“The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a key patent for its iPhone, which it applied for in September 2007. Patent 7,479,949 covers the product’s distinctive multifunction touchscreen,” Erika Morphy reports for MacNewsWorld. “It also encompasses technology behind the iPhone’s hardware, operating system and certain phone and camera functions, such as the device’s uncanny ability to determine which icon the user intended to press when more than one was selected.”
“The omnibus description is likely to spawn many more patents addressing the variety of features set forth in the patent specification, Raymond Van Dyke, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Merchant & Gould, told MacNewsWorld,” Morphy reports. “‘A requirement of patent law is that the claims portion of the description, setting forth the exclusive rights, be fully supported by the specification description. The lengthy specification — over 300 pages — and copious drawings of about 100 means that there will be more patents issuing, building the iPhone patent portfolio for possible lawsuits against competitors,’ he said.”
“Besides solidifying the rights to its cash cow, Apple’s wide-ranging patent gives it ammunition to go after competing products designed along similar lines,” Morphy reports. “The Palm Pre is the device most likely to be impacted in the near term… Perhaps more devices will find themselves in Apple’s crosshairs down the road — but the Pre will surely be the first, said Rob Walch, producer of Today in iPhone, one of the largest iPhone podcasts.”
“‘Instead of calling it Patent number 7,479,949, the Patent and Trademark Office should have called it ‘Death to the Pre,'” Morphy reports.
MacDailyNews Take: “Death to the Pre” means Palm dies, too.
Morphy continues, “This fight also has a personal element to it. Irish U2 front man and humanitarian Bono has invested money in Palm. ‘You just know that had to have irked Steve [Jobs] after he splashed Bono’s image all over the [iPod],’ said Walch.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Maybe Bono wasn’t satisfied with the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iTunes Gift Card (PRODUCT) RED versions, but also wanted an “iPhone U2 Special Edition” and Jobs said no? Or maybe Bono just has a bad investment advisor?
Also from the Potential Bad Blood Department: Palm and its backers, Elevation Partners, has numerous former Apple employees onboard including former CFO Fred Anderson and former senior vice president of the iPod division, John Rubinstein. It makes us wonder if there’s an element of revenge at play here or is the Pre just some good-spirited, honest competition? Regardless, by any reasonable person’s calculations, the probability of Palm developing the Pre without the existence of Apple’s iPhone stands at — let’s see here… carry the zero — 0%.
See related articles below for the backstory.
