“I just provided a detailed update on the current state of affairs in the ITC investigation of Apple’s first complaint against HTC, and I saved a true gem for this separate blog post,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“It’s a story that’s remarkable per se — allegedly, Android started at Apple — and it could also have major legal implications for a future Apple lawsuit against Google or possibly even for Apple’s dispute with Motorola Mobility after its proposed acquisition by Google,” Mueller reports. “Here’s a quote from Apple’s recent reply brief to the ITC staff’s and HTC’s petitions for review of the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) initial determination that found HTC to infringe two patents, including the ‘263 ‘realtime API’ patent:”
Android and Mr. Rubin’s relevant background does not start, as HTC would like the Commission to believe, with his work at General Magic or Danger in the mid-1990s. In reality, as the evidence revealed at the hearing, Mr. Rubin began his career at Apple in the early 1990s and worked as a low-level engineer specifically reporting to the inventors of the ‘263 [realtime API] patent at the exact time their invention was being conceived and developed. […] It is thus no wonder that the infringing Android platform used the claimed subsystem approach of the ‘263 patent that allows for flexibility of design and enables the platform to be “highly customizable and expandable” as HTC touts. […] While Mr. Rubin’s inspiration for the Android framework may not be directly relevant to the pending petitions for review, that HTC felt compelled to distort this history is illustrative of the liberties it takes in attacking the ALJ’s [initial determination] and the substantial evidence supporting the ALJ’s findings.
Mueller reports “Look at the first two sentences again: ‘Android […] does not start […] at General Magic or Danger.’ According to this filing, it all started at Apple!”
Much, much more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Holy Moly, the plot thickens!
Oh, snap! Talk to the patent.
This is a pandora’s box and a half!
Served! That was a well-written legal spanking delivered by Apple to HTC. Things are looking better and better…
+1
Let the “bitch-slapping” commence.
Oh by the way, judge, here’s another piece of evidence that Google were barking up the wrong tree when they were first developing Android. We enclose for the benefit of the court minutes of the board meeting during the tenure of Eric ‘Moleman’ Schmidt in which specifics of touchscreen technology was discussed.
Andy Rubin declared a willful infringer of a patent developed at Apple while he worked there, by the very people he worked for.
For whom the bell tolls.
AND by Oracle !!!
It tolls for thieves.
Another journalist exceeding his knowledgeBase by trying — and failing — to look educated by using a fancy latin phrase but doing so incorrectly.
Sorry grhakl, Florian Mueller is a well respected IP attorney and has done a great job educating the rest of us on what is going on with all of the suits.
Well-respected IP analyst, but not an attorney.
And while I’ll readily admit that per se looked odd to me there, a little research reveals it’s quite valid.
Thanks, I did catch that AFTER I posted, silly me.
Ouch for Google. Those guys can’t seem to get a break.
Can’t steal any product big enough to support their precarious revenue draining free services.
Goople, bunch of idiots! lol
Looks like Andy Rubins’ name will be changing to Mud.
He looks like one of those scumbags that we all know exists in the Tech world. Anybody who has worked in tech will have met one of these…..they usually jump from company to company taking IP from the previous company to pass on to the next company and making it sound as if they came up with it. Hope he gets whats coming to him real soon!
Sounds harsh and may bite Google later. Not to mention the billions to get that cast iron arse plate for Apples attack dawgs. Lose billions, lose Android, and Apple walks into the search business with a one more thing line. Ouch…..
Wow this is just sad. If you really wanted too you could say both android and iOS started at GNU or bell south. Ridiculous argument
FU Tacky boy! If it was the other way around we know what hate you’d be spilling out your mouth.
Darn it! stfu Tack. very annoying.
Why stop at GNU? The Sumerians used clay tablets 5000 years ago.
Yes, you could say that, Tack. But it would be irrelevant: The bases you mention are open source and do not subject to patent restrictions. What was your point again?
History repeats itself here. Ms Windows started at Apple too.
Apple is only arguing against one patent, not Android as a whole.
Steve mentioned that the iPhone 1 had 200 patents. Presumably this specific patent was one of those 200.
Check out Folklore.org before you Apple Haters start to look stupid. Yeah Apple invented this and that.
As I had been thinking…
what came first the Chicken or the Eggs.
According to Wiki – Google made the purchase of Android; a apparently a company back in 2005 – yet Apple has a complete product on the market by 2007 – a Phone, advertising and iPhone OS.
What came first – IOS or ANDROID?
In deed the Plot thickens – Mr. Rubin’s – Google – Android…
Seems we got a dead ANDROID on the way!
E inteteS Hard to say both companies worked in secrecy on mobile oses.
Android was founded in 2003. Who knows how long before that both parties were thinking of mobile operating systems.
Im a fan of android but looking at old prototype pics of early early devices id say the the current UI of android came from the iPhone. At some point they abruptly switched gears (prob the night Eric called Andy telling him about a phone he saw at apple)
As for this latest news all i can gather is that Andy didn’t bother to mention that he worked at apple in the early 90s. Would love to know if he did that on purpose or if he feels he didn’t work in a related area at apple and was providing only his history as it lines up with when he became interested in mobile oses explicitly.
*grabs popcorn*
Lest we forget, the first version of Android looked nothing like the current version, they were aiming at now defunct RIM before Apple showed them the light.
Thieves, spies, traitors, moles.
The fact that Google has to spend two year’ profits to buy MIM and IBM patents when Apple goes after HTC and Samsung shows that it is afraid because Android has practically zero patents of consequence. Google is well-known to blatantly infringe people’s privacies and to ride roughshod over other’s patents before it even bought over Android. It thinks that because it can buy popularity, it is protected through its fandroid base to ignore the consequences of its action.
I don’t get how a fanbase would protect google or android. If a court of law ends up finding them guilty on any counts a fanbase would not protect them.
Im an android fan but i could care less for google just as I care nothing for MS and Apple. If anyone of them were the only player in town they’d be raping consumers blind.
@ dude
guess so?… in your world, maybe. there’s still decent people around. few, but.
@dude
“If …………….. they’d be raping consumers blind.”
You can’t begin to substantiate/prove your (conditional) non-statement. Save your breath, you might need it.
Andy Rubin is sure turning out to be a heavy burden for Google. How much has he cost them now? In real money? In loss of goodwill? Maybe they wanted to Motorola CEO to replace Rubin.