Cequint Sues Apple Over Advanced Caller ID

"Apple steals yet another company's patented technology"

Least surprising story of the year. At least it does look like an open-and-shut case, and given the number of phones they've sold, they'll likely take a pretty big hit to their bottom line.

They're obviously behind, Apple invented everything they use, like Siri, MP3 players, tablets etc. If anything, Apple should sue them for infringing on their patent troll patent.

How does the medicine taste, crApple?

a patent troll suing another patent troll

This is one patent-related lawsuit with merit.... Cequint's technology is actually implemented, not just a theoretical idea patented by a troll.

The sarcasm is good, except for the patent troll patent part. This tech is actually invented and implemented.

how the hell does even work?

with VOIP, a person in Australia can have a number in Washington DC...

this is stupid patent....

that the whole concept dude..

the retrieval of the cnd.. the voip number cnd is in washington.. hence the retrieval will be successful.
technology proven to be working and in use.

Ah yes, thanks.

This isn't any tech that is 'invented'. It is simply looking up what city an area code and exchange belongs to. I wonder how accurate this is when someone keeps his/her phone number but moves to another state.

Wouldn't all of these other "reverse phone number" search services such as Spokeo fall under this since they use and are code / exchange to determine geographic information using your computer screen as the "readout device"?

I mean I am glad to see Apple get bit by this, but is still a case of bullsh1t patent trolling.

Wow, a article about a patent that seems to be for what the patent system is actually for!

Most surprising article of the year!

This story has been posted for days on other tech sites and everyone with an iPhone is asking why apple is getting sued for this at all. The iPhone doesn't apperently do caller -ID this way and never has. It only shows the incoming number and puts a picture/face with it if you have a contact already saved.

And this patent and their product is for the carrier side of things. Just another cheap shot at Apple, probably finaced by the HTC/Motorola/Samsung/Google group that is throwing up a ton of bogus lawsuits and shifting patents around/trading companies etc. in an effort to actually win something, anything against Apple at this point.

Interesting post. Except for one thing. My phone doesn't do this either, though it's an android phone. Yet I do know that I can pay Verizon extra money, and then my phone will do it. I'm guessing to have the option to enable it requires it to be implemented in the phone, hence the need for licensing. Now, how certain are you that this premium option is unavailable on the iphone and you've just never met anybody who decided to pay for it?

1. Apple didnt even come close to inventing the first tablet - They just marketed it better
2. Apple didnt even come close to inventing the first mp3 player - They also just marketed it better
3. Apple didnt invent Siri - - - they bought it from another company and restricted access from it from all iOS devices to only iphone 4s

I might just die if I hear about another suit involving apple. So...I'd better get things rolling; I don't have much time.

No, Cequint is an independent company owned by none of the major players in the mobile industry (it is actually owned by a company called TNS).

Cequint's business model has it working directly with carriers to integrate their caller ID software into the phone at launch (as opposed to a downloadable app) and is a subscriber based service. The release of the iPhone and the App market changed the game- Cequint used to only have to share profits with the carriers and now Apple wants a cut. Cequint hasn't developed an iPhone app yet (to my knowledge) because it hasn't been able to work out a means of getting around Apple's eco system policies- and it is likely that Apple won't budge. Cequint is also likely feeling pressure from App makers on the market doing the same thing. So, instead of playing the game, they sue.

Well at least it is from a company that actually does something and not just a lawfirm that has purchased patents with the sole purpose of suing someone who actually invents the concept and becomes successfull from their own sweat and blood.

Many of these litigation lawyers are nothing but middleman moving money from one place to another and in the process taking a huge chunk (50-75%) for themselves. They are the evil that plagues this country. They have killed our healthcare industry now they are threatening the advancement in technology.

Also, SIRI is an expert system for a very limited scope of user requests. Until an OS is built ground-up with hooks for total voice control in mind, the functionality Apple implied in its iPhone 4S commercials will not cleanly come to fruition.

Not that I mind Apple being sued... but seriously. A 'patent' to display the phone number of where a call comes from ?
Something like this should not be patentable.
Invent a Phone...patent. Display a caller's phone number . . . NO patent.
Invent GPS...patent; display someone's GPS data . . . no patent.

But that's just me.

I really don't get the double standard for Apple and everyone else. So what if Apple bought Siri and didn't invent it from scratch in house? Sounds like some other major pieces of software out there, like Android for example. There shouldn't be a Android by Google by all of your reasoning.

You've got a point there. Most of Microsoft's stuff is not home grown but either bought or 'inspired' from other sources. I guess that's where this industry is headed. You buy some company and than lock down their product for your use.
Imagine an Oil Company would buy a Technology company that owns patents for batteries so they can lock down the battery market. Unthinkable...

1. will1220 didn't even come close to understanding the sarcasm.

Apple will soon claim it invented the Apple (fruit)

Reverse Lookup is done by searching a database. Has nothing to do with the exchanges. They simply catalog phone books into a database and search the database for the specified string....then display the results. The information is provided by the telecom companies.



Caller ID was patented because prior to it's invention, there was no method for retrieving and displaying caller information.

He was just being sarcastic...

Cequint pulled an Apple on Apple. Cequint, you're actually making me sympathetic for Apple this one time, but not enough to really care. Kick Apple across the court!

What goes around, comes around.

Another Apple story brings out all the "Android sheep" Frankly I think this iss another stupid patent. I can see patenting particular way to retrieve the data, but not just retrieving the data. I type in a search bar to retrieve information on the internet. When is someone going to sue Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the rest becuause that "patented" using a bar to type your search query in.

Like patenting a 'minimalist' (i.e. clean looking), rectangular tablet of any color?

I was not aware iOS shows the location of the call. I don't think I've ever seen that, actually.

love it, ' got a boner right now.