“Apple on Monday was sued by Calibrait for allegedly violating a patent for an ‘electronic alignment system,'” Electronista reports.
“All iOS devices supposedly imitate a technique that calibrates accelerometers by positioning a device and then flipping it in the opposite direction to recalibrate and average out the results,” Electronista reports. “Both the devices themselves, as well as third-party apps like Bubble Level (free, App Store), were claimed to be infringing on the patent.”
Electronista reports, “Little is known about Calibrait, which doesn’t have an established Internet presence. It doesn’t fit the typical definition of a patent troll as it’s suing from its home territory, rather than picking a city more likely to return a favorable verdict. Its name also suggests that it designed the product itself and might have actual uses instead of being a non-practicing entity relying on patent royalties alone.
Read more in the full article here.
This challenge is a bit late out of the gate.
Interesting if they will be seeking gazillions or will settle for a fair and friendly compensation agreement if they do have a legitimate case.
OK here is my offer, $10.00.
That’s fair and after a drink and a dog you’ll still have money for a lottery ticket.
What’s more interesting is to see whether it has a valid patent. The original iPhone was released a long time ago for Calibrait to just now be bringing this lawsuit, and for it to be brought in its home territory. Very strange.
… a small engineering firm, they may well have a couple problems with getting to court earlier. They may not have investigated Apple’s application of the technology sooner, lacking the personnel. They may have had to bring a legal team on board for this. They might … ok, to keep it simple, they might not be as well-configured to launch an instant “defense” as a patent-troll company would be.
actually… i think they were all using blackberry devices until very recently when they “got with the times”. that is when they realized what was going on here.
Calibraitgate 😉
More like Cali-Bait
Considering that Apple has had integrated accelerometers since 2006, this patent challenge sounds highly parasitic. Lawyers love it. The computer community meanwhile suffers from rampant BS disorder.
Another shoe drops. Apple opened this can of worms and this is only the beginning – the tip of the ice berg. Lots more lawsuits to be filed against them for violating patents. .