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Apple Sued Over iPhones Making Calls, Sending Email (fortune.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the patent-troll dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Fortune: A company that seemingly does nothing but license patents or, if necessary, sue other companies to get royalties, has taken aim at Apple. But here's the kicker: the lawsuit alleges that Apple's last several iPhones and iPads violate a slew of patents related to seemingly standard features, including the ability to place calls as well as sending and receiving emails. A total of six patent infringement claims were brought against Apple by Corydoras Technologies on May 20, according to Apple-tracking site Patently Apple, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit. According to Patently Apple, the counts against Apple cover every iPhone dating back to the iPhone 4 and every iPad dating back to the iPad 2. In addition to taking issue with Apple's devices placing calls, the lawsuits also allege that the tech giant violates patents Corydoras holds related to video calling, which is similar to Apple's FaceTime, as well as displaying a person's geographic location through a feature like Find My iPhone and the ability to block unwanted calls. Last year, Apple was ordered to pay $533 million to Smartflash LLC for allegedly violating three patents related to copy protection.

3 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Expo 67 - Canada - Eh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    In 1967 one of the ways Canada celebrated its centenary was to hold an exposition called Expo 67. I can remember being there as a kid and being entranced by something that looked like it was from the future. It had a keyboard, a telephone handset and a ~10" black and white screen. You could talk to and see the person on the other side of the hall who was sitting at a similar device. According to Bell Canada it was coming "real soon now".

  2. If I were Apple I would buy East Texas by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1, Informative

    And give it back to Mexico as a peace offering. Our legal system would then be free of a huge burden.

  3. Re:wait, wut? by crgrace · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Warp Drive" as a concept should not be patentable. If it were, then someone could claim a patent on all faster-than-light travel.

    What *is* patentable is a specific implementation of the warp drive concept. Someone else could build a warp drive in a different way, but they couldn't copy your design.

    That's the main idea behind patents, although it is partially corrupted now.