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Apple Sued Over iPhones Making Calls, Sending Email (fortune.com)
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.
The more stupid patent lawsuits we have, the more likely we will see patent reform.
Right now, none of the big guys want patent reform, because it helps them keep down competitors, and some of them make a good chunk of money from it. If we want to see patent reform, then they're going to have to start hurting. Bring on the patent trolls, I say!
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I know, this is stupid. Making calls? Making video calls? Ever see 2001: A space odyssey? Im sure there are older examples of video calling. Isn't that prior art? What the fuck?
/rant
These patents needs to be invalidated, patents should last for a decade at the most. If you can't make money on the idea in a decade, and gain enough marketshare to fund further R&D, get out of capitalism.
But seriously, why are these trivial patents getting through our system with so much prior art and established methods already common knowledge. No Corydoras Technologies, you did not invent the video phone, nor did you tell Apple how its done.
I say outright get rid of software patents: the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. Most new software ideas are created in the act of making a specific product, not mass general research labs of the kind Edison used. This means that the ideas would be created anyhow even without the royalty incentives.
And most don't bother to mine existing patents for new ideas because most are vague, obvious, or trivial junk, often filed for defensive or legal ammunition reasons.
Thus, the two main reasons for patents: incentives and publicizing ideas, are mostly moot these days. For every good software patent, I bet there are at least 10 junk patents.
Patents can join H-1B visas in the high abuse-to-legitimacy ratio: a game played by and for big biz to stay big at the expense of everybody else.
Table-ized A.I.
Otherwise I could just file a patent for a time machine. Now no one can create a time machine in the next twenty years without my permission.
They'll just travel back in time and either (a) create prior art and/or (b) file a patent before you - the results will likely be paradoxical.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Someone having a general idea does not constitute prior art.
No problem with that. But then someone needs to explain those stupid judges that actually implementing something (using your own method) does not constitute infringement of somebody's general idea described in a patent.