123 replies to this topic

[Tashimojo]

So... the Apple vs Samsung patent bullshit lawsuit has come to a close here in the US. And surprisingly, a jury made of people who live in Apple's hometown have ruled in Apple's favor, finding Samsung to have deliberately violated a gazillion Apple patents including bullshit ones like Apple coming up with the idea for tablets to have rounded corners.

Samsung is now supposed to pay $1,051,855 in damages to Apple. And Samsung's claims of Apple violating some of their patents have all lost.

Insanity.

[**LS**]

Apple would never have taken off in the first place if they didn't rip off Xerox.

[Tashimojo]

A little update from the courtroom...

The jury appears to have awarded damages for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE infringing — $219,694 worth — but didn't find that it had actually infringed anything.

verge

Yeah, so that happened.

[SgtFrenchy]

I HATE Apple. That is all.

[SgtFrenchy]

Nice!

[Craig Simpson]

How can you patent having round corners on a tablet? I thought patents were supposed to be for really good ideas, not something a four year old could draw in pre-school.

[Tashimojo]

The patent system in the US is completely broken. There are tons of junk patents that have been awarded here. Nintendo has a patent on displaying health bars in video games for example. Another thing that Apple was suing Samsung for was for having icons displayed in a grid on their phones and tablets.

A big part of the problem is that the US patent office is so understaffed and backlogged that they don't really review patents. They approve them and then let courts decide if the patents make any sense or not. And this jury which was fucking skewed enough to have initially awarded damages to Apple for a tablet that they did not find to infringe any patents... well that jury has now validated a lot of shitty, stupid patents.

Of course Samsung is going to appeal the shit out of this, so it's not over yet, but traditionally it's incredibly hard to overturn a jury ruling. Apple may even seek to appeal a few things that they didn't get out of this ruling too, who knows.

[chicken wing]

How can you patent having round corners on a tablet? I thought patents were supposed to be for really good ideas, not something a four year old could draw in pre-school.

Harley Davidson has a patent on the sound of their V-twin motor...think about that for awhile.

[SgtFrenchy]

The patent system in the US is completely broken. There are tons of junk patents that have been awarded here. Nintendo has a patent on displaying health bars in video games for example. Another thing that Apple was suing Samsung for was for having icons displayed in a grid on their phones and tablets.

A big part of the problem is that the US patent office is so understaffed and backlogged that they don't really review patents. They approve them and then let courts decide if the patents make any sense or not. And this jury which was fucking skewed enough to have initially awarded damages to Apple for a tablet that they did not find to infringe any patents... well that jury has now validated a lot of shitty, stupid patents.

Of course Samsung is going to appeal the shit out of this, so it's not over yet, but traditionally it's incredibly hard to overturn a jury ruling. Apple may even seek to appeal a few things that they didn't get out of this ruling too, who knows.

Yeah even saying certain phrases that's patented is a big no no. The whole thing is just f*cked. I mean come on, round corners. Give me a friggin break.

[Tashimojo]

It's becoming apparent that the jury did not follow the instructions they were given from the judge, and that they just rushed to a verdict. Samsung should have a strong case to try and get the verdict tossed. Read all about how the jury messed up

[Chris TMC]

Dear Apple,

This whole "tablet" concept? You will be hearing from our lawyers.

Yours,
The Ohio Art Company

Uh oh, those corners are rounded.


Seriously though- suing for having icons displayed in a grid on their phones and tablets? Computers have had icons in grids for ages. How the hell else are you supposed to display them?

This shit is stupid.

And yes I own a Samsung phone.

[SgtFrenchy]

And yes I own a Samsung phone.

I do too, my last 3 were actually.

[Craig Simpson]

It's becoming apparent that the jury did not follow the instructions they were given from the judge, and that they just rushed to a verdict. Samsung should have a strong case to try and get the verdict tossed. Read all about how the jury messed up

These two quotes from that article sum it up for me:

Samsung said after the verdict that it was "unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners."

"This is by no means the final word in this case," Quinn said in a statement. "Patent law should not be twisted so as to give one company a monopoly over the shape of smartphones."

I never realized how ridiculous some of these patents are. This really needs to go to the supreme court and demonstrates the need for some patent reform. In essence, I could go patent some very basic design elements for just about anything, like rounded corners, and then sue people when they have products that use basic design elements. Its just so stupid.

Increasingly these highly complex disputes are being decided by juries, rather than judges, and the juries tend to issue more generous awards for patent violations.That has companies on the receiving end of successful patent infringement lawsuits crying foul and calling for reform in the patent system, but it also has some legal experts questioning whether ordinary citizens should be rendering verdicts and fixing damages in such high stakes, highly technical cases.

"That's a great question ... and it's the subject of a fair amount of current debate," said Notre Dame University law professor Mark McKenna....

"This case is unmanageable for a jury," Robin Feldman, an intellectual property professor at the University of California Hastings Law School, said before the verdict. "There are more than 100 pages of jury instructions. I don't give that much reading to my law students. They can't possible digest it."


"The trial is evidence of a patent system that is out of control," Feldman said. "No matter what happens in this trial, I think people will need to step back and ask whether we've gone too far in the intellectual property system."

In my view, juries have run their course. They often make questionable decisions and award far more compensation than they should and they don't have the knowledge or expertise to deal with these issues. What you've got in this case, it appears, is a patent holder who wants to send a message to anyone who might infringe on his patent.

This point has been edited by Craig Simpson: 27 August 2012 - 10:13 AM

[CoyoteQ]

I wonder how many of the jurors asked Siri who should win the case.

And hey...nice to see you here again!!!

[CoyoteQ]

And the insanity continues.

Apple lists 8 Samsung products it wants banned

Apple Inc. on Monday submitted a list of eight Samsung Electronics Co. products it wants pulled from shelves and banned from the U.S. market.
Apple submitted the list after a jury found Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad in creating and marketing the products.
The products are: Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail.
A judge will decide the issue later.


More!

So apparently nobody in the world except for Apple is allowed to make smartphones.

[Dainer09]

And the insanity continues.



So apparently nobody in the world except for Apple is allowed to make smartphones.

this is another reason why I refuse to purchase Apple