Apple found Guilty of Patent Infringement
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Apple, Guilty, Patent, Infringement | Themes: Digital Entertainment
On Friday, Apple was found guilty of willfully infringing on a "predictive snooping" patent owned by Opti Inc.
Just days after suffering a thrashing for approving and posting a "baby shaking" application for its iPhone and iPod Touch (which has thus been removed), Apple faced another slap in the face Friday by the US District Court (of the Eastern District of Texas), accused of "willfully" infringing on a patent issued to Opti Inc. back in June 2002. The jurors were asked: "Do you find by clear and convincing evidence that Apple's infringement of claims 73, 74, and 88 of the '291 patent was willful?" The answer was a unanimous "yes."
The patent, "Predictive snooping of cache memory for master-initiated accesses," concerns efficient data transfers among the CPU, memory, and other devices. Opti originally filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in January of 2007. However, according to Apple, its technology is similar to the patent, but not to the point of infringement. During the trial, Apple even took its defense a step further and said that "prior art and obviousness" actually made the Opti patent invalid, asking for a dismissal. The jury didn't buy their case, and thus awarded Opti a "reasonable" reward for damages suffered totaling $19,009,728.
In the bigger picture, $19 million is just a few dollars when compared to the revenue earned in the second quarter of its 2009 fiscal year. According to Apple, the company raked in a whopping $8.16 billion in revenue, and a net quarterly profit of $1.21 billion. The quarterly numbers add up to a higher gross margin than this time last year, up 3.5-percent despite the current economic conditions (meaning I need to cut back on my iPod app addiction -kev). With all that money in the bank, Apple is sure to be the primary focus of smaller companies wanting a slice of the pie. With that said, Apple will probably be back in court again for another patent infringement issue.
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it seems that everbody likes apple about profit
it seems that everbody likes apple about profit
I know it's fashionable to bash Apple (and I've had my fair share of this fun), but I have to side with them on this one. There does seem to be a fair amount of "prior art" on this patent claim, and what isn't covered by prior art most certainly is an obvious and non-novel use of computer technology. It's too bad Apple couldn't convince the jury of this.
I gotta agree with antacid. This falls under a process and this patent should not be valid. Though it's irony because Apple has their fair share of process patents that fall under the same category.
Still that doesn't make this one right.
Yeah! I love it when the fruit gets diddled!
Doesn't "prior art and obviousness" also apply to Apple's patent of multitouch on small devices?
Apple's profit is still nothing to USA's 12 trillion national debt
Apple's profit is still nothing to USA's 12 trillion national debt
yeah we're fucking screwed if china tries and call us out for what we owe... of course everyone in their right minds know there would be a global catastrophe if something like that happened
lol americans are already fucked, china now has an excuse to nuke the shit outa you americans. Ask for money: you pay, alright, now you're poor. You don't pay? We get to nuke the shit outa big B.
Yea anyways, just wondering, why the heck would the court write down "$19,009,728"? wow an extra $728, w00t I'm rich now. I can nearly afford a 965
The 728 is the court fees.
lol americans are already fucked, china now has an excuse to nuke the shit outa you americans. Ask for money: you pay, alright, now you're poor. You don't pay? We get to nuke the shit outa big B.
Considering how much trade we do with China, nuking us would be pretty stupid for China's well being. Hell, the whole world economy would take a huge dive even further into the shit hole.
Patentland at it's finest. More revenue is generated by litigation, than by innovation. I already pity all those poor lawyers, which will remain jobless, when the economy will finally collapse.
When the main american export article (USD, beside weapons and profiteering wars) is of no more need, then the police states of america will be really screwed.
@tindytim What "trade"? PSA is almost purely debt economy. When the party nomenclature won't get it's "well being" share anymore, kiss your cheap slave workers goodbye, and say welcome to your deep "shit hole". The world economy will have it's biggest benefit since Bretton Woods, by getting rid of parasites.
The point is, Opti. Inc had a patent issued way before Apple for its technology, thus securing itself. How many of us can stand up and say the same? Patent attorneys aren't cheap; I wish everyone had a chance of securing a patent by one self for just $159!!! But it’s possible, by this new site, check this out: http://www.patentexpress.com/paten [...] price.aspx
Ya know, it's about time Apple took a hit with these patent infringement lawsuits. Microsoft has been getting pounded with these on what seems to an every other week basis.
Do these guys even check the patent offices anymore? They'd save themselves alot of grief if they just hired a small team (about 4-8 people) to check their tech against already existant patents. Then they could make small negociations with the companies rather than getting slapped with a lawsuit
The world economy will have it's biggest benefit since Bretton Woods, by getting rid of parasites.
Is that why the world's economy suffers when the US's economy suffers? Maybe if the world didn't leech as much off the US, then when the US's economy suffers, the world's doesn't?
Although perhaps if the US didn't spend billions and billions per year in foreign aid, then when the times get tough, it's economy wouldn't suffer as bad either?
The more the legal process is abused, the more I realize just how worthless it is half the time. I try to be optimistic, but god damn it's hard to believe in the legal system with all these patent issues.