Google Sued For Patent Infringement For Mobile Chrome

from the of-course dept

Wed, Jul 11th 2012 11:14pm — Mike Masnick

Because no new products can be released these days without getting sued for patent infringement, Google has been sued by EMG Technology -- yet another patent holder that isn't actually competing or innovating suing companies that are. The issue is Google's recently released Chrome browser for the mobile phone, which EMG claims violates its patent, 7,441,196 on an "apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling internet content." EMG points out that Apple sought to have this patent re-examined and it survived. Despite the fact that the inventors of the patent all appear to reside in Southern California, EMG is located in Southern California and Google is based in Northern California, take one guess where this lawsuit was filed... Why East Texas, of course. Because that makes no sense at all. And people wonder why we say that the patent system has become a tax on innovation.

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Filed Under: android, chrome, east texas, patent troll
Companies: emg technology, google

33 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2012 @ 11:31pm

Favorable Veredict Practically Guaranteed
"Why East Texas, of course. Because that makes no sense at all."

It's this sort of thing that makes me wonder whether judges in East Texas are actually getting paid for their veredicts. They say everything's bigger in Texas. Perhaps that includes the bribes?
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- Vincent Clement (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 5:25am
  
  Re: Favorable Veredict Practically Guaranteed
  Not bribes. By mostly ruling in favour of patent trolls, judges in East Texas improve the likelihood that patent lawsuits will be filed in East Texas, thereby improving job security. Just another government process that has become self-serving.
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[citation needed or GTFO], 11 Jul 2012 @ 11:37pm

Buzzword: Google
Even though this article has nothing to do with paywalls, cue "Paywall Bob's rant on Big Search" in 3...2...
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- Richard (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 1:22am
  
  Re: Buzzword: Google
  Not seen "paywall bob" for a while...
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:30am
  
  Re: Buzzword: Google
  or maybe we'll see the idiot that keeps linking to that site with the horribly flawed analogies.
  
  Tricordist I think it was
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  - [citation needed or GTFO], 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:34am
    
    Re: Re: Buzzword: Google
    Preceded by "ROFL LOL OMG, Derp Yur Funneh."
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    - Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 3:50am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Buzzword: Google
      I think all the shilltrolls gave up a couple of weeks back because the sarcasm here made them all think they were in someone else's trolling territory...
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      - llortamai, 12 Jul 2012 @ 6:49am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Buzzword: Google
        I haven't noticed anyone around lately who wasn't just baiting or throwing off some dumb one liners.
        
        Where is angrydude when you need him?
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trenchman, 11 Jul 2012 @ 11:40pm

Vagueness
I wouldn't be nearly as annoyed by law suits on patent infringement is the patents weren't so damn vague. An "apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling internet content." It goes into no detail as to what type of "apparatus", how it would be controlled, in what way it actually affects the screen. Seriously, "viewing" is part of the patent? Shouldn't any device that allows viewing internet content on any part of the screen be in violation of their patent? I guess maybe if it isn't "manipulating a region" of it it won't matter, but a lot of websites are re-arranged to fit on smaller wireless devices, couldn't that be considered manipulation?

Patents need to be more specific or else I'm gonna patent a "device to do things in a direct or indirect way leading to a specific, general, intended, or unintended outcome." and make millions suing people over it.
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- Cerberus (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 1:03am
  
  Re: Vagueness
  Ohh great idea, but, hey, you got there first. I have about 8,401,249 idea that I would like licensed; can I get a discount?
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- Danny (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 4:47am
  
  Re: Vagueness
  This is the reason why software patents fail.
  
  Kill of the software patents as they have no use. Software is covered by copyright already. If two people come to the same solution with different methods this is fine, its only not fine when someone copies the source or just copies the binary but both issues are covered by copyright.
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Wally (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 1:22am

East Texas
Actually, having the trial where the judge is least likely to have the technological know-how makes perfect sense if you're a patent troll.
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- tracker1 (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 9:25am
  
  Re: East Texas
  I think this trend may go the other way... the judges in East Texas seem to be coming up to speed on technology... I'm surprised there isn't a legal precedent for having the venue changed, when both parties are in a different state than where filed.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:22am

I think someone should apply for general vague patent and see what happens, how much they cost, the loops you have to go through and more importantly whether they accept it.

And then post a review,
Affordability - just how much money is needed to buy a patent, can only the rich companies afford it?

Safeguards- just how much background checks do they do to confirm a patent is legit, non vague, and more importantly check for prior examples

A vague patent that describes something widely used today
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mlang (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:39am

there's a weird bit that says..."A web page is provided having a link to a sister site. The sister site facilitates simplified navigation. Pages from the sister site are served responsive to actuation of the sister site link. In one embodiment, the sister site includes matrix pages to permit matrix navigation."

So is the patent for a device or web design standard? If it's a device, it's implying that the device creates a secondary site for navigation. I don't know of any browsers that create new webpages - they just reformat existing ones. And when a website has a parallel mobile site, the device or method doesn't need to do anything.

So, if that's in the introduction, how on earth does it not get thrown out before the rest of the document is even read?
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- Danny (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 4:50am
  
  Re:
  Another question for them would be, "does the patent cover my laptop?" as my laptop is a wireless device.
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Torg (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:42am

Are you fucking kidding me?

Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!

There is a patent for looking at the Internet on a smartphone? What dumbass decided that was novel? Hell, it's not just smartphones! My laptop can qualify as a wireless device! This is completely fucking ridiculous!
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:50am
  
  Re:
  That's the patent office for you, taxing innovation one bad patent at a time
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mlang (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:44am

Looking at it more, it seems to be a patent for "automatically reformatting the xsl and css for a webpage into a menu grid".

In other words, it's a patent for using float left on divs.
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Karim, 12 Jul 2012 @ 2:47am

They deserve it
Good stuff! While Apple and others are out there innovating, Big Search Companies like Google are getting by by "monkeying" everything around them.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, would have ever thought up "a way to make viewing stuff on a comparatively small device much easier".

FML.

/s
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- Pangolin (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 7:40am
  
  Re: They deserve it
  Wait - it might get better. If Apple challenged it and it survived and apple isn't being sued over it then Apple must have licensed it. That means Apple is helping to pay for Google to get sued.
  
  Win Win
  
  Software and business method patents should be disallowed and thrown out en masse. If it's a physical device that is marketed protect it from copying. Otherwise leave things alone.
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edinjapan (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 5:25am

What would happen if
A big company such as Google were to tell the judge "We're NOT paying!" And then backed up the statement by going to the press and stating if they get hit by another frivolous patent they will move their company to a venue where these sort of things aren't allowed.

By current estimates Google is worth in excess of US$200 billion and if that money and the jobs it provides were to be suddenly removed from the US economy and moved north to Canada or west to Singapore what would that say to the world.
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 5:47am
  
  Re: What would happen if
  That the patent trolls would have to hire the DOJ to collect for them.
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Digitalistically Speaking (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 5:55am

It's mine and you can't play with it!
I own the Patent for 1 and the copyright for 0.
and the trademark for 10,01,and 1001,and etc,etc, and so on
All you low life infringers out there...PAY UP!

I'm waiting...

copyright 2012
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 7:53am

The patent office just rubberstamps everything, they don't have time to review the validity of each submitted patent. They're still trying to figure out who approved my patent "Patent #2*35673+π A method for the establishment of a national or international office for the processing and approval of patents".
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- staff, 12 Jul 2012 @ 8:22am
  
  Re:
  patent office just rubberstamps everything...Really?
  Have you ever patented anything?? My guess is not or you'd know better.
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  - Karim, 12 Jul 2012 @ 8:35am
    
    Re: Re:
    patent office just rubberstamps everything...Really?
    
    "apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling internet content."
    
    Surely that means that I could be infringing on that patent by holding my phone close to my face so I can read better
    
    So yeah, I think it is fair to assume the rubberstamping of everything.
    
    Arrrrrrrrrrr
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staff, 12 Jul 2012 @ 8:19am

another biased article
"another patent holder that isn't actually competing or innovating..."

If they invented and patented it or bought it from the ineventor, they were the ones who innovated by definition. The infringers were the ones who stole it. Often small start-ups cant compete until they get funded. They cant get funded until they secure their patent rights -including obtaining an injunction against infringers.

"Why East Texas, of course"

If you're a small inventor you can sue someone in their back yard (eg NC) where it may take 5 or more years to make it to trial while you're ability to commercialize and your patent languishes, or you can sue where you're more likely to get a speedy trial. Naturally, infringers and their paid puppets prefer to wait until hell freezes over.

Large infringers really are paying you to write this rubbish, aren't they?
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- Anonymous Coward, 12 Jul 2012 @ 10:52am
  
  Re: another biased article
  You need to see a therapist.
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  - Atkray (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 11:12am
    
    Re: Re: another biased article
    "You need to see a Tricordist"
    
    FTFY
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- JMT (profile), 12 Jul 2012 @ 4:11pm
  
  Re: another biased article
  You describe this as "another biased article" as if that's a bad thing that nobody else realised. Of course it's biased, this is an opinion blog, and Mike's opinion of the state of the patent system is well-know. Your comments have a very strong pro-patent bias, and most of us know why. So your accusation is both hypocritical and irrelevant.
  
  "If they invented and patented it or bought it from the ineventor, they were the ones who innovated by definition."
  
  I prefer to consider something truly innovative if it actually provides a benefit to someone. There is absolutely nothing innovative about coming up with an idea that you can't produce, or worse, buying someone else's idea and still not being able to produce it. By then using a ridiculously broad patent to prevent someone else's genuinely innovative product from coming to market (i.e. providing a benefit to someone), you're being the exact opposite of innovative.
  
  "The infringers were the ones who stole it."
  
  "Large infringers really are paying you to write this rubbish, aren't they?"
  
  And with these two comments you paint yourself as an ignorant loon not worthy listening to.
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Hypnosis Blogger, 12 Jul 2012 @ 11:55am

Patent
I would like to patent

"An apparatus or method that does something."

I think I should safely be able to sue everyone... so long as I do it in East Texas.
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Ninja (profile), 16 Jul 2012 @ 7:29am

Despite the fact that the inventors of the patent all appear to reside in Southern California, EMG is located in Southern California and Google is based in Northern California, take one guess where this lawsuit was filed... Why East Texas, of course.

This is becoming some sort of meme. Or rather a bad joke. "That Harry Potter troll, was it from East Texas? har har har"
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