Apple has been found to be in violation of a Samsung patent, which has resulted in a limited import ban on certain products, including the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, original iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G, all only for AT&T-specific models. More details are emerging about the ruling, but it’s likely this affects only older devices on AT&T because it relates to a specific component used before wider release of the iPhone with multi-band support.
The import ban could theoretically result in Apple being unable to sell the devices in question in the U.S., should all appeals fail and the decision be upheld, since Apple wouldn’t be able to bring the devices into the country from its overseas suppliers and manufacturing facilities. As this is an ITC ruling, it would have to be appealed to the White House or Federal Circuit to be overturned, notes Nilay Patel of The Verge on Twitter.
@panzer Not a preliminary ruling, like other ITC rulings. This is final, appealable only to WH (won't touch it) and Fed Circuit.— nilay patel (@reckless) June 04, 2013
Even if it does result in an effective ban, these devices are likely nearing the end of their sales cycle, with updates looming in the fall or perhaps as soon as next week at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Still, it would be a considerable blow given that there are still a number of months between now and then, depending on when it takes effect. In the interim, small carriers and education still rely heavily on older models.
Apple announced today that it was, of course, disappointed with the outcome and will appeal today’s ruling telling AllThingsD, “Today’s decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States. Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world. They’ve admitted that it’s against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the United States Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee.”
The full decision is embedded below, and the patent at issue in this particular decision is described in detail here. It’s related to cellular transmission of signals, to dramatically simplify things.
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As Apple and Samsung continue to wage war over patents, other tech companies like Google and Twitter are trying to make the patent landscape look a little bit less like a minefield. Microsoft is landing distinctly in the middle as it attempts to facilitate patent licensing by today launching a tracking tool that showcases its portfolio. The company implies that the new tool’s transparency will promote innovation, but the apparent intent is to make evident what patents the company owns so that individuals and other companies don’t get caught up by trolls alleging ownership over a certain patent.
Microsoft’s Chief Patent Council Bart Eppenauer told The Verge last year that the company monetizes its “currency of innovation” and research…
You could monitor your sleep using the science of actigraphy but, as we’ve learned, accelerometers don’t always make for the best slumber trackers. The real deal stuff, used by scientists, requires all sorts of electrodes, which are a tad cumbersome and tend to yank out hair. Sony is proposing a system that removes the glue and sticks the sensors in your pillow. This is according to a patent application the company filed that proposes, among other things, an advanced alarm clock that monitors brain waves to detect when you enter and leave REM sleep. One particular example has it guiding users though an efficient power nap, by starting a timer once they’ve started dozing and only waking them once they’ve come out of a deeper sleep state. The proposed alarm could take any number of forms, from a buzzer, to a flashing light or bed shaking motor. To dig through the application for yourself hit up the source link.
Filed under: Sony
Source: USPTO
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Last week Nokia announced that RIM would pay it a one-off fee and make subsequent payments as part of a patent licensing agreement. It’s now emerged, thanks to an SEC filing spotted by AllThingsD, that the one-off payment was a lump sum of €50 million, or around $ 65 million. The fee has been recorded in RIM’s financial books for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. We still don’t know how much the future instalments from RIM to Nokia will be, but it appears the Canadian company is paying a fairly hefty price to settle its legal troubles with the similarly beleaguered Finnish giant.
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Microsoft had a new patent application published with the USPTO today (via Unwired View) which shows a glasses-based heads-up display system that could overlay information on the real world for a user. If it sounds familiar, it’s likely because that’s what Google’s trying to accomplish with Project Glass, which actually already has functional prototypes out in the wild.
The device described by Microsoft is a little less ambitious, but maybe also a little more purpose-driven. The patent describes a tool that’s designed for use in specific situations where it’ll be most relevant to a user – rather than being intended for all-day use, the way that Google seems to want to position Glass. So, for instance, you could pop on Microsoft’s glasses when at a baseball game and view box scores from around the league, pitch speed information, pitch count and other info overlaid on your view. By acting in specific contexts instead of as a general-purpose device, Microsoft’s design could help users get over what will certainly be an adoption curve for cumbersome wearable tech.
Microsoft’s patent deal specifically with live events, in fact, and is designed to be used pretty much in a stationary position, without compromising the field of view. Microsoft describes its capabilities as follows:
A computer implemented method providing supplemental information to a user with a head mounted display viewing a live event, comprising: receiving an indication that a user is attending a live event, the live event having an event duration; determining a field of view of the user through the head mounted display, and objects within the field of view at the live event; retrieving supplemental information describing at least the objects in the field of view of the user during a portion of the live event; determining elements of said supplemental information to present to the user in the head mounted display; and displaying the supplemental information in one or more display elements in the head mounted display.
Of course, an AR/HUD glasses device from Microsoft could also plug into its existing hardware ecosystem, maybe to produce combined experiences with the Xbox and Kinect. But this is still just a patent, and one that was only relatively recently filed (May 2011), so even if Microsoft does go ahead and put this into production we won’t see it for a while. But getting some patent skin in the game for this market, which could explode depending on consumer reception of Google’s early efforts, is a very good idea for Microsoft, especially given the cross-platform ambitions it seems to be diving into head-on.
Microsoft had a new patent application published with the USPTO today (via Unwired View) which shows a glasses-based heads-up display system that could overlay information on the real world for a user. If it sounds familiar, it’s likely because that’s what Google’s trying to accomplish with Project Glass, which actually already has functional prototypes out in the wild.
The device described by Microsoft is a little less ambitious, but maybe also a little more purpose-driven. The patent describes a tool that’s designed for use in specific situations where it’ll be most relevant to a user – rather than being intended for all-day use, the way that Google seems to want to position Glass. So, for instance, you could pop on Microsoft’s glasses when at a baseball game and view box scores from around the league, pitch speed information, pitch count and other info overlaid on your view. By acting in specific contexts instead of as a general-purpose device, Microsoft’s design could help users get over what will certainly be an adoption curve for cumbersome wearable tech.
Microsoft’s patent deal specifically with live events, in fact, and is designed to be used pretty much in a stationary position, without compromising the field of view. Microsoft describes its capabilities as follows:
A computer implemented method providing supplemental information to a user with a head mounted display viewing a live event, comprising: receiving an indication that a user is attending a live event, the live event having an event duration; determining a field of view of the user through the head mounted display, and objects within the field of view at the live event; retrieving supplemental information describing at least the objects in the field of view of the user during a portion of the live event; determining elements of said supplemental information to present to the user in the head mounted display; and displaying the supplemental information in one or more display elements in the head mounted display.
Of course, an AR/HUD glasses device from Microsoft could also plug into its existing hardware ecosystem, maybe to produce combined experiences with the Xbox and Kinect. But this is still just a patent, and one that was only relatively recently filed (May 2011), so even if Microsoft does go ahead and put this into production we won’t see it for a while. But getting some patent skin in the game for this market, which could explode depending on consumer reception of Google’s early efforts, is a very good idea for Microsoft, especially given the cross-platform ambitions it seems to be diving into head-on.
There’s a certain disconnected feeling that comes with using a touchscreen, and Sony isn’t content with vibration being the sole standard for haptic feedback. The company has filed a bunch of patent applications for a stylus which instead uses artificially generated friction to make it harder or easier to move across the screen. It works using a “rolling contact ball gripping mechanism,” which responds to instructions from the phone or tablet and employs actuators to increase or decrease friction on the roller ball tip. The various filings outline some potential benefits of this stylus-based haptic feedback, including being able to feel yourself “carving and molding” 3D objects in a design application, or understanding your character is “fatigued or damaged” while playing a game. We know that Samsung increased the friction of the Note II’s S-Pen to make it feel more like writing on paper, but Sony’s approach would potentially bring a whole new layer of interaction.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets, Sony
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Last time we checked in with Apple’s ongoing court battle with Samsung in the upcoming Galaxy Nexus case, which will be tried by the same court that awarded Apple $ 1.05 billion in damages this past summer, Apple was adding the latest Samsung devices to the suit. Now Samsung has responded in kind, adding the iPad mini, 4th generation iPad and 5th generation iPod touch to the mix.
Samsung’s additions shouldn’t come as a surprise; when a judge ruled that Apple was indeed allowed to add Android 4.2 Jelly Bean as it pertains to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as well as the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy S III to the proceedings, he specifically warned that in granting that alteration, Apple should be prepared for return amendments from Samsung. Specifically, he said that the iPad mini and latest iPad were likely additions. The end of this week, November 23, is the deadline for any new additions to the lawsuit, so the timing on Samsung’s part is not surprising.
Samsung had also previously moved to have the iPhone 5 added to the filing, and that motion was successful. This time around, the basis for adding Apple’s latest devices is the same: Samsung claims they infringe two UMTS wireless patents in the cellular variants, as well as patents related to features both cellular and Wi-Fi versions of Apple’s newest tablets and media player. The patent which affects the iPod touch specifically deals with volume control mechanisms on a portable media playing device.
The deadline for amendments to filings in this case is tomorrow, so theoretically we could still Apple try to sneak in a return shot. But even if nothing else changes in the line-up of devices being tried, this trial isn’t set to be decided until 2014, so there’s still a while to wait before any outcome is forthcoming.
3D systems has filed a lawsuit against both Formlabs and Kickstarter for patent infringement. Formlabs is the manufacturer of a low-cost 3D printer called the Form 1. Thanks to the stereolithography printing technique, the Form 1 can achieve professional grade 3D printing in a small hobbyist printer. It quickly became a Kickstarter success. Yet, in 1997 3D Systems patented stereolithography applications and now wants reparation from Formlabs, and Kickstarter who promoted the printer.
The Kickstarter fundraising campaign topped $ 1.4 million in pre-orders in just under a week, making it one of the notable successes of the platform. Formlabs ultimately raised $ 2,945,885. Kickstarter is financially involved as it takes a 5 percent cut on each campaign, according to the BBC.
Instead of using traditional melting techniques, Formlabs has opted for the “gold standard” in 3D printing — stereolithography, a high-precision positioning system designed to solidify plastics. It allows you to use thin structures in your original 3D model and achieve a level of detail never seen in home 3D printing, especially for $ 2,299.
Similarly priced competitors, such as MakerBots, use a more traditional melting technique that doesn’t lead to the same rendering. On the other end of the spectrum, high-end competitors cost anywhere between $ 10,000 and $ 1 million. The Form 1 was the printer aiming at bridging the gap between those two categories.
But 3D Systems carefully patented stereolithography when it comes to 3D printing. According to the company, its patent portfolio is well-known in the industry, and feigning ignorance won’t be enough to defend the Form 1.
When we initially covered Formlabs’ Kickstarter success, the company claimed that it managed to keep costs low because a few patents had expired. Co-founder Maxim Lobovsky didn’t state which patent exactly, but 3D Systems believes that Formlabs infringed claims 1 and 34 of U.S. Patent No. 5,597,520.
Aside from direct patent infringement, 3D Systems claims that the crowd-funding campaign has caused “immediate and irreparable injury and damage to 3D Systems” by promoting the new printer.
Formlabs and Kickstarter declined to comment.
HTC and Apple have just confirmed that they’ve settled all of their ongoing patent disputes, ending all of their lawsuits and opting into a 10-year licensing agreement. To refresh your memory, this particular saga begin back on March 2nd, 2010, when Apple filed lawsuits with the International Trade Commission and US District Court. That initial filing covered 20 patents related to iOS, which it accused HTC of infringing upon, and since then it has only been an ever-expanding battle. Essentially all the juicy details of the settlement between the companies are completely under wraps, but both HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou and Apple’s man-in-charge, Tim Cook have issued brief words for the official joint statement (the whole of which can be seen after the break):
“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,“ said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.
“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,“ said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.
Notably, this settlement applies to all past and future patents for the companies, meaning we shouldn’t be witnessing the two fight it out in court for years to come — at least on the patent front. Hopefully we’ll soon begin to see more of the same with other ongoing patent wars — Apple vs. Samsung, anyone?
Continue reading HTC and Apple settle all patent issues, enter 10-year licensing deal
Filed under: Mobile, Apple, HTC
HTC and Apple settle all patent issues, enter 10-year licensing deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 21:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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