs deemed my very expensive computer unworthy of OSX... 8 years later someone figured out if you swap two bytes in ram you could run upto os 10.2 on the fucker.
  So making a decision to fuck over customers cause he wanted basically the same machine in a dumb shit blue case is just one of a billion reasons that arrogant con-artist deserves a boot up his used car salesman ass, both in life and in death.
  Course now that he is dead, he cant dazzle you morons with a new toy
5. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by bondsbw · 2012-12-07 13:40 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  8 years later someone figured out if you swap two bytes in ram you could run upto os 10.2 on the fucker.
  That's probably what killed him.
  (Too soon?)
  
  --
  All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
6. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by gagol · 2012-12-07 13:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  IFF there is a god, I am pretty sure he/she/it is against hoarding cash like crazy.
  
  --
  Tomorrow is another day...
7. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:44 · Score: 0
  
  FTA:
  
  Apple will also be barred from referring to the '949 "touchscreen heuristics" patent as "the Jobs patent". In light of how the '949 patent has been gradually marginalized in this litigation, that's not a huge loss with respect to this particular patent, though Apple might have hoped that references to Steve Jobs in connection with one patent also increase its chances of getting support from some jurors on other patents.
8. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Noir+Angellus · 2012-12-07 13:55 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  That's probably what killed him.
  (Too soon?)
  Not soon enough! Jobs was a class 'A' douche-bag. He openly flaunted patents, stole IP (every "original" design he ever produced or commissioned was a direct copy of an existing item from another company, Baun suffered greatly from this http://www.idigitaltimes.com/data/images/full/2012/09/04/1223-braun-or-apple.jpg) and bullied countless REAL innovators out of business. The only "multi-touch" he ever created was what he did to customers' wallets, or it would be if screwing idiots over was anything remotely original. Jobs also abandoned and denied paternity of his first child and summarily ended all philanthropic programs (that's charity if anyone is wondering) sponsored by Apple when he took control. The only thing he ever achieved personally was to make sure anyone wearing a turtle neck (skivvy in local parlance) look like even more of a douche. What did Jobs ever do to us? He screwed us. All of us. Even those who have never and will never buy any iShit suffer because of what he's done to the industry as a whole.
9. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:58 · Score: 0
  
  the last mac I bought was not even a year old when saint jesus jobs deemed my very expensive computer unworthy of OSX...
  That's a solid length of time to hold a grudge.
10. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by White+Flame · 2012-12-07 14:07 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Patents like this are incredibly stupid. It ostensibly doesn't matter who filed them, except that the higher profile the owner is, the more damage it does. The downfall of the patent should be celebrated.
11. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:09 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  More Multi-Touch Prior art
12. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Internal+Modem · 2012-12-07 14:12 · Score: 2
  
  I call BS Osgeld. A G4 or G5? I don't believe you bought a Mac and OS X.0 came out less than a year later. What Mac model would that be and when did you buy it?
13. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 14:15 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  For a while Steve Jobs made his living peddling "blue boxes" that got free long distance calls by hacking the telco switching equipment. He even stole money from his friend Steve Wozniak. And made a habit of parking in the handicap space. And smelled bad, which is some kind of crime against those in the immediate vicinity.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
14. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 14:18 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Apple would have filed a patent on distinguishing right from wrong, except they never got that one to work.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
15. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:18 · Score: 0
  
  Hear, hear! Mod parent up as informative or insightful.
16. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by murder_face · 2012-12-07 14:27 · Score: 1
  
  I remember the last computer my dad bought before he died was the "sawtooth" g4. I'm pretty sure the disappointment is what killed him.....
17. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by click2005 · 2012-12-07 14:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  They'll just re-apply using a 26.5 degree angle.
  
  --
  I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
18. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Nerdfest · 2012-12-07 14:32 · Score: 2
  
  I've said it before; The man was such a douche-bag that his coffin probably still smell smells springtime-fresh. We're going to be a very long time before the industry recovers from what he started with the latest run at the closed eco-system. Unfortunately, we're still on the downhill slope, as now Microsoft has a closed system for their wonderful new interface as well.
19. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by mcguyver · 2012-12-07 14:33 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Yea, what a douche. Blue boxes were created to explore phone networks. Selling them for the sole purpose of putting money in your own pocket makes you a douche.
20. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by noh8rz9 · 2012-12-07 14:35 · Score: -1, Insightful
  
  Good thing Steve's patent on awesomeness will never expire.
  
  --
  let's have a conversation! let me know what you think.
21. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:38 · Score: 0
  
  I call BS Osgeld. A G4 or G5? I don't believe you bought a Mac and OS X.0 came out less than a year later. What Mac model would that be and when did you buy it?
  CODE BLUE!!!! Google it.....
22. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:40 · Score: 0
  
  An "invention" does not need to "work" to be filed.
23. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by jo_ham · 2012-12-07 14:46 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  the last mac I bought was not even a year old when saint jesus jobs deemed my very expensive computer unworthy of OSX... 8 years later someone figured out if you swap two bytes in ram you could run upto os 10.2 on the fucker.
  So making a decision to fuck over customers cause he wanted basically the same machine in a dumb shit blue case is just one of a billion reasons that arrogant con-artist deserves a boot up his used car salesman ass, both in life and in death.
  Course now that he is dead, he cant dazzle you morons with a new toy
  What Mac? Give us the actual product code too.
  A year old and unable to run OS X? So it was a PPC G3 or something? No, it must be older, since G3's could run OS X. PPC 603?
24. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 14:48 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Blue boxes were created to explore phone networks.
  "Explore" as in getting free long distance phone calls. Say, you would be an Apple employee, wouldn't you? Your attitude matches perfectly.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
25. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I can't think of anything great that Jobs did. He didn't invent or build anything, high level direction doesn't count for squat in my book. He was the best marketing droid/pitchman of recent history, but that just a shitty thing to be around for the rest of humanity.
26. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:59 · Score: 1
  
  which is great, as it accelerates MS's disintegration :-)
27. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by meerling · 2012-12-07 15:01 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  More like 'Exploit'. The phone systems then used specific tones to control it. Those 'blue boxes' just repeated the tone used to activate an authorization for a no charge long distance call. Those boxes weren't even doing anything new, as the specific tone was well know to the phreak community and hackers in general. One gained the handle of "Captain Crunch" because he found out that the whistles that came in Captain Crunch cereal at that time produced that specific tone and could be used to activate free calls. Steve Jobs merely tread upon a road well worn by those that came before, and he charged as much money as he could to those who weren't in the know.
28. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-07 15:04 · Score: 1
  
  The downfall of this particular patent?
  How about they just invalidate about 90% of the patents granted in the past 30 years. And, take ALL of that 90% from the computer technology industry. So much of it is prior art, or obvious based on prior art. So much more is just frivolous nonsense.
  Most definitely invalidate all software patents, and methods that depend on software. Patents should only apply to tangible items, everything else is copyrightable, unless specifically excluded from copyright protection.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
29. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by meerling · 2012-12-07 15:10 · Score: 1
  
  In 5 years, there have been 6 iphones... There seems to be a pattern here.
30. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:14 · Score: 0
  
  If there is A god, he's hoarding his universe.
31. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Daengbo · 2012-12-07 15:18 · Score: 2
  
  Steve Jobs merely tread upon a road well worn by those that came before, and he charged as much money as he could to those who weren't in the know.
  Wow, that works both specifically and generally. I'm impressed with what you did there.
  
  --
  Put identity in the browser.
32. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by fizzer06 · 2012-12-07 15:19 · Score: 1
  
  And smelled bad, which is some kind of crime against those in the immediate vicinity
  Isn't there prior art on the iStink?
33. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Daengbo · 2012-12-07 15:20 · Score: 1
  
  This is my first time posting to Slashdot in a while, I guess, and I just noticed my old sig from 2 1/2 years ago. I guess Google has done a bit of that identity integration with Chrome already. Yay! IT's tied to Google. Boo!
  
  --
  Put identity in the browser.
34. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:21 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  From wikipeida: Steve Jobs "was assigned to create a circuit board for the arcade video game Breakout. According to Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little specialized knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the fee evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari engineers, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line.[further explanation needed] According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[53] Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him."
35. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Daengbo · 2012-12-07 15:23 · Score: 1
  
  Well, I'm going to guess that about 40% of the patents filed in the last 30 years have already expired ("been invalidated").
  
  --
  Put identity in the browser.
36. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:28 · Score: 1
  
  The 949 patent AKA the "Irvine" patent
37. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 15:29 · Score: 1
  
  You seem to be having difficulty understanding the notion of toll fraud.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
38. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by MaskedSlacker · 2012-12-07 15:31 · Score: 1
  
  Probably not, as patent applications are higher now than 30 years ago.
39. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:39 · Score: 0
  
  leav him alone! leave jobs alone!
40. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by tepples · 2012-12-07 15:41 · Score: 1
  
  Microsoft has had a closed system since 2001 when the Xbox came out. Nintendo has had one since 1985. Is either in serious trouble?
41. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by DNS-and-BIND · 2012-12-07 15:41 · Score: 1
  
  Point of fact, it was not 'hacking' the phone network, it was 'phreaking' the phone network.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
42. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:42 · Score: 1
  
  Hey Woz, I need $300,000 to buy my family a home.....
43. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:48 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Just because you are all a bunch of lemming fuck losers doesn't make steve jobs any better. Fuck you apple jobs and the lot of cock sucking weasels. God, if there were one, would certainly fuck jobs in the ass for what he did to music. I hope jobs is next to god and god is a large black cock tearing that shit up!
44. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:49 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  I built the most valuable company in human history.
45. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:51 · Score: -1
  
  Someone seriously modded that 'informative'? A mindless rant about being touched up by steve jobs? So, someone had a gun to your head commanding you to buy Apple gear? And Microsoft is a flawless operation focused on really driving the industry forward right? Give me a break. Apple are a blood sucking company like any other, but they have done more to move computing forward than any other computer company. Blind Apple haters succeed only in showing how weak arguments and group think can waste shit tonnes of comment space.
46. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:52 · Score: 0
  
  Steve jobs is an asshole, comes from a long family of assholes, is a theif, a manipulator, and one fo the biggest douches out there, that's what. He did not invent anything, he stole a bunch of stuff, and pattented the most trivial of things. He is at best a visual designer, and deserves nothing.
47. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:53 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Dang, Jobs who died richer than belief, and started a crusade against Google for "stealing" something Jobs never owned, gets seated next to Allah, Buddha and Jesus. But Einstein, Tesla, Maxwell, Newton, and countless others who actually contributed something useful to the world never get mentioned...
48. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:02 · Score: 0
  
  That is patently false, and has nothing to do with the claim that Apple dropped support for a Mac within one year. You do realize iPhone and Mac a different? That might explain your confusion about Apple's release cycle.
49. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by poetmatt · 2012-12-07 16:13 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Of course, that's because it was denied when he applied for it in the first place.
50. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by kelemvor4 · 2012-12-07 16:14 · Score: 1, Flamebait
  
  That you have to go picking at him like this? Really, this is the new classy Slashdot? Picking on Steve Jobs? Really?
  Yeah, LEAVE BRITNEY SPEARS ALONE! err.. make that steve jobs. LEAVE STEVE JOBS ALONE!
51. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Osgeld · 2012-12-07 16:17 · Score: 0
  
  a Beige G3
52. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 16:17 · Score: 1
  
  However you label it, it's still fraud.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
53. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by dbIII · 2012-12-07 16:25 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yes, he was the Edison of his day - "inventing" things by employing inventors or more frequently getting it from elsewhere and tweaking it, then tying up the market behind him. He's likely to be remembered the same way as Edison while people once again ignore the flaws.
54. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by narcc · 2012-12-07 16:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That story really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
  Woz: A brilliant engineer and a genuinely good person.
  Jobs: A liar who will happily screw over even his closest friends to make a buck.
  Which one does the media celebrate?
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
55. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:37 · Score: -1
  
  How fucking dare anyone out there make fun of Steve after all he's has been through! LEAVE HIM ALONE! You are lucky he even made an iPhone for you BASTARDS! LEAVE STEVE JOBS ALONE! Anyone that has a problem with him you deal with me!
56. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:51 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Not soon enough! Jobs was a class 'A' douche-bag. He openly flaunted patents, stole IP (every "original" design he ever produced or commissioned was a direct copy of an existing item from another company, Baun suffered greatly from this http://www.idigitaltimes.com/data/images/full/2012/09/04/1223-braun-or-apple.jpg [idigitaltimes.com]) and bullied countless REAL innovators out of business. The only "multi-touch" he ever created was what he did to customers' wallets, or it would be if screwing idiots over was anything remotely original. Jobs also abandoned and denied paternity of his first child and summarily ended all philanthropic programs (that's charity if anyone is wondering) sponsored by Apple when he took control. The only thing he ever achieved personally was to make sure anyone wearing a turtle neck (skivvy in local parlance) look like even more of a douche. What did Jobs ever do to us? He screwed us. All of us. Even those who have never and will never buy any iShit suffer because of what he's done to the industry as a whole.
  For a while Steve Jobs made his living peddling "blue boxes" that got free long distance calls by hacking the telco switching equipment. He even stole money from his friend Steve Wozniak. [gawker.com] And made a habit of parking in the handicap space. And smelled bad, which is some kind of crime against those in the immediate vicinity.
  There is nothing more pathetic in this universe than a nerd sitting in his parent's basement oozing his irrational hate into the internet.
57. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:52 · Score: 0
  
  Thank You!!!
58. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:58 · Score: 0
  
  So you bought it 5 years before OS X was announced
59. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Intropy · 2012-12-07 16:59 · Score: 2
  
  Jan Pieterszoon Coen?
60. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:01 · Score: -1
  
  Jobs fucked music so bad that I gave up. I was touring Europe, the states, and Asia lined up. After seeing what he did, there was no reason to continue. Unless I was stupid. I hope he burns forever... If I meet him in the afterlife, I will do anything I can to hurt him. BURN you miserable fuck
61. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by maxwell+demon · 2012-12-07 17:08 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  IFF there is a god, I am pretty sure he/she/it is against hoarding cash like crazy.
  So to find out whether there is a god, we just have to find out whether you are pretty sure he/she/it is against hoarding cash like crazy. :-)
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
62. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2012-12-07 17:11 · Score: -1
  
  Hoarding or whoring?
63. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by maxwell+demon · 2012-12-07 17:22 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The highest market valued one, but certainly not the most valuable one.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
64. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Internal+Modem · 2012-12-07 17:42 · Score: 2
  
  The Beige G3 officially supported up to Mac OS X 10.2.8. It was a third party extension that allowed installation of 10.4.11, and if you upgraded to a G4 processor you could install Mac OS X 10.5.8. Also, Mac OS X 10.0 came out on March 24, 2001, while the Beige G3 was discontinued on January of 1999. The beige G3 was introduced in November of 1997 officially supported up to Mac OS X 10.2.8, which was replaced in October 24, 2003. The beige G3 was officially supported by Apple for 6 years, and with unofficial extensions and a processor upgrade you could have run OS X 10.4.11 until October 26, 2007 when 10.5 came out (not that you had to stop using the machine). That is a total of 10 years from introduction to obsolescence.
65. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:45 · Score: 0
  
  He is at best a visual designer, and deserves nothing.
  close but not quite, he was an excellent marketer who happened to employ good visual designers, and deserves nothing.
66. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:52 · Score: 0
  
  You really don't know much about computers or marketing.
67. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by rtb61 · 2012-12-07 17:57 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The one that most closely resembles all the other media personalities (make believe personalties). Now I wonder why?
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
68. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Osgeld · 2012-12-07 18:01 · Score: 1
  
  well maybe it wasnt a beige G3 I dont remember it was over 10 years ago and I had it a very short time
69. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by VortexCortex · 2012-12-07 18:11 · Score: 2
  
  If there is A god, he's hoarding his universe.
  On the contrary. He got bored and abandoned the experiment, like so many back of the fridge self contained ecosystems.
70. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by elashish14 · 2012-12-07 18:11 · Score: 1
  
  First of all, I don't see anywhere in TFS where Steve Jobs is being bashed. I haven't read TFA.
  But more importantly, if Steve Jobs were an honest and well-meaning engineer, don't you think they would want to commemorate him more with a branding of some functional product rather than a legal device which takes away others' ability to do the same?
  The is the reason you're looking for. Steve Jobs was not a good person, and the public perception of him is largely that of an idol. In truth, he was a selfish, mistreatful jerk who would use any means, no matter how immoral ('I'm going thermonuclear on Android!'), to dominate the market. Samsung's lawyers at the latest Apple v Samsung hearing put it best:
  
  We see what Apple is doing. It's an intentional engagement of "thermonuclear war," throughout the world. It's an attempt to compete in the courthouse rather than the marketplace. [After the preliminary injunction] Apple went to our customers and misused the "colorably different" langauge, and told them they couldn't sell any of our phones. They're using any results they get through the courts to clobber our name and prevent us from competing in the marketplace fairly, on the merits.
  We don't think they're trying to establish boundaries. They're trying to cloud things and use the courthouse to compete with us.
  Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/at-key-apple-samsung-hearing-judge-talks-lower-damages/
  
  --
  I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
71. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by PlusFiveTroll · 2012-12-07 18:11 · Score: 1
  
  Xbox was on some serious life support for quite a while after its birth. Nintendo seems to have done well in what they do so far.
72. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:21 · Score: 0
  
  The example you gave was a lie.
73. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Scarletdown · 2012-12-07 18:22 · Score: 1
  
  Jobs fucked music so bad that I gave up. I was touring Europe, the states, and Asia lined up. After seeing what he did, there was no reason to continue. Unless I was stupid. I hope he burns forever... If I meet him in the afterlife, I will do anything I can to hurt him. BURN you miserable fuck
  Burning in an afterlife is something that Christians (and possibly Muslims?) fear. Does Buddhism have a similar type of Hell in its afterlife? If not, then it is unlikely Jobs is burning anywhere in the cosmos. In fact, most likely, he is simply not existing in any conscious form any more, while his body decomposes in its grave, just like everyone else who is no longer among the living.
  And for the record, wishing eternal torture on anyone for anything they may have done while alive (infinite punishment for a finite "crime") is pretty damn sick.
  
  --
  This space unintentionally left blank.
74. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by PlusFiveTroll · 2012-12-07 18:24 · Score: 1
  
  http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtrDlDJ07bo/TlbCEzDMZoI/AAAAAAAAAGA/FqLGxHqAgm4/s1600/Slide2.JPG
  From the chart things were pretty steady at around 100,000 per year from '64 till '82. Doubled to 200kpy by '94, and doubled again to 400kpy by 2005.
  Or roughly put, the number of patents filed between '64 and '84 is close to the number filed between '05 and '10.
75. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:29 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  That story really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
  Woz: A brilliant engineer and a genuinely good person.
  Jobs: A liar who will happily screw over even his closest friends to make a buck.
  Which one does the media celebrate?
  Jobs did this to a lot of people, often to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. For awhile his trick was insisting that a written contract was unnecessary and would get in the way of friendly future business relationships, but that he'd guarantee if person X delivered Y, Jobs would compensate him with Z. Then when Y was delivered Jobs would say that there was no way he would have made such an arrangement and that X was up shit creek without a contract.
76. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:47 · Score: 0
  
  Liar.
77. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:52 · Score: 0
  
  If it was older than a Beige G3 it would have been SEVERAL years before OS X. If it was after the Beige G3 it would have run OS X for a decade or so (like the Beige G3).
78. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:57 · Score: 0
  
  2600 and Phrack. Man, those were the days.
79. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 20:42 · Score: 0
  
  Fuck. That's terrible. how dare they raise system requirements for a new OS. The nerve of that douche.
80. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 21:11 · Score: 0
  
  What Mac? Give us the actual product code too.
  A year old and unable to run OS X? So it was a PPC G3 or something? No, it must be older, since G3's could run OS X. PPC 603?
  Probably a PPC 603e model (not supported officially, unlike the G3, which also would still be supported after 10.2), using XPostFacto as the installer. Check the XPostFacto Compatibility List for possible models of pre-G3 PCI PowerMacs, there are a whole lot of them.
81. Re: What wrong has Steve done to you? by PixetaledPikachu · 2012-12-07 21:42 · Score: 1
  
  I think budhism believe in karma and reincarnation. Let's hope he's reincarnated as a pig or goat, so burning Jobs will satisfy our heart and stomach
82. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Sulphur · 2012-12-07 23:02 · Score: 1
  
  I built the most valuable company in human history.
  Steve is that you?
83. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Internal+Modem · 2012-12-08 01:15 · Score: 0
  
  Too false. The Beige G3 was supported for a decade. Go fuck yourself. At least reply to a post that wasn't started by a known pedophile.
84. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by lxs · 2012-12-08 02:40 · Score: 1
  
  Does Buddhism have a similar type of Hell in its afterlife?
  Yes, Tibetan Buddhism does, but it's not for eternity. It is one of the sections on the wheel of karma, a place you end up for one or more lives depending on your past deeds. A lot like this reality, which lies very close to it.
85. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 02:48 · Score: 0
  
  Come back and talk to us when you've read the patent in detail. I can agree with people who might think this patent may need better examination, but you are a fool if you think this is so clear cut and simple.
86. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 02:58 · Score: 0
  
  I'm sure he was talking about the Beige G3's, but he's misremembering considerably.
  The Beige G3's were indeed dropped in support by Apple as unworthy, but they didn't do this until OS X 10.3
  While many people found this to be upsetting there really was no reason one had to go to 10.3 anyway. 10.2.12 was basically 10.3 without the "pizazz"
  They had a memory limit of 128MB for god's sake.
  Anyway... if you really wanted to continue to upgrade there was ( and is ) the Xpostfacto tool that the author refers to that permits you to install it anyway, and despite his claim, it was actually already available when 10.3 came out because the project existed to serve even OLDER macs. IIRC they developed the support he required within months.
  So it was really more likely this user was just uninformed and spent his time bitching about his problems rather than trying to solve them.
87. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Gr8Apes · 2012-12-08 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  Nintendo, last report I saw was running out of steam. MS has well-documented issues, they are shrinking and just raised business prices across the board to remain even. It'll be interesting to see where they go next. They peaked in 2002 or 2003, more or less, and everything since has been one blunder after another. Win7 was just not a misstep, for a change, it certainly wasn't a great product. Win8 - check the sig....
  
  --
  The cesspool just got a check and balance.
88. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by tepples · 2012-12-08 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Nintendo, last report I saw was running out of steam.
  True, the years-old Xbox 360 beat the brand-new Wii U this past Black Friday.
  
  MS has well-documented issues, they are shrinking
  Yet its Xbox 360 beat Wii U this past Black Friday. So at least someone is profiting from a system even more closed than iOS. How has Sony Computer Entertainment been doing?
89. Re: What wrong has Steve done to you? by paimin · 2012-12-08 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  This site has become fucking pathetic.
  
  --
  Facebook is the new AOL
90. Re: What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 05:17 · Score: 0
  
  yea with a bunch of fucktards quoting "Facebook is the new AOL" and window$ ME what do you expect
91. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Vasheron · 2012-12-08 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  Comparing a speaker to an iMac, that's rich.
92. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Gr8Apes · 2012-12-08 07:31 · Score: 2
  
  Yet its Xbox 360 beat Wii U this past Black Friday. So at least someone is profiting from a system even more closed than iOS. How has Sony Computer Entertainment been doing?
  Man on Titanic merrily waves to man in leaking tub....
  Look at MS's financials, it doesn't matter if they outsell the Wii U. Sony has been reaping its due rewards. A long time ago I pondered which company was worse - Sony or MS, and decided that Sony was by far worse. Apparently I'm not alone in thinking Sony doesn't deserve my money. I'm only hopeful that MS follows their lead.
  
  --
  The cesspool just got a check and balance.
93. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 08:06 · Score: 0
  
  I can't believe i'm reading this crap. You guys must be a bunch of twelve year olds or grumpy old men.
94. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 10:47 · Score: 0
  
  yeah i'm with you. with all the amazing things apple does for us like unmatched state of the art hardware and completely original innovative software why would any one take patents of them.
95. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by moogaloonie · 2012-12-08 12:02 · Score: 2
  
  IFF there is a god, I am pretty sure he/she/it is against hoarding cash like crazy.
  I think the reason Steve often gets a pass on the cash hoarding is because he seemed like the kind of dreamer that just might need that money someday. I don't mind that James Cameron or Richard Branson are filthy rich because I admire the way they spend much of their fortunes.
96. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by unixisc · 2012-12-08 13:09 · Score: 1
  
  They should re-apply, but this time translate 27 degrees into radians. Hey, why not simply call it half a radian?
97. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 15:43 · Score: 0
  
  Could not use 28 degrees or NeXT would sue his ass.
98. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by c++0xFF · 2012-12-09 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  Do diamonds count? If so:
  http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/12/08/exoplanets-of-the-week-a-diamond-planet-and-gas-giant-quadruplets/
  QED
99. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-09 09:36 · Score: 0
  
  Look at MS's financials
  Yes those record-breaking earnings are so terrible.
100. Re:What wrong has Steve done to you? by lostmongoose · 2012-12-22 11:53 · Score: 1
  
  And smelled bad, which is some kind of crime against those in the immediate vicinity
  Isn't there prior art on the iStink?
  Richard Stallman.
I hear millions of ifans by alen · 2012-12-07 13:11 · Score: -1, Troll

Screaming in agony
Going to love to read macdailynews.com take on this
1. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Tablizer · 2012-12-07 13:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  you mean iGony
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
2. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:25 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Here's a sample:
  _____________
  Rubbish. Here’s our own government handing the keys to our future economic prosperity over to Korea wholesale.
  The sound of the jobs being flushed down the toilet may be your own.
  Jubei
  Friday, December 7, 2012 - 5:53 pm Reply
  _____________
  Agreed. All this hard work from Apple invalidated giving the green light to slavishly copy them. The US is heading down irrelevancy by its own government.
  khryshimself
  Read more at Link
3. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:29 · Score: 0
  
  I thought the communism movement was all but gone in the USA.
4. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:31 · Score: 0
  
  muahaha thanks for the laugh :-)
  sorry, no mod points...
5. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:44 · Score: 1
  
  They did just find a Unicorn lair.....
  "Here’s our own government handing the keys to our future economic prosperity over to Korea wholesale."
6. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-07 15:10 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The stench of hypocrisy is overwhelming. Apple has made most of it's billions by utilizing slave labor in third world countries. Suddenly, they are worried about American jobs? The few jobs they are moving to America are nothing more than a publicity gambit, IMHO.
  If I had a few tens of thousands of people employed directly or indirectly, and I decided to move several hundreds of those jobs to the United States, the total impact on anyone's economy would be negligible. And, the cost to me would have little impact. I would still have almost all my work performed by slave labor in third world countries.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
7. Re:I hear millions of ifans by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:30 · Score: 1
  
  Dont forget what it will cost you to buy a "born in the USA" apple product,.....I'm afraid to even search for the markup....
8. Re:I hear millions of ifans by dbIII · 2012-12-07 16:29 · Score: 1
  
  That's pretty funny since the screens on the iPads and many "iLaptops" were developed in Korea anyway, don't come cheap, and each Apple purchase is "handing the keys to our future economic prosperity over to Korea" to an extent anyway :)
9. Re:I hear millions of ifans by dbIII · 2012-12-07 16:32 · Score: 1
  
  Apple has made most of it's billions by utilizing slave labor in third world countries
  Not quite, but that's now starting to happen with some South Korean companies getting stuff built in a North Korean technology park. That's getting into true slave plantation working with the threat of death situations.
10. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:33 · Score: 0
  
  Indirectly Apple has been using slave labor, just like everyone else in the electronics industry - and you, and me, are to blame too, since we'll gladly pay for goods that used slave labor, as long as it's built far enough that it doesn't looks like it's our fault (Apple can use the same excuse). Directly they have not, since their employees are not slaves (and neither are Foxconn's, you must follow the chain a little more to reach the slaves).
11. Re:I hear millions of ifans by dbIII · 2012-12-07 17:54 · Score: 1
  
  If you think that's really slave labour you are in for a bit of a shock in a year or two. I'm not saying working conditions in Chinese are perfect, just that there is much worse out there.
12. Re:I hear millions of ifans by PlusFiveTroll · 2012-12-07 18:29 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Don't worry, you can keep slave jobs here in the U.S.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Prison_Industries
13. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 22:39 · Score: 0
  
  Yep. Only an American would be silly and naive enough to use the term "slave" to describe Foxconn workers.
14. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-08 02:35 · Score: 1
  
  To true. Much to true. I am aware of that, as well, but didn't think anyone else would appreciate those details being thrown into this discussion.
  I salute you, and your ability to connect the dots.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
15. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 06:17 · Score: 0
  
  Don't you mean Second World countries?
16. Re:I hear millions of ifans by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 13:49 · Score: 0
  
  Lets get this correct so all you Andriod Google Sucker’s don’t have a Hart Attack thinking you got one over on Apple by this so called announcement.
  The article posted here was disingenuous due to the fact that All information was not reported, it fails to add the most important information of all .. Ready.
  ” This is not final, repeating again it’s not final and can be appealed ”
  If people would take the time and read the full post and not just the basic one that is posted here, eerone would find out that ths doesn’t mean a thing and is not by anyway final, Apple can and will go on Appeal to prove that it has the rights to this patent, while most of these patents that are singled out like Apples they do Remain intact and those patents issued are kept whole and not disturbed.
  Now if anyone has a issue with this information go to Foss Patent’s and read the complete article without all the left out information, and really, all you Apple haters have nothing yet to celebrate as you may find that this patent might just prove to be stronger then you think.
  And for all the Apple diehards, come on my friends, we are so aware that left out information brings in page views to pay the bills, problem is we are seeing to often at most of our regular News sites not full information, but it is up to the reader to research further to find out if any information is not included, remember make sure to click the “Read more in the full article Here” link.
  Seeing this patent in its full breakdown and to those of you who have the time to access the Full version of the patent documentation and study the information, many if not all breakdowns of use have not been used before, implementation that can’t be seen as prior art and has a much diffrent way of being interpreted, when all is said and down I still believe this patent and those adjoined with it will pass and be upheld.
  We learn to not take a believe everything you read approach, allot of us have gotten burned to many times.
  Nice Night All.
  ROFL
justice!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:13 · Score: 0

Great!!! Apple must stop patent crap.
1. Re:justice!! by gagol · 2012-12-07 13:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Great!!! USPTO must stop accepting patent crap.
  FTFY
  
  --
  Tomorrow is another day...
2. Re:justice!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:49 · Score: 1
  
  Great!!! USPTO must stop accepting patent crap.
  FTFY
  USPTO has been the same all along when televisions migrated from CRT to Plasma and then to LCD and now to LED. We did not see the first LCD TV manufacturer go thermonuclear based on shallow patents.
  I do agree with the fact that USPTO is also a part of the problem. But, every game has loopholes. Why blame the game when there are players like Apple who forget all maturity and start behaving as if they "own" the very concept of multi-touch phones and touching anywhere on the screen to unlock phones. (refer Apple's defense for slide-to-unlock patent where they claim that even a tap on a screen is a zero length slide)
6-months old news by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:13 · Score: 0

FTA:
Friday, June 1, 2012
1. Re:6-months old news by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:16 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  fuck da police
2. Re:6-months old news by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:25 · Score: 1
  
  FTA: Friday, June 1, 2012
  So? In the last article says:
  
  FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012 U.S. patent office declares 'the Steve Jobs patent' entirely invalid on non-final basis
  And in the first one, the linked /. discussion, it reads:
  
  Tuesday October 23
  Were you trying to make a point, or you just like to share the article dates?
3. Re:6-months old news by gl4ss · 2012-12-07 13:35 · Score: 1
  
  that was background for the article which was dated 7.12.12, which was based on office action from 3.12.12..(ddmmyy, it's just the smart notation, bitches).
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
4. Re:6-months old news by geminidomino · 2012-12-07 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  No "smart" notation uses 2 digit years.
  Bitch.
5. Re:6-months old news by zieroh · 2012-12-07 14:42 · Score: 2
  
  Or little-endian.
  
  --
  People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
6. Re:6-months old news by shentino · 2012-12-07 15:54 · Score: 1
  
  Someone probably already has a patent on that.
7. Re:6-months old news by maxwell+demon · 2012-12-07 17:39 · Score: 2
  
  Actually the international standard notation is YYYY-MM-DD.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
why was it even granted? by MickyTheIdiot · 2012-12-07 13:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

Good riddance to this patent. It's yet another example of how the patent office will let just about anything slip by right now.
If putting ONE widget/idea/whatever on a machine is patentable, then putting multiple "things" on a machine is obvious. "Multitouch" is the same a "touch."
Another one: If putting wifi on a computer is patentable, then putting wifi on any computer-like device (tablets, phones, anything using a processor) is obvious.
The trolls are maybe less than half the problem. Letting these companies patent the kitchen sink just because there is a trivial change is a huge part. And they won't pay of examiners that actually know what they are doing because it means a pointy headed administrator will have to be paid less to do it.
1. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:44 · Score: 0
  
  Are you saying my iSink patent application might be denied? FUUUCCCCK! First I didn't win Powerball, and now this.
2. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:59 · Score: 0
  
  Patents aren't for ideas, they're for implementations.
3. Re:why was it even granted? by Frosty+Piss · 2012-12-07 14:25 · Score: 3
  
  So, basically, the Patent Office simply "rubber stamps" this kind of thing and says "leave it to the courts"?
  I wonder how these "patent examiners" live with their mediocrity? I'm envisioning Amadeus' Salieri...
  
  --
  If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
4. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:28 · Score: 0
  
  Pull the other one. It has a bell attached!
5. Re:why was it even granted? by TubeSteak · 2012-12-07 15:31 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I wonder how these "patent examiners" live with their mediocrity? I'm envisioning Amadeus' Salieri...
  In the past, like many government bodies, the Patent and Trademark Office was underfunded/understaffed.
  This meant the Examiners didn't have enough time to do the job expected of them and meet their targets.
  When Obama signed the America Invents Act, he changed the USA from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system.
  The law also changed how the Patent Office is funded. Previously, Congress got all the patent filing fees, then gave the PTO whatever they felt like.
  Now, the PTO sets its own fees and any fees beyond the Congressional allocation are placed into escrow, instead of the general fund.
  This means that Congress can no longer siphon off the PTO's fees for other projects and the PO can try to get the funds re-allocated later.
  TLDR: The Patent Office was wildly underfunded/understaffed and the situation should improve sooner rather than later.
  
  --
  [Fuck Beta]
  o0t!
6. Re:why was it even granted? by shentino · 2012-12-07 15:55 · Score: 1
  
  They are not letting it slip by.
  They are deliberately turning a blind eye and rubber stamping bullshit on purpose.
7. Re:why was it even granted? by shentino · 2012-12-07 15:56 · Score: 1
  
  While at the same time the courts trust the USPTO to have gotten it right.
  Vicious circle.
8. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 18:12 · Score: 0
  
  It should have been named the "America Files Act" instead, since filing seems to be more important than actually inventing.
9. Re:why was it even granted? by Sulphur · 2012-12-07 23:30 · Score: 2
  
  While at the same time the courts trust the USPTO to have gotten it right.
  Vicious circle.
  iVicious, iCircle, or just iNvalid.
10. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 01:39 · Score: 0
  
  The situation will not improve sooner rather than later. The USPTO always has had a policy of opposing low quality amongst its examiners. They will not tolerate low quality examination! Unless, you do enough of it. That's right, you will get bonuses and a Bronze Medal for consistent 130% production, i.e., exceeding your quota. Then, an apparently "productive" examiner is wildly rewarded, whereas the examiner who is thorough? Often held back from promotion or separated from the Patent Corps entirely.
  The America Invents Act will change nothing. TubeSteak is promoting a form of disinformation.
11. Re:why was it even granted? by aliquis · 2012-12-08 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  Just patent "more" and be done with it.
  More resolution?
  More soda?
  More buttons?
  More power?
  Gotta pay!
12. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 05:50 · Score: 1
  
  No, they "retire" at 52 with a govt. pension and a lifetime of benefits, then get a job consulting with a major corp. on how to navigate the patent process. It's not a conflict of interest if you hold your nose hard enough.
13. Re:why was it even granted? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 23:12 · Score: 0
  
  When Obama signed the America Invents Act, he changed the USA from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system.
  Yes, because I can think of no other patents that have been granted based on time of delivery compared to actual time of invention...
  Oh wait, the telephone patents were both delivered the same morning. And since Alexander Graham Bells lawyer got there first, most of you don't even know the name Elisha Gray.
  So how about other things that were invented much earlier and by others:
  Radio, batteries, antibiotics, etc...
Angle of spin by Tablizer · 2012-12-07 13:17 · Score: 1

For example, everything up to a slant of 27 degrees would be considered...
Jobs certainly was good at slanting.

--
Table-ized A.I.
Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by jkrise · 2012-12-07 13:21 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why those assholes take years to determine 'full' invalidity is beyond me.
Also, this patent show up Steve Jobs for the sociopath asshole that he was. Patenting a 'complete solution' is okay; patenting a small process or a way of operating a device is a fundamentally flawed approach to granting patents in the first place.
Meanwhile, millions have been lost fighting this useless patent, and HTC were idiots to settle, etc etc

--
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
1. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by jkrise · 2012-12-07 13:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Also, the patent office needs to be shut down.
  Also, a complete rejection of all claims of a given patent is potentially more devastating than one affecting only some claims.
  All of 20 claims mentioned in the patent and issued by the USTPO have been rejected. Does this not prove that the issuing office has no right to exist in the first place? Millions have been lost litigating this absurdity.
  -
  Apple would lose two iconic patents, but it would still have thousands of other patents, including hundreds of multitouch patents .
  More evidence that the patent office should suffer the 'thermonuclear' treatment that Steve Jobs spoke about. The two so called iconic patents have been completely rubbished; but hundreds more yet to come. So this Florian scourge is not just happy that millions have already been sunk to the lawyers and courts with 2 patents; he is sitting smug in his seat dreaming about how hundreds more such patents will keep him and so called 'patent-experts' like him, employed for life.
  
  --
  If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
2. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by gagol · 2012-12-07 13:56 · Score: 1
  
  I have the feeling HTC will fight to get their money back plus damages...
  
  --
  Tomorrow is another day...
3. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by __aaltlg1547 · 2012-12-07 14:06 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Why those assholes take years to determine 'full' invalidity is beyond me.
  Also, this patent show up Steve Jobs for the sociopath asshole that he was. Patenting a 'complete solution' is okay; patenting a small process or a way of operating a device is a fundamentally flawed approach to granting patents in the first place.
  Meanwhile, millions have been lost fighting this useless patent, and HTC were idiots to settle, etc etc
  Make the holders of invalidated patents pay back their license fees.
4. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by shentino · 2012-12-07 15:59 · Score: 2
  
  Usually settlement agreements require the bullied party to forfeit all rights to appeal or retry the case later.
  So someone puts a sue-gun to your head, forces you to settle by threatening to bankrupt you if you don't, you are fucked.
5. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 00:54 · Score: 0
  
  It comes to no surprise: If you only vote lawyers to preside the country, you end with a country that's a paradise for lawyers.
6. Re:Only 'preliminarily' invalid... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 04:48 · Score: 0
  
  Not just the license fees, but the court costs and lawyer fees as well.
Snowy Walrus by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:21 · Score: -1, Troll

How do I patent shooting a big fat load up some hipsters nose after they smoke my pole because I have the latest iShiny? I call it the "Snowy Walrus"
1. Re:Snowy Walrus by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:36 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Personally, I think "a sticky Hitler" sounds better, and is much more intrinsically offensive.
  A Godwin and a blowjob all in one.
2. Re:Snowy Walrus by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:41 · Score: -1
  
  God(Yeshua?) I wish I had mod points
  Captcha=Horrible
3. Re:Snowy Walrus by Scarletdown · 2012-12-07 18:33 · Score: 1
  
  How do I patent shooting a big fat load up some hipsters nose after they smoke my pole because I have the latest iShiny? I call it the "Snowy Walrus"
  Oh my, I could see someone opening a hipster artsy type shop and calling it that. That is almost as amusing when me and my little brother were talking recently about our hometown's music store (actual musical instruments and stuff like that) closing down. I commented that next time someone opens up such a place, if they are trying to think of a name for it, he should suggest "The Rusty Trombone".
  Curse you, Urban Dictionary...
  
  --
  This space unintentionally left blank.
Invalid. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:21 · Score: -1

My hair is a bird. Your patent is invalid.
Too Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:24 · Score: 2, Funny

Re: "...Apple didn't invent the concept of 'heuristics' after all".
Wrong. Apple not only invented heuristics, they also invented the US Patent Office. Then patented them both!
1. Re:Too Easy by Tablizer · 2012-12-07 18:54 · Score: 1
  
  Oh ya? Well, I invented Al Gore!
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
2. Re:Too Easy by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 15:35 · Score: 0
  
  Rhythm method fail?
As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by ilsaloving · 2012-12-07 13:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

As a (up till now) satisfied owner of Apple products, all I can say is: Good.
Maybe if they lose enough of these stupid patents, they'll start thinking less about suing the world into oblivion and go back to doing what made them the company they are now: Making products that delight their customers.
From recent events, it's clear that Apple forgot that part somewhere along the line.
1. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:37 · Score: -1
  
  I wish more people thought like you.
2. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:47 · Score: 0
  
  back to doing what made them the company they are now:
  Fucking over their customers based on the whim of a man child!
3. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:50 · Score: 0
  
  I take it you bought an iShiny 5?
4. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by erroneus · 2012-12-07 13:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Agreed.
  I'm no Apple fan at all. But there's no denying that they make/made a kind of irrisistible candy that no one could actually duplicate. It was stupid of them to think anyone else was a threat.
  I see lots of things wrong with Apple's products. It's not free enough for me. It's terrific for other people though and that's more than enough to keep them in business though. The problem is they never seem to be satisfied when they have "enough."
5. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by murder_face · 2012-12-07 14:04 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  The problem is they never seem to be satisfied when they have "enough."
  Isn't that capitalism at its finest?
6. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:05 · Score: 0
  
  Continue living your life as a barrel of negativity.
7. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by jkrise · 2012-12-07 14:05 · Score: -1
  
  As a (up till now) satisfied owner of Apple products,
  Some people prefer to live in (well furnished) jails and prisons like you; where food is served for free. Fine. But there are thousands of times more people who wish to use low cost, high value, 'open' platforms to do their work. Granting a patent on trivial things and Apple refusing to license such patents to others will only bring untold misery to the entire IT ecosystem.
  all I can say is: Good.
  Wrong. Bad. Apple was an innovative company when they were not so cash-strapped. Now they have billions in cash, and worse, Steve Jobs personally felt that merely having enormous piles of cash was not sufficient; he wanted to 'destroy' Android as a matter of principle. He was willing to go thermonuclear in his so called agenda. With such an attitude of a sociopath; he was least bothered about the collateral damage a thermonuclear battle would inflict on others, and his own company as well.
  With such a narrow-minded jerk armed with piles of money, it maybe Good, for YOU ; but for non-Apple users, who are a much bigger majority, it is very very bad.
  
  --
  If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
8. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by __aaltlg1547 · 2012-12-07 14:19 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  back to doing what made them the company they are now: Fucking over their customers based on the whim of a man child!
  Some of us actually remember when Apple introduced the Apple II, the Lisa, the (original) Macintosh, iPads and iPhones rather than having to be told of these ancient things by our elders.
  Each of those products represented a significant improvement in both quality and capabilities of consumer electronics. However, they didn't break much new ground. Their specialty was always making tech accessible to the mass market.
9. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Tough+Love · 2012-12-07 14:26 · Score: 1
  
  Apple will be in business some time yet, the immediate question, how much time do they have left to bask in the glory of being the world's most valuable company? Down $170 since the introduction of the iPhone 5.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
10. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:39 · Score: 0
  
  As a (up till now) satisfied owner of Apple products, all I can say is: Good.
  Maybe if they lose enough of these stupid patents, they'll start thinking less about suing the world into oblivion and go back to doing what made them the company they are now: Making products that delight their customers.
  From recent events, it's clear that Apple forgot that part somewhere along the line.
  They and everybody else, If you went through the patent portfolios of every major tech firm in the US or that have a presence in the US you will find just as much cruft in their patent portfolio. Apple is only following the same tactic as everybody else. Flood an overworked and understaffed patent office with all manner of crappy patents, thus ensuring that most of them don't get properly assessed. Then slam everybody who threatens your market share with a patent infringement law suit, when they complain that your patent is obvious and invalid all you have to do is smile and tell them to spend millions of dollars and years in court proving it . For some reason Apple and a few others like Microsoft are hated for doing this while others like Google who also engage in patenting everything that moves have almost been elevated into sainthood. One way of solving this would be abolishing the patent system (which we all know is far to radical a proposal to ever happen). Myself I used to favour fixing this by making justice affordable not just for stinking rich people and corporations, thus transforming it from an extortion mechanism into a tool to obtain actual justice, and reforming the patent system. Then I realised that even this much more moderate solution is never going to happen because the people that finance the election campaigns for the apathetic, avaricious and corrupt puppets we elect into office have far too much to loose to abolish these institutions that they have turned into extortion mechanisms because they find them so convenient (I swear that every time I hear some politician claim that common citizens who get trampled by corporations can seek redress in the courts I want to punch the bastard and then kick him when he is down, you have to be rich to take the rich to court ). I'm beginning to think the only real solution to the oligarchification of modern western civilisation is what the French did in 1789, a guillotine in the town square.
11. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:35 · Score: -1, Flamebait
  
  Barrel of negativity? Are you that guy in the picture sucking GG Allins dick at his funeral as well? I have seen the iShiny 5. Can you honestly tell me its not a taller iShitty 4S?
12. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:44 · Score: 1
  
  How are sup $1000 prices making things available to the MASS market??
13. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by jkrise · 2012-12-07 16:03 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Isn't that capitalism at its finest?
  Utterly wrong. This is a crude, barbaric brand of nihilism.
  Capitalism believes in the unbridled accumulation of wealth. But the neurotic psychopath Steve Jobs was not after wealth. In his own words:
  
  "I don't want your money. If you offer me $5bn, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want."
  
  A pure nuanced capitalist would've licensed the thousands of patents at a realistic price and made lots of money for himself and his shareholders. But Jobs wasn't a capitalist, he was a self-confessed copycat, an anarchist, nihilist and narcissist rolled into one.
  
  --
  If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
14. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by meerling · 2012-12-07 16:25 · Score: 1
  
  Their tech was never groundbreaking, but their marketing was. Supply schools with buttloads of machines for super low or even free was a move of Genius! All those new computer literate users now knew how to use an Apple computer, but nothing else. It would have been a clean sweep if they could have gotten the stodgy old business world to switch over.
  Other than that, their engineering may have looked pretty, but it wasn't that hot. Though their software used to be pretty good, but I can't say that now, too much bloated you know what...
  Suddenly I feel like bashing Microsoft, but that's getting way too off subject, so this thread should end. :)
15. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:55 · Score: 0
  
  Evidently the mass market is composed of people unwilling or unable to RTFM, but with money to burn.
16. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:21 · Score: 0
  
  Prior to many Apple devices, the contemporary standard of devices left customers with more to be desired. Apple designed their products well and produced devices that performed their task well.
17. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Scarletdown · 2012-12-07 18:35 · Score: 1
  
  How are sup $1000 prices making things available to the MASS market??
  Remember, just like during Magrathea's heyday, no one is actually poor... At least, no one worth speaking of.
  
  --
  This space unintentionally left blank.
18. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by ilsaloving · 2012-12-07 18:57 · Score: 1
  
  I can't decide if you're a troll or just plain stupid. Whether deliberately or not, you've managed to completely misread the story summary AND my post.
  Let me reiterate for you:
  -Apple's at risk of having their portfolio of absurd patents squashed.
  -I said that this is a good thing.
  Now, do you want to try this again? Maybe with a little less frothing at the mouth anti-Apple-ism and a little more reading comprehension?
19. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by jkrise · 2012-12-07 20:20 · Score: 1
  
  Apple's at risk of having their portfolio of absurd patents squashed.
  According to the referenced article by Florian, Apple has hundreds of touch related patents and thousands of phone related patents. Squashing just 2 patents (only preliminary, not yet final) has already cost the market millions of dollars, and billions more yet to come. At this rate it will take decades or centuries for Apple's portfolio of absurd patents to be squashed.
  In the meanwhile, the only ones who will survive are the cash-rich giants like Apple and Microsoft. So my point is that this is too little too late. What will be really GOOD for the entire market is for software and computing patents to be abolished entirely.
  
  --
  If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
20. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anne+Thwacks · 2012-12-07 23:03 · Score: 1
  
  Tell that to Marie-Antoinette ....
  Oh, Wait ...
  
  --
  Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
21. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anne+Thwacks · 2012-12-07 23:05 · Score: 0
  
  Capitalism teaches that a man who saves up an buys a spade will dig faster than a man using his bare hands. Therefore it is worth forgoing the immediate benefits that one needs to save.
  The alternatives are all a form of "let the other guy save, and then steal from him!"
  
  --
  Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
22. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 23:16 · Score: 0
  
  "But there's no denying that they make/made a kind of irrisistible candy that no one could actually duplicate. "
  and the reason is they'd sue anyone who even tries.
  otherwise you'd see a zillion iCrap clones, more powerful and better featured
  captcha - bumbles
23. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 00:51 · Score: 0
  
  So I should forego the shovel and save up a jackhammer or better yet a steam shovel?
24. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by ilsaloving · 2012-12-08 07:06 · Score: 1
  
  Ok, now that I can agree with. Mostly. I'm not entirely convinced that completely abolishing patents would help... but a massive overhaul is definitely needed.
  IMO:
  * For any patent being filed, the company must put out a product that actually uses that patent within 1 or 2 years of filing.
  * The patent itself is only good for up to, say, 5. If you haven't been able to make back your money off that patent by then, then it wasn't that good of a patent.
  Those two simple changes would eliminate a massive amount of the crap going on. It would eliminate patent trolls completely, and would cause R&D spending to increase dramatically because companies couldn't just come up with one or two good ideas and then sit on their rears in perpetuity.
25. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-12-08 08:41 · Score: 1
  
  I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want....
  If the Internet has taught me anything, it's that "our ideas" isn't a valid expression. Truly unique ideas are extremely rare. You can find them in the pure sciences, and what people do then is to publish a paper. For every idea Apple has brought to market (they are quite good at *execution*) there are a dozen people who have thought of it first but lacked the resources to bring it to market.
  A pure nuanced capitalist would've licensed the thousands of patents at a realistic price and made lots of money for himself and his shareholders.
  A pure capitalist doesn't rely on State-created mechanisms like Imaginary Property. But he certainly can make some money in helping others execute ideas that he's already executed. I believe, rather, that Jobs intended to use the State to establish a monopoly on portable tablet devices (with and without phones).
  But Jobs wasn't a capitalist, he was a self-confessed copycat
  true! Stealing artists are only great when they're Jobs, right?
  an anarchist
  Not a chance - he loved him some State. He loved IP and he loved dining with Obama.
  nihilist and narcissist rolled into one
  No arguments there!
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
26. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 11:25 · Score: 0
  
  if you like your iphone, but a samsung. Apple says its substantially similar, except its got better hardware at a cheaper price.
  Apple learned nothing from the 80s, I look forward to the decades of fan boys chiming in about the days when apple was on top; as their stocks continue to slide and they continue to fall in their primary market.
27. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by cavebison · 2012-12-09 16:10 · Score: 1
  
  go back to doing what made them the company they are now
  You mean a barely-profitable niche computer company that became completely dependent on the ideas of one unusual man?
28. Re:As a satisfied owner of Apple products... by Rakarra · 2012-12-10 11:40 · Score: 1
  
  Well. Jobs loved state trappings. He did not like government intrusion however, and frequently rejected state authority over Apple's, Pixar's, or his personal affairs. His other traits far overwhelmed any belief in authority of the state, such as his much publicized disregard for handicapped parking and refusal to use license plates. Being a narcissist came first -- that's why he liked dining with Obama, not because he liked the Democratic party, or the president, or the government, but because he liked dining with trendy visionaries. It made him look good and feel good.
My god by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:41 · Score: 0

Does he fall down often?
Half Eaten by zenlessyank · 2012-12-07 13:43 · Score: -1

You wouldn't pick up a real apple off of a picnic table at the park or the tray full at the grocery store if someone had already taken a bite out of it and left it there, so why would you ever buy a 'computer' with a bite taken out of it and physical labeling that advertises that fact accordingly? I will self mod as Troll so as to save macDot, err slashdot, some cpu cycles.
This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by erroneus · 2012-12-07 13:48 · Score: 4, Insightful

Apparently Steve never learned the actual lesson and message behind the movie "War Games." There are no winners in thermonuclear war. The only way to win is not to play.
I believe Jobs would have halted this as it got more ugly and apparent that Apple would lose. But since he died, there was no halting it and I suspect anyone at Apple who would want to "go against god's... err Jobs's will" would be branded a heretic or a traitor or something like that.
Apple is already losing the war over the touch screen smart phone. They are losing their intellectual property as well. They are causing harm to everyone in the industry and that includes the consumers whether they use Apple or Android or even something else.
The sooner this is concluded the better. Samsung needs a new trial. Apple's IP needs to be resolved as to what is valid and what isn't. It needs to be settled.
1. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by gig · 2012-12-07 14:58 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  You sound insane.
  There is no rational definition under which Apple is losing anything right now. They are winning whether you look at the stock market, overall profitability, consumer loyalty, mindshare, high-end phone sales (iPhone,) high-end and low-end media player sales (iPod,) high-end PC sales (Mac,) and low-end PC sales (iPad,) or court cases.
  Samsung is cleaning up in low-end phones just like HP and Dell cleaned up in low-end PC's for many years before the iPad launched. Enjoy it while it lasts, Samsung.
  Further, Apple is in the best position to clean up in 4KTV because of iTunes and their integrated hardware/software. They may be the only company that can sell you a large 4K glass that just plugs into AC and that is it. You turn it on and tell it your Wi-Fi password and buy The Dark Knight in 4K.
  > [Apple] are causing harm to everyone in the industry
  How? By inventing the multitouch phone? By porting the World Wide Web from Intel to ARM and giving the source away to everybody else so that the iPhone browser is also used in Android and Google Chrome? By teaching consumers to PAY FOR SOFTWARE instead of just steal it? By making the very first PC platform that can be used out-of-the-box by the visually impaired? By creating the very first and still the only successful ARM PC platform so that we could get out of the Wintel monopoly? By making tens of billions of dollars for C/C++ coders with App Store? By enabling the 9 out of 10 people who can't use Mac/Windows effectively to do PC class computing with almost no training? By introducing PC class computing to the majority of workers who DON'T HAVE A DESK, dramatically expanding the range and scope of the PC market? By creating opportunities for case and accessory makers to make millions of dollars accessorizing only 1 phone model per year with just-works accessories?
  I know it is hard for people brought up in the anti-competitive Wintel PC market to believe this, but computer makers are SUPPOSED TO COMPETE. They are supposed to bring out products that are so good that the entire of HP is suddenly obsolete, overnight. That is what is supposed to happen. That is a healthy market. That is not Apple taking advantage of HP. That is Apple simply COMPETING with HP. HP is supposed to be able to compete back. Samsung is supposed to be able to create their own smartphone line, not simply copy Apple's smartphone line. This is competition.
  The Galaxy line of phones was built from stolen Apple iPhone specifications. Galaxy is not an independent product, it is fork of iPhone that Samsung felt they had the right to make because they were Apple's biggest component supplier. That is illegal and immoral. Pretending it is not will only cause you to be mystified as Samsung loses court case after court case.
  Honestly, I invite you to rewrite your post and include a URL for every point you make that backs up your assertion with numbers and facts. Because there aren't any numbers of facts that back up your claims. You are like a Fox News viewer asserting that President Obama was born in Kenya. The only people who will agree with you are the people who are also inside your Gizmodo/Slashdot bubble. The Internet is world wide. Your bubble is not and you look like an ass.
2. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Daengbo · 2012-12-07 15:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  There is no rational definition under which Apple is losing anything right now.
  Umm, they lost $35B in market cap just a couple of days ago. That's something. Their stock is down about 23% from a couple of moths ago. They're losing something.
  
  --
  Put identity in the browser.
3. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:47 · Score: 0
  
  http://9gag.com/gag/5195630
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch
  Apple has certainly done well with other people's ideas. I don't think that makes them prophet you seem to think they are.
4. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by PlusFiveTroll · 2012-12-07 18:38 · Score: 1
  
  He said rational definition. Markets can act irrationally. Not that the price going down is the irrational part, that the stock price was so high in the first place.
5. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 20:43 · Score: 0
  
  Wow. Slashdotters have battled against the idea that market cap = technological superiority for over a decade but now when it suits their purpose they suddenly use it as a measuring stick for innovation?
  
  This just proves that Slashdot's core (heavy handed) morality is worth about as much as RMS's toe jam.
6. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by houghi · 2012-12-07 21:56 · Score: 1
  
  I believe Jobs would have halted this
  Bullfrog. If he wanted it halted, he would have done so. He wanted the war on Android and was willing to risk it all.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
7. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by erroneus · 2012-12-07 22:17 · Score: 1
  
  I know that's what he told his biographer but when it comes to taking his company down with it over it and essentially throwing it all away? I'm not so sure he was without some sense of reason.
8. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by erroneus · 2012-12-07 22:47 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Not gonna do all of that. I will, however invite you to review the market trends. The interest in iPad, iPod, iPhone have declined. Perhaps the market is saturated already. The stock market shows their value dropping. The intellectual property is also being lost as a direct result of their assaults. Their secret deals with other handset makers are being brought to light and weakening their cases against others.
  Another point of failure is that while initially people were quite scared of Apple's thunder and initial success with their claims backed by doctored images and the like. They somehow won some injunctive relief along the way. But after much legal scrutiny, it is being shown that injunctive relief is inappropriate. Apple has yet to show irreparable harm which is a requirement for injunctive relief. If money can make them whole, then they are ineligible for injunctive relief.
  Also, Apple did not invent the multi-touch anything. They didn't invent the ARM processor or invent the first devices using it... on the internet. We get it. Your a rabid, mouth foaming fan. But you really need to revisit your beliefs and balance them against the facts. It makes you look... well... you decide what it looks like when someone's beliefs lie in contrast to reality.
  I think the most significant argument Apple has offered is "trade dress." But the problem with the argument they are making is that I don't think any device so far is similar enough to Apple's to be call infringing. I think Apple's devices are uniquely and unmistakably Apple's. And at least a judge in the UK courts agrees with me on that and has been successful at driving that point home. (I am sure you followed that story right? And their childish handling of the judge's orders?) So even in this, Apple is losing.
  And the judges in cases being made all over the world are comparing notes and all that. Did you notice how the case of Samsung vs. Apple in Japan was getting discovery through the US courts? Apple thought it could file suits in various nations all over the world and collect different judgements, but it turns out every different loss it becoming a limitation on all of the other cases being filed everywhere else.
  Apple started out big. They are no longer. Their cases are failing. Their market share is failing. The lines outside of Apple stores have all but disappeared.
  I know you think that become I don't love Apple that I must hate Apple. I don't. I own and use a mac mini and my wife uses a mac pro for her web development and design work. I like the devices very much but I recognize their limitations. And the limitations of Apple's stuff are easy to recognize. I can simply do more in many cases than I can do more with other platforms than I can with Apple's. For example, can you connect an iPad to a bluetooth OBD2 module so you can get data from your car? I can with Linux, Android and Windows. Apple had decided that iHandheld devices can only use bluetooth for hands-free purposes. Why? I don't really care why. I just know that I can't do what I want to with Apple's gear. I can only do what is the intersection between what I want and what Apple wants. And that's a serious limitation.
9. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 04:06 · Score: 0
  
  Is that why Apple has always been suing their own customers all these years, "they would've stopped" when they saw their bottom-line hurting?
  At that point, it doesn't make any difference. The sociopaths have been outed already. This was foretold, and has happened.
  What will happen now is that Apple will float for a short while on their newfound glory, until the masses finds out, then it's game-over ala MSFT. Very very rarely do a stock return to its ATH when such was a blowoff top. Having said that, if MSFT establishes over 35, buy with both hands. MSFT was actually a bad example because it has held on to most of it's value over the past decade. It's now a very very boring stock, which also AAPL may become when the trend exhausts itself, if it's a lucky / strong stock. That makes MSFT interesting to real investors, and AAPL more like a strong short-candidate at this stage.
10. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 04:18 · Score: 0
  
  He did it before. Thats why he was kicked out of apple the first time.
11. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Rakarra · 2012-12-10 11:44 · Score: 1
  
  This just proves that Slashdot's core (heavy handed) morality is worth about as much as RMS's toe jam.
  Or maybe it shows that "slashdot" is not some unified hive mind like you make it out to be, but is composed of thousands of different users with many different philosophies represented.
12. Re:This is the price of going "thermonuclear." by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-11 18:37 · Score: 0
  
  I don't know, but I've been to a few Apple Stores recently, and they're constantly full of customers, and the lines have remained very long. As for the lawsuit, no one seems to care outside of tech pundits, bloggers, and Slashdotters. It's definitely not surprising that Androids are selling more frequently, especially right now. I'm in the market for a new phone and there are a lot of sales for Androids, but not for Apple products (which have tight Apple controlled prices). Apple seems pretty big still. If you're talking stocks, that's one thing for sure, but then, what smart investors invests in blue chips when there's cheaper more mobile stocks? But culturally, Apple is big. And in the market, there's room for more than one player. Android collectively is one. So, who's going anyway? Apple isn't. Microsoft isn't. Who's coming up to threaten them, Palm? Blackberry? By the way, yes, you can get OBD2 data to an iPad using software and bluetooth devices like CarTrip.
Uuuu That Smell! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 13:52 · Score: 1

Looks like the laws of physics are true.
That gnarled and ugly head of reality is rising within the Cupertino One Fortress.
As the intellectual capital have very short shelf life, the real money in the bank is leaving Pronto and with it Apples future.
The question now: How long to the end?
1. Re:Uuuu That Smell! by tsa · 2012-12-07 18:29 · Score: 1
  
  I can tell you that. The end will come about a year after their new headquarters is opened.
  
  --
  -- Cheers!
This is great, but... what about the small guys? by flayzernax · 2012-12-07 14:10 · Score: 0

Who dont have the same capitol to fight these insane court cases?
Its great that Samsung and Motorola and others wont have to worry about apple banning them and recalling their products over this, but what about small businesses, if there ever were such a thing in the phone market.
This is wonderful, but I know that if I went into business tommorow there are many markets I could not touch because I don't have billions backing my non-existant and B-team legal department.
Preliminary Invalidation, not end of the road. by maelfius · 2012-12-07 14:26 · Score: 5, Interesting

This is just a preliminary invalidation, not the end of the road for this patent. Many patents that are in this state survive (partially or wholly). This simply is the start of a process within the USPTO.
(Relevant Post taken from Mac Rumors discussion on this, this is not my post, but relevant for this discussion): http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=16445804&postcount=39
Folks -- a preliminary invalidation is a non-event. Every patent you apply for is almost always initially rejected. It is the way the patent examiner pushes the burden back on the inventor. They reject, you appeal, they reject, you appeal, patent issues.
Typically the findings for an initial patent application are really weak and easy to overcome.
The re-examination process is the same way. The patent examiner places himself in the position of the person trying to shoot the patent down. That is because the other party to communicate with is the original inventor and obviously they are going to push for maintaining the application. So in order to do proper due diligence, the examiner needs to find reasons to refute the patent, and then there is an appeal, and then possibly another invalidation, and another appeal and then the patent likely holds in some form.
In short... nothing to see here... move along.
I don't know the actual percentage, but I'd bet 99.9% of all patents for which a reexamination was requested receive a preliminary invalidation. And I don't think the patent office can refuse to do a reexamination on a patent.
Full Discussion here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1503872&page=1

--
Information is not Knowledge.
Eventually, iPhone won't have been invented at all by gig · 2012-12-07 14:29 · Score: -1, Troll

it will just have sprung into being magically, ready for everyone to copy.
Accountability Anyone? by Press2ToContinue · 2012-12-07 14:30 · Score: 1

I would like to see a new law on the books: "wrongfully or negligently issuing a patent", to be used as follows:
In the case where a patent is declared invalid, I would like to see the issuing patent office held responsible for damages done....
And to reimburse the patent applicant for:
1) the fees charged for granting the patent
2) legal fees incurred by the patent holder in attempting to defend the patent before it is struck down
And to reimburse any party who is financially damaged by the patent office having wrongfully issued a patent, such as
3) to any company which licensed the patent: any license fees paid out to use the patent
4) to any company which was sued for infringing on the patent: court costs and damages
Patents are applied for in good faith. If the recipient can be irreparably damaged due to negligence or other actions which wrong the recipient, shouldn't there be legal recourse?
Do you think they might hold "inventiveness" and the "obviousness" tests, and the search for prior art to a higher standard? Do you think they might search and remedy any weaknesses in the system?
Accountability anyone?

--
Sent from my ENIAC
As a VERY HAPPY owner of non-Apple products by jkrise · 2012-12-07 14:41 · Score: 1

All I can say is: GREAT! Lets have more of this.
A patent grants a monopoly on an invention for about 19 years. Steve Jobs not only stole other people's ideas; he applied for and got patents on some of them. And worse, he was using those patents not just as a defense; he wanted to destroy alternate models of computing.
In the computing world, the WALLED GARDEN, or JAIL approach followed by Apple is a minority. Or atleast it is, in the desktop space. Apple's phenomenal success in the tablet and phone space is admirable, but very BAD for the rest of the ecosystem.
According to the 'expert' referenced, Apple still has thousands of patents in these areas of computing; and the loss of 1 or 2 patents will not make any impact overall. So I hope more of these stupid patents get tossed out, and open computing platforms thrive in all form factors, including mobile and touch devices.

--
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Surprisingly Valid by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 14:49 · Score: 0

A lot of the patent-wars patents have been truly idiotic, but the complicated heuristics they use to get reasonable expectations from a humans wiggly, haphazard, poorly directioned squiggles is actually pretty important, as based on even the simplest description, it seems like they speed a good deal of time in the lab developing it. Lesser touch-screen devices get confused incredibly easily.
arctan(1/2) by tepples · 2012-12-07 14:52 · Score: 4, Informative

I'd bet it's actually an arctan(1/2) angle, which would lead to an efficient implementation: if abs(rise)/abs(run) is within the range [0.5 ... 2.0], it's diagonal.
1. Re:arctan(1/2) by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:19 · Score: 1
  
  I think you are mistaken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atan2
2. Re:arctan(1/2) by murder_face · 2012-12-07 15:22 · Score: 2
  
  I don't see atan2 in the "LOGO" docs anywhere...
3. Re:arctan(1/2) by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 23:51 · Score: 0
  
  Atari 2? lol!
A testament to the power of S. Jobs... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:02 · Score: 0

Even long after death, he can cause quite a stir in the tech community. He's the Michael Jackson of tech industry. Hell, he's the Margaret Thatcher of tech industry! To some hero and saviour, to others a villain and a crook.
Truly a remarkable personality - take it as you will, if you've ever had anything to do with electronic consumer goods, he probably made an impact on your life at some point. There's no denying that.
Back on topic - the USPTO is finally breaking free of the Reality Distortion Field. Suddenly, something obvious doesn't feel revolutionary just because it has Apple logo on it. More 'sensational' rejections of Apple patents are under way I believe. Especially, since Apple's lawyers went haywire after Job's death. They probably think "what would Steve do" and end up doing something similar, only with much less finesse, and it doesn't seem to work just as well. Good thing SJ left Apple with billions of dollars of savings - they'll need those soon enough.
Jobs Legacy being undone :-( by atarimuseum · 2012-12-07 15:17 · Score: 0

Wow, I'm really surprised this was lost, there was nothing else like the banding and other highly intuitive GUI features introduced by the iPhone... I just got a new book off of Amazon last week called Atari Inc Business is Fun and it has this whole section called Breakout of Myths and it totally tells the full details of Steve Jobs working at Atari and it even has input from Wozniak on building the Breakout arcade. There was actually far more detail in this book than the Jobs book so I'm glad I picked it up. If Apple's IP and Jobs legacy is dismantled you have to wonder if Apple will continue to keep putting out great product that everyone plays catch-up trying to clone :-(
Damn it. by The+Grim+Reefer · 2012-12-07 15:31 · Score: 1

If this one went through I was going to file the following four patents:
Gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force.
I figured once I got those approved I could sue douche-bag-patent-trolls(TM) for failing to pay me a licensing fee for their existence.
1. Re:Damn it. by shentino · 2012-12-07 16:43 · Score: 1
  
  You're not part of the old boys club, so your patents would not be honored.
2. Re:Damn it. by drrilll · 2012-12-07 18:34 · Score: 1
  
  I am patenting a horizontal hand gesture, any direction within 30 degrees of the horizontal axis. I am tentatively calling it the "wave" or "waving".
3. Re:Damn it. by maxwell+demon · 2012-12-07 18:44 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry, but that would already have been covered by my planned patent on exerting a force by exchange on virtual particles. With separate subclaims for photons, W particles, Z particles, gluons and gravitons.
  Oh, and of course I would also have submitted a patent on a method to stabilize matter by preventing several particles to take the same state.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
atan2 is a transcendental function by tepples · 2012-12-07 15:52 · Score: 3, Insightful

atan2 is a transcendental function, which on some architectures may take more time to compute than a slope comparison that boils down to two absolute values, a division, and two subtracts.
1. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-07 20:07 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure it matters, considering that the time to compute either one of those is going to be on the order of nanoseconds. This isn't a performance-critical function.
2. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2012-12-07 20:48 · Score: 0
  
  Yes. Efficiency is bad. Typically USAn attitude.
  
  --
  Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
3. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by SuricouRaven · 2012-12-07 21:10 · Score: 1
  
  Actually I'm in the UK. But there is a limit to when efficiency becomes worthwhile. I would not be surprised if we have not burned more energy fueling our brains to have this discussion than could be saved by changing the angle-finding algorithm, even summing every iDevice over its lifetime.
4. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 00:17 · Score: 0
  
  This is THE MOST PERFORMANCE CRITICAL FUNCTION. it is the only source of input and lag/inaccuracies make the entire device worth shit. if the screen detects your finger it has to constantly run a loop of function/method calls to determine what your finger is doing and return the result to the app.. .cpu utilization = battery drain and ap slow down, inefficient function = sluggish response time and angry user. efficient but inaccurate = unpredictable input...
  the balance must be perfect which means the most efficient math (for the particular CPU architecture) to produce a result that x% of users wont notice inaccuracy or lag.
  while even high accuracy might just be x nano seconds longer you must also factor worst case where the cpu is already pounded or use a co processor to make sure those computes stay constant.
5. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by SnapShot · 2012-12-08 01:16 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  "We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil", Donald Knuth
  
  --
  Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
6. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 01:30 · Score: 0
  
  and you can avoid floating-point arithmetic with
  abs_rise <= abs_run*2 && abs_rise*2 >= abs_run
  (I haven't read the patent -- this is just obvious to someone skilled in the art)
7. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-12-08 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  You *don't* actually need it, you can use tan() to compute comparison end-points and then just compare the delta_y/delta_x with some pre-computed values. You can do that easily for any angle in the vicinity of 22.5 degrees, which is what you're actually looking for.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
8. Re:atan2 is a transcendental function by uninformedLuddite · 2012-12-09 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  atan2 is a transcendental function
  Fscking hippies
  
  --
  The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
Re:Eventually, iPhone won't have been invented at by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 15:53 · Score: 0

Samsung F700
Re:Eventually, iPhone won't have been invented at by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 16:25 · Score: 0

I thought iScrupture already told the True Believers that the iPhone was begotten, not made, by the almighty Saint Jobs. Isn't "sprung into being magically" just an extension of that?
wait a minute by CHRONOSS2008 · 2012-12-07 16:52 · Score: 0

Apple has a patent on the method and design of making an object "Springing into being magically"
PROFIT
Um... tag? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 17:19 · Score: 0

I don't remember my login and have changed e-mails, so I can't get into my old /. account, and it won't let me tag as an AC, but...
SHOULDN'T THIS BE TAGGED WITH "suddenoutbreakofcommonsense"?
Please someone with an active /. login fix this, as that's the correct tag.
Thanks!
Re:This is great, but... what about the small guys by maxwell+demon · 2012-12-07 17:55 · Score: 1

When a patent gets invalidated, Apple cannot any more use it against the small guy either. It just evaporated. So this does good to the small guy as well.
Of course when there's a settlement without the patent getting invalidated, the small guy is still fucked. Unfortunately that gives big companies an extra incentive to settle: Even if it should cost them more that winning the lawsuit, it may be worth it for them by keeping new competition away.

--
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Steve Jobs iNventions by MrKaos · 2012-12-07 21:35 · Score: 1

Perhaps the could be called iPirateThings?

--
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Patent Reform by Seeteufel · 2012-12-07 23:31 · Score: 1

Don't invest in lawyers to clean the shit, ignore particular patent cases, invest in legislative patent reforms and pressure your representatives. There is no point in seperating the wheat from the crap because it smells so bad.
Re:Eventually, iPhone won't have been invented at by Terrasque · 2012-12-07 23:48 · Score: 1

or LG Prada
Or even IBM Simon, for that matter

--
It's The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
Wrong! iPad/iPhone screens made in Kentucky & by olafva · 2012-12-08 01:29 · Score: 1

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/06/04/corning-outs-ultra-slim-flexible-willow-glass/

--
What's past is NOT ALWAYS prologue for the future!
Makes sense by bratwiz · 2012-12-08 01:29 · Score: 1

Makes sense. Now that Steve's dead, there's nobody around to PAY OFF the patent office.
It's far worse than that. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 01:35 · Score: 0

"So, basically, the Patent Office simply "rubber stamps" this kind of thing and says "leave it to the courts"?"
Yes, but worse, the courts then turn round and say "The PTO wouldn't have agreed with this patent if it hadn't been valid". I.e. "Leave it to the PTO".
Re:This is great, but... what about the small guys by Pikoro · 2012-12-08 02:56 · Score: 1

The problem is that everyone who has been sued or has had to litigate against this patent or has gone out of business because of legal action due to this patent has been screwed. They should get full compensation from Apple for lost profits, legal fees, and any winnings awarded to Apple because of the patents. All licensing fees should be refunded in full. It's only fair that hardships caused by a patent that has been invalidated should be compensated for.

--
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
What Jobs Did by Art3x · 2012-12-08 05:55 · Score: 1

Jobs got engineers to do really good work. That was his contribution to society.
He lacked the technical interest to make anything on his own. No product from Apple ever could be called new. But then again I believe the same applies to any product from any company. The distinguishing characteristic of Apple and reason for its success was not creativity but flawless execution. And again, the same could be said for Google and most successful people or companies.
Again, the reason for Apple's success was flawless execution. This execution was by the hands of the engineers, not Jobs. However, Jobs was the one who gave them the room --- and whip --- to do it.
Gangbanging is still wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 11:58 · Score: -1

Yup, it's standard practice for the USPTO to "rubber stamp" this kind of "thing" (inventive ideas) and for the courts to be the location where the inventiveness is challenged. Patents and patent protections are ordinarily civil matters, not criminal--you won't ordinarily find the police on the hunt for patent infringers. It's up to patent holders to defend their intellectual property and for competitors to challenge those patents in court.
I believe the iPhone UI was very inventive and that the court's action (actually just one ancient judge) is ill-conceived. While Judge Posner (just one man in a position of power) has widely expressed his opinion that software patents are bad, that doesn't mean he's right. And just because 100K vociferous Android developers would like to abscond with Apple's UI inventions doesn't mean they're right either.
About patents by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 20:39 · Score: 0

Patents will ruin technology world.
trivial crap by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-08 22:46 · Score: 0

This is trivial and obvious, the stuff some people patent these days is a fucking joke.
Common Sense by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-10 01:59 · Score: 0

Finally, the patent office is using common sense.