Those 200 iPhone-Related Patents Don't Seem To Be Stopping Patent Infringement Lawsuits
from the welcome-to-the-patent-thicket dept
When the iPhone was first announced, Steve Jobs proudly hyped up the 200 patents the company had filed around the various parts of the device. However, we were among those who wondered what the point of all those patents were -- as most of the concepts were widely known, and Apples real innovation was putting them all together in a nice usable package. And, if Steve Jobs thought that the announcement of those 200 patents would scare off patent infringement lawsuits, he was clearly mistaken. The iPhone has already been accused of patent infringement for the touchscreen and the virtual keyboard, and now Klausner Technologies has sued the company for its visual voicemail offering. If Klausner sounds familiar to you, that's because it's the company that sued both AOL and Vonage for daring to display voicemail information on a screen (yes, apparently that concept is patented). Vonage, of course, recently settled with Klausner, giving it the cash to take on a big fish like Apple. Considering Apple's notorious willingness to pay up when accused of patent infringement, even on the most ridiculous patents, this strategy probably makes sense for Klausner, but it's hard to see how it furthers the cause of innovation.
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Filed Under: iphone, patent thicket, patents
Companies: apple, klausner
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Apple accomplished quite a feat by entering a tough market in the cell phone industry and being successful in it. This will help them to make people aware of the tons of other products that they have to offer.
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Indeed. And then Klausner failed to sell the product. In a capitalist society that doesn't mean they should then be able to sue someone who DID figure out how to sell it.
No one is suggesting that companies should do things for the good of mankind. What we are suggesting, however, is that just because you come up with an idea, you shouldn't get the right to charge whoever else figures out how to successfully market the idea.
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Learn to read??
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Mike is absolutely correct in saying Klausner is suing for Apple being able to market the product where he wasn't. The idea is quite obvious, Apple just put into something that a lot of people want and Klausner is having a tantrum.
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It doesn't matter if Klausner never sold a product or even attempted to sell one -- that doesn't mean they give up any patent rights. Let's say that today you have a brilliant new (and patentable) idea for some other innovation to cell phone voice mail. Unfortunately there's no way you're ever going to break into the market which is already sewn up by a few wireless carriers and the major electronics manufacturers who they've partnered with to make phones. Because your invention is implemented not just in the handset but also in the phone system infrastructure, unless you're Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. your only chance of bringing your invention to market is to license it to one of them, and your patent is what forces Verizon etc. to deal with you.
I can't say whether Klausner's patent is valid, but as long as it is, he should have the right to enforce it against anyone violating it, even if he's not in a position to manufacture the invention himself.
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I struggled with this for a bit before I realized what I think you're saying: there's a line between imagining something and actually inventing it. How much work must be applied in order to get the patent? Drawings? Specifications? A prototype?
It would appear that the presently respected line between imagination and invention is as fuzzy as the mood of the patent office employee on a particular day--or the inclination of a judge in Marshall, Texas.
I think that patent law is the most obvious example of how the law of the land has failed to keep pace with the present state of technology. Without reform--or at the very least, a rigorous definition of invention--patents will be regarded as even more irrelevant than music copyrights.
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Obvious Question
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To the post below: indeed.
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Patent Insurance
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Poster of #10 is a Moron.
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Give me a break
Patent 5572576
Telephone answering device linking displayed data with recorded audio message
What is claimed is:
1. A telephone message system coupled to a telephone line for automatically answering incoming telephone calls and storing and retrieving information from the incoming telephone calls, comprising:
(a) a telephone answering device, which comprises:
means for receiving first signals from said telephone line, each of said first signals specifying a particular one of a plurality of callers;
followed by alot of blah blah blah
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Re: Give me a break
Yes, probably very much so, assuming that caller ID data is what is meant by 'first signals'.
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