Week 11 Blog 22: Defining "Mini"

Recently the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected Apple's application to trademark "iPad Mini", which seemed rather obvious since it essentially is just a smaller iPad. However, the USPTO withdrew its statement and decided to reconsider Apple's application. Apparently "upon further review of the application", they decided the word "Mini" does not simply define a physical characteristic of the goods. However, they also mentioned that Apple must waive any exclusive rights of the term "Mini", and as long as Apple does not provide the necessary disclaimer within six months, the USPTO will refuse to register the trademark.

Despite what we find to be "obvious" in our dictionary, laws dictating the government, especially in patent litigation, must take extreme measures to define what is "obvious". As Professor Lavian mentioned, in law schools there are entire classes dedicated to the word "obvious". While I first found the USPTO's rejection to be common sense and thought Apple was just pushing it, this withdrawal reminded me how detail oriented the legal system is, and the process of defining the word "Mini" and its implications can affect the mobile market.

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=2E2FEECA-A397-5EC1-C5331687F6B72DB4

Week 11 Blog 21: Lessons from the Goophone i5S

For those that didn't know, a couple months before the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012 a Chinese mobile phone company released the Goophone i5S with an Android platform. The problem was, it looked just like the new iPhone 5. With its mobile devices as well as other products all manufactured in China, Apple has had much trouble dealing with shameless knock-off Chinese devices. Now they are officially collecting patents for its products in Hong Kong to prevent future Goophones.

Along with six design patents including Siri, Notes, and iMessage, Apple has also been granted patents for its Macbook Pro design. While utility patents are just as important, design patents can often be make or break the market because the look and feel of the device is what the users experience first. Apple should have made these investments sooner knowing the notorious Chinese knock-off market.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57564023-37/apple-wins-six-design-patents-in-hong-kong-for-ios-icons/

Week 10 Blog 20: Wyncomm vs. Wi-Fi

Yet another non-practicing entity (NPE) strikes again, claiming Apple's mobile devices violating a 16-year old AT&T patent. Wyncomm LLC is not only suing Apple, but also pretty much every company that develops Wi-Fi compliant devices, including Acer, Hewlett-Packard, LG, etc. It seems that Wyncomm's target in the mobile industry is the feature that allows a user to make a phone call while concurrently using Wi-Fi data. Equipped with AT&T's original patent from 1996 for "Side-channel communications in simultaneous voice and data transmission" (U.S. Patent No. 5,506,866), this NPE seeks injunction from a lengthy list of technology companies of pretty much every alphabet letter, before this patent expires in November 2013.

As amusing and possibly outrageous as people would find this, Wyncomm may have a good argument here. I'm not sure if Wyncomm will be able to collect every injunction from their huge blacklist, but if they make a strong case in court, they may be able to make a serious dent on the mobile market. Either that or Apple's legion of lawyers will silence Wyncomm with a countersuit.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/04/12/apple-hit-with-patent-suit-over-simultaneous-voice-and-data-wi-fi-tech

Week 10 Blog 19: Apphoo? Yahpple?

Rumors have been spreading about Apple and Yahoo's collaboration against Google in the mobile world. It's been almost a year since Apple parted ways with Google's implementation in the iOS with the introduction of Apple's own map app as well as the removal of the default Google Maps and YouTube app. Since then, Apple has relied on Yahoo's search engine to sync its Siri searches and other data like weather and stocks. However, Google has been flourishing thanks to Android which controls 70& of the smartphone platform market share.

It seems that Apple must come up with a better integration with Yahoo to break free from its reliance on Google, as Google still is the top search engine for the consumers. Even though Apple Siri has implemented Wolfram Alpha to replace Google, I think it will be a smart decision to further develop the iOS with Yahoo to target Android. With Google dominating the web search engine market, Yahoo will benefit a lot from an exclusive alliance with Apple.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/04/11/broader-apple-yahoo-partnership-viewed-as-logical-step-for-both-to-fight-google

Week 9 Blog 18: Samsung Loaded and Ready

Samsung had a tough year. They lost quite a lot to Apple from the biggest mobile patent case in 2012, and now they've learned their lesson. According to mobile analyst Chetan Sharma, this South Korean technology giant has received the most mobile patents in 2012 and has accumulated more than any company worldwide, with IBM just behind. Although I'm not sure how they could come up with so many patents (thousands) within a year, it's certain very few companies as well as NPEs will be able to harass Samsung for a while.

It's important to also note how much influence mobile patents are gathering in the world of intellectual property. In U.S., Sharma stated that while only 5% of all patents granted in 2001 were mobile patents, by the end of 2013 this percentage will increase to 25%. It's also interesting that Europe is has a much less significant increase of number of mobile patents, probably because most big players in mobile technology are non-European. Sharma also mentioned that China has experience a 22% patent growth in the year of 2011, trying to catch up to the rest of the world.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/samsung-received-the-most-mobile-patents-in-2012-now-leads-the-world-overall/

Week 9 Blog 17: I thought of it first

Everyone's excited about the upcoming revolutionary mobile technology called Google Glass. Like a minimalistic pair of glasses, one can wear it and carry daily tasks through a tiny lens controlled only by voice commands. While everyone believes Google has introduced its most innovative gadget yet, a Japanese billionaire CEO begs to differ. Masayoshi Son, during his speech about what technology has to offer for the next 30 years, claimed that his company SoftBank Mobile Corp. already holds a patent to one of the most important functions of the Glass technology.

It seems that what Son was talking about was his augmented reality glasses capable of understanding what a person is saying with subtitles as visual overlay. However, some believe this is different from what Google has to offer because the Glass seems to translate what the wearer is saying, not someone he is talking to. This could be a minor detail, but it's interesting to see Google is not the only mobile company to imagine a world where people will wear their mobile devices on their head and talk to themselves in public.

Week 8 Blog 16: Wireless War

In the midst of the wireless technology rivalry between Microsoft and Google, another decision has been made by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) about a patent infringement case. Google recently acquired Motorola Mobility along with a specific patent to attack Microsoft's Xbox LIVE, the online multiplayer gaming service. U.S. Patent No. 6,069,896 is about a wireless, peer-to-peer network and its method that Google claimed Microsoft has violated with its gaming and entertainment console and software. However, the judge at ITC determined otherwise.

Microsoft has been making more money from royalty payments from Google's Android than from its own Windows Phone. Now it seems that Google is trying to take its own jab. I thought it was interesting that as soon as Google bought Motorola it used one of the patents that came with the acquisition to use against its rivals. Even though it didn't work out in court, Google is now in possession of a powerful patent that I'm surprised Motorola didn't make use of more before.

http://redmondmag.com/articles/2013/03/25/microsoft-did-not-infringe-google-patent.aspx

Week 8 Blog 15: Troll Hunt

It's official. Tech companies are declaring a war against non-practicing entities (NPEs) who have recently been harassing big companies and small businesses alike. As thoroughly discussed in class, NPEs or simply patent trolls, purchase then license certain patents to file infringement lawsuits against any related businesses when they themselves don't even manufacture or sell products. Over the past few years there has been a steady growth of alleged patent infringement lawsuits that have targeted many technology companies, and Cisco, SAS, Adobe, and J.C. Penny have gathered to reinforce laws to protect companies from these trolls.

In 2011, the Congress has already passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to restrict the notoriously broad and vague scope of defining patents. This bill defined certain rules in issuing patents through changing from the "first-to-invent" system to "first inventor-to-file" system as well as a grace period. With this act still settling into the U.S. IP law system, some people are questioning if further enforcement like the proposed Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act is really necessary. One major concern would be defining a patent troll and determine whether the buyer/company helps or hurts other businesses.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030875/tech-companies-tell-congress-to-target-patent-trolls.html