Normally, I try and keep my nose out of the legal world, mainly because I think of lawyers as bottom-feeding, money-hungry SOBs who like to bend the rules for their own benefit. This time, though, the situation is so asinine that I feel it is my responsibility as a somewhat intelligent, questionably sane tech lover and smartphone user to comment on it.
Apple announced today that they are suing HTC, a technology company known for their Windows Mobile and Adroid smartphones, for patent infringement regarding similar software and hardware to the iPhone, which WAS a revolutionary device that undeniably made the industry what it is today.
What is it that’s so asinine (devoid of intelligence, for all you non-big-word people out there) about this, you ask? It’s not the lawsuit itself; companies sue each other for patents on a regular basis. It’s the things Apple is claiming that make me scratch my dented head.
Before I start in on this, I need to bring up one small detail. Apple actually posted a PRESS RELEASE about this on their website. Who publicly announces lawsuits? If I were Apple (thank God I’m not, by the way), I’d want to keep a senseless lawsuit secret so I didn’t have the whole world know how stupid I am when it blows up in my face.
Now, onto the suit itself.
Basically, this lawsuit points out a number of patents that, for some God-forsaken reason, are held by Apple and have the power to kill off the smartphone industry as we know it. What I’m going to do for you now is outline most of these patents and let you know why the industry is, if Apple has its way, S.O.L.
1) U.S. Patent No. 7,479,949: “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics”
This patent basically says that Apple owns the touch screen. A vast majority of smartphones today rely on touchscreens to operate.
2) U.S. Patent No. 7,657,849: “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image”
This refers to unlock sliders similar to that on the iPhone. A similar method is used on devices manufactured by HTC, Palm, and many others.
3) U.S. Patent No. 7,469,381: “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display”
Remember “scrolling”? That thing we use to look through lists of contacts, web pages, and pretty much anything else? Apple owns that. Rotating orientation based on an accelerometer? That, too.
4) U.S. Patent No. 7,633,076: “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”
Probably the easiest way to describe this would be the use of a proximity sensor. For those who don’t know what that is, a proximity sensor is a sensor in your phone that, among other things, automatically disables the touchscreen display when you’re on a call to prevent you from pressing things with your face. If you’re not Apple, those are illegal as well.
5) U.S. Patent No. 7,383, 453: “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor”
Whoever said you couldn’t patent common sense was obviously lying to you. If you reduce the voltage, you actually do tend to save power. Apparently, Apple invented electricity.
6) U.S. Patent No. 5,455,599: “Object-Oriented Graphic System”
Say goodbye to Windows, Linux, BlackBerry OS, Android, Symbian, webOS, and pretty much any other operating system you’ve ever heard of. Object-oriented GUIs, which is pretty much what EVERY operating system uses, are owned by Apple.
7) U.S. Patent No. 6,424,354: “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods”
Getting a notification that you have a new phone call, text message, e-mail, tweet, or anything else was obviously Apple’s idea.
(In addition to the seven patents I just put into layman’s terms, Apple claims that HTC, and smartphone makers in general, have stolen three other things from them. You can read the court filings in their entirety at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/27230230/Apple-complaint—Delaware.)
So what does this mean for the smartphone industry? To make it short and sweet, they’re all screwed.
Apple’s patents are vague (and in one case, completely stupid), meaning that they pretty much have the ability to define whether or not something is in violation of it. If they see it as any kind of threat to their undeniable position as king of the smartphone world, they’ll probably sue the hell out of you.
Competition drives innovation. Without competition, the iPhone, which runs a dated and stale OS, will never improve beyond what we have today. Why would Apple need to make their product better if it’s the only thing you can buy, right?
Apple’s scared. Big time. Other companies are developing better products and they’re fully aware of it. Since Apple obviously can’t innovate anymore or make their product any better, they’re forced to stop everyone else dead in their tracks.
As far as I’m concerned, they’ve crossed the line. I’m on HTC’s side, and thus the side of innovation and development. I’ll try and keep you guys up to date with the situation as it develops.
On a final note, to the person(s) at the U.S. Patent Office who granted Apple half of these patents: PLEASE get your nose out of Steve Jobs’ asshole. You should be fired.
Feel free to let me know what you think of this situation, world.
Best wishes,
-nstark89
P.S.: Apple fanboys, I know you won’t be happy about what I have to say. As far as you and your nasty comments are concerned, I simply say: Bring it.
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