Apple and Microsoft Face Touchpad Lawsuit

Status
Not open for further replies.

Shnur

Distinguished
Mar 9, 2009
169
0
18,680
I think for the first time in patent infringement the company accusing is right. Let's just hope that it'll come out that Tsera will not just bank the cash like Rambus (the memory company that just sued every single company in the industry).
 

fooldog01

Distinguished
Mar 29, 2009
99
0
18,630
[citation][nom]Camikazi[/nom]They were waiting for lots of big companies to make alot of money.[/citation]

Probably right.
 

chuenl

Distinguished
Mar 12, 2009
51
0
18,630
The paragraph is almost so generic. If you replace the first sentence with this: "A mouse is a device that contains an object or a sensor, and a user enters commands by tracing patterns by moving the mouse with his hand.", then it becomes another patent and one can use it to sue everybody!
 

chuenl

Distinguished
Mar 12, 2009
51
0
18,630
The paragraph is almost so generic. If you replace the first sentence with this: "A mouse is a device that contains an object or a sensor, and a user enters commands by moving the mouse with his hand.", then it becomes another patent and one can use it to sue everybody!
 

ohim

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2009
1,195
0
19,360
Fuk the patent system. So what now ? Companies who actualy build stuff for out daily lifes with that technology shouldn`t be allowed because some dumb ass little "company" filled at patent for it and actualy does nothing with it just waiting to suck on other ppl`s work ... legal system sux donkey balls. I wish i had a patent on the wheel ... imagine how rich i could be, or should i start registering random words.
 

IzzyCraft

Distinguished
Nov 20, 2008
1,438
0
19,290
[citation][nom]Shnur[/nom]I think for the first time in patent infringement the company accusing is right. Let's just hope that it'll come out that Tsera will not just bank the cash like Rambus (the memory company that just sued every single company in the industry).[/citation]
Ionno about Tsera but Rambus is what i like to call a pain in the ass version of a "research" center which basically goes out to make patents and holds them for money.
 

Parrdacc

Distinguished
Jun 30, 2008
567
0
18,980
[citation][nom]ohim[/nom]Fuk the patent system. So what now ? Companies who actualy build stuff for out daily lifes with that technology shouldn`t be allowed because some dumb ass little "company" filled at patent for it and actualy does nothing with it just waiting to suck on other ppl`s work ... legal system sux donkey balls. I wish i had a patent on the wheel ... imagine how rich i could be, or should i start registering random words.[/citation]

Yeah well I invented the air eveyone breaths. You all life lovers owe me 23 quadrillon billion dollars with interest:) Oh wait I forgot to file the patent...I knew I forgot something. Man these lawsuits are getting out of hand.
 

Honis

Distinguished
Mar 16, 2009
702
0
18,980
[citation][nom]ohim[/nom]Fuk the patent system. So what now ? Companies who actualy build stuff for out daily lifes with that technology shouldn`t be allowed because some dumb ass little "company" filled at patent for it and actualy does nothing with it just waiting to suck on other ppl`s work ... legal system sux donkey balls. I wish i had a patent on the wheel ... imagine how rich i could be, or should i start registering random words.[/citation]
That is exactly why we have patents in the first place! I with no money can apply for a patent that is a REALLY great idea! I may not have the resources to make it but it is MY idea and I have a right to own it. If I didn't have this right, Apple, Microsoft, whoever could just start using it with never acknowledging me or compensating me on the work I had done prior to them stealing it.

This case points out one of the many flaws with the US Patent System, there are way to many for a single company or person to read through them to see if the idea they have is original. The patent office has curved this by making them serchable, but what I call dohiky may be sprocket to someone else.

My question is why didn't these major corporations try and patent the interface like they do EVERYTHING ELSE?! My guess is they tried but got turned down due to prior patent!
 

apmyhr

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2009
258
0
18,780
Gotta love patent trolls. Something is very wrong with out patent law when some small "company" can patent the entire concept of portable touch technology.
 

ricardok

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2009
323
0
18,780
The patent system is broken because it allows people and companies to file for a patent based on words that can mean anything. Patents should be filled based on real products, or at least real in terms of usage with the right knowledge on how to create that same results (like the touchscreen).. Hell, they could even sue ALL notebook/netbook makers on touchpad with that patent.
 

feenyxfire

Distinguished
Jun 11, 2009
17
0
18,510
Looks like gold-digging to me. Regardless of whether or not it was legit at one time is almost irrelevant, as the patent was awarded 10 years ago. Tsera seems to have just quietly sat on the patent until touchpads became almost an industry standard and then unleashed the lawyers. The system described in the patent is basically how Palm's Graffiti writing program works... Tsera should have filed it back then, though the first Palm actually came out in 1996, so Tsera might not have a leg to stand on.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Lame Patent...This case won't hold up in court as Apple could easily show "obviousness" of the patent. Basically, he is using "graffiti/gesture" technology used in the old palm pilots to create letters and applying it to "all portable devices". I'm surprised he's not getting sued for implementing a previous and obvious idea. I'm surprised he would even be allows a patent to begin with. Taking an existing the touchpad, which has existed for many years, and make a claim to "apply" it to "all portable electronics" is bogus. That's like claiming a patent "An input device with many buttons used to enter in letters and/or commands" to be used on any portable electronic devices...aka a keyboard...This guy deserves nothing and is just wanting a piece of the pie.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Cell phones have used this method for longer than this company has owned the patent.

Not only that, most people would need to look at it to know what they are doing with the touch pad.

But as for the patent itself, it's way to broad and non-specific.
 

nitto555rchallenger

Distinguished
Mar 25, 2009
112
0
18,680
Well if Tsera's legal team waited to use this now is a great idea, because you now have the controlling factor over future developing technologies like the Ipod and handheld devices. This case is identical to Immersion Vs. Sony in 2003, for the use of Force Feedback technology in rumble controllers. With that case, others like Microsoft settled ahead for 26 $Million, while Sony stuck to its own guns and only lost $20.8 Million and is still getting sued by them today.
 

tayb

Distinguished
Jan 22, 2009
1,143
0
19,280
Jeez. You guys would have the patent system completely abolished and unique ideas and inventions stolen by whomever wants them. In this idiotic world there would be no such thing as a start-up company producing something that no one has made before because the big companies would just steal the idea before a smaller company could come to the market with it. Clearly none of you guys have ever applied for a patent or had a "big idea" that you thought could make money. I agree that there should be some intent to produce that must be proven by the company suing but saying stuff like "fuck the patent system" is just stupid.
 
G

Guest

Guest
As information increases, and businesses pop out faster than the eye can see, patents are following the way of DRM, being more painful than useful, often wrongly used.
Patents are no longer a valid way to protect one's business,and become an obstacle in progress.
If tsera truly owns the patent, it also needs to prove that the devices MS makes, are causing tsera to lose customers. Not because of a better design on MS'sside, but because of the touchpad.

I think there are just too many people blocking progress by patenting all kinds of ideas that they never use, or perhaps where they want to get part of the money a big company will be making off this idea.

If this was true, I'd be rewarded for bringing ideas to AMD for automatically adjusting FSAA when fps go higher than 60fps, and I'd get a share for bringing the idea to intel that lead to the production of the Atom processor.
I just know nothing about patents, and even if I did, I have no way of creating things like that. One needs engineers for that!

Instead, I believe it's only fair to give a thank you to the company that gave you the idea to start out with, (eg a graphics card for ATI, or an atom processor powered device for Intel).
But I don't believe in ripping companies off.
If MS doesn't think it got it's ideas from tsera, then leave them alone!

Patent infringement! Nowadays even artists are patenting phrases in songs, that one is not allowed to copy!
What is that?
 

NoCaDrummer

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
104
0
18,680
The description is strangely like a system that I worked on that got installed at Epcot Center in the 1980's. I saw it was still operational in 1992. A touchscreen system in a bezel around a CRT, where we could determine the position (starting through ending) and relay that information to a computer which would then take action on that information. Anyone who played with the "Compute-a-coaster" ("designing" a rollercoaster, prompted by a cartoon beaver) used that system. I'm surprised that Tsera could get a patent, considering how many millions must have used the system at Epcot, long before their patent date.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.