“The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 40 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“In today’s granted patent wrap-up report we present you with links to a number of key granted patents,” Purcher reports. “Two of the patents cover key iOS interfaces while others cover OLED display panel fabrication and iDevice compass calibration.”
Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations and diagrams, in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Sad to say that patents aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. If a competitor deems them valuable enough, they can just steal them and hide behind their lawyers and judicial and procedural delays for years while reaping enormous market share and (some) profits.
Hmmmm I ponder of what slimy companies of which you elude?
A lot of good any of this does Apple. More amazing tech to the copiers. In only cost Samsung $1 Billion. Seems like a pretty good deal to be a thief when you look at their sales numbers based on thieving.
It is far better than the alternative in which Apple elects not to file for patents while other companies continue to do so, leaving Apple on the defensive and unarmed (without a counter-arsenal of patents).
Actually, it has not cost Samsung anything but legal fees so far (probably a few million dollars at this point). Samsung is definitely appealing that ruling and has already been told that they don’t have to worry about triple damages.
This brings me to the real point: Samsung is avoiding triple damages on the grounds that they *claim* they legitimately believed the patents were/are invalid. The judge agreed Samsung that this meant Samsung did not willfully infringe. I’m 100% sure Samsung’s lawyers will push that argument further claiming that *everyone* believes the patents can be invalidated. This will cause the appeals court to put everything on hold pending a *FINAL* review by the courts AND the USPTO which in and of itself could take a few more years. In the mean time SAMSUNG gets to continue on as it always has.
By the time Samsung has to pay up, if they do and if they don’t get the payment reduced, SAMSUNG will have made many, many times more profits on the technologies involved than $1B.
With the broken patent system and courts that have no prayer of keeping up with the pace of advancing technology, violating patents can be the most profitable way to go.
apple legal is so underperforming it’s a joke.
if Ive was an apple lawyer: he’ll ship 9 ugly products to one half nice one for every ten he makes.
— legal lost in UK so that Apple had to apologize to Samsung in Print. Then they screwed up the apology and had to do it again AND the judge asked them to PAY samsung’s legal costs.
— one of the biggest touted ‘Victories’ was the banning of the Galaxy Tab in a part of Europe. Samsung solved it in a few weeks by sticking an aluminium bezel around it , judge said it was fine. Years of work by Ive and others can be copied with an bezel….
— Apple has lost countless other cases
— they screwed up the Proview iPad trademark bad. and had to pay 60 million (60 million is more than the profits many companies make in a year. Amazon only made 7 million in the mid year 2012 quarter) to proview again after buying the trademark from them before. As one Chinese lawyer laughed: “apple legal doen’t seem to understand China and Taiwan are TWO SEPARATE COUNTRIES and trademarks registered in Taiwan don’t apply to China … “. Apple legal dudes, one is Communist and one isn’t for a start… Proview scammed them BAD.
(that was the year Tim Cook paid SVP legal Sewell 50,000 shares or 60 million at the time for performance… )
— the ONLY significant case Apple Legal has won in spite of Jobs vowed ‘thermonuclear war with 200 patents” is the U.S where they seemed to have only won due to the jury foreman ( a patented inventor himself) swaying the jury. As yet apple has got zero cents and no bans with the judgement which is under review…
— meanwhile apple legal chief has so much free time he’s joined the board of directors of the country club Vail.
Fortstall who was fired over ‘Maps’ who was involved in OSX and iOS (which makes 80% of apple’s money) said he worked weekends for years…
After various problems like Mobile Me and Maps apple engineers were put in ‘lock down’, where is the ‘lock down all engines firing, this is war’ for apple legal… ?
are they all at Vail Resorts ?
More use of 3-D technology:
when the device determines that it has returned to a “3D mode of use”, responsibility for providing the output direction is entrusted to the 3D calibrator.
Apple goes 3-D.
Me = expectantly entranced. (^_^)