What is Digg?Sponsored by Microsoft
Microsoft responds to the headlines. view!
microsoft.com/everybodysbusiness - Read our developers' points of view on the headlines making news.
85 Comments
- Topher06, on 07/21/2009, -0/+67Actually I think all these companies need to do their research cause multi-point touch interface with gestures was invented around 1982 at the University of Toronto. Not by Apple, not by Microsoft, and not by some ***** company in Texas back in ol' 99. The patent system is a ***** joke when it can allow essentially a bunch of lawyers to claim they invented a technology that was already invented and demonstrated and then sue other companies who all have their own patents for the same technology.
And I don't care if you apply the technology to a big screen or a small device, you haven't invented something new by applying an existing technology on something else that wasn't mentioned in another patent. Its like all modern invention has become is just a bunch of legal assistents scanning old patents looking for missing words and loopholes so they can refile and sue because back in 1981 nobody thought to suggest that touch interfaces could be applied to your Walkman. - warp99, on 07/20/2009, -0/+56Let me guess. This patent case was filed with the Eastern District of Texas, correct?
- MacParrot, on 07/20/2009, -6/+61Did this company actually produce any hardware similar in fashion to what the patent states? No? Are they just patent whores looking to make money on other company's successes? Yes? Equals fail
- Roofbacon, on 07/20/2009, -3/+46Im going to 'invent' in-ear mobile phones, wait for it to get popular and then sue everyone.
- adeelarshad82, on 07/20/2009, -1/+30Any random company's answer to recession........ Sue another company.
- dvsbastard, on 07/21/2009, -2/+26I am going to patent "suing for patent infringement"...
- EvilJon, on 07/21/2009, -1/+21They're a company based out of Texas, so I'm guessing it's a lock.
The patent sounds like it's garbage. Come on, the Game Boy can be considered prior art. - JHW539, on 07/21/2009, -0/+19Sued Apple and Microsoft? I guess that'll have to do. But it's a pity they didn't find a way to sue IBM too - Big Blue's lawyers are really good at making smoking craters out of patent trolls like this.
- womweasel, on 07/21/2009, -1/+19I'm going to patent the process of inventing in-ear mobile phones, waiting for them to get popular and then suing everyone. Then I am going to sue you.
- foodude, on 07/21/2009, -2/+20Enough with those friggin' trivial patents already! They cripple real innovation.
- hellengineer, on 07/21/2009, -2/+18The patent system is a joke. Most technology is developed at universities with tax money. Those students start their own companies, are bought out by the big guns (Apple, Microsoft) which then patent the tech.
- inactive, on 07/21/2009, -3/+18Btw, isnt this usually apples game? putting 2 electronic devices together in an obvious way and then patenting it?
- jrm125, on 07/21/2009, -0/+14***** off Tsera
- TrevorPace, on 07/21/2009, -1/+15I'm really getting tired of these sleeper patents. Patent holders should be required to at least attempt to develop technology and not just buy an idea and sit on it. I know there are a lot of things that would affect. But this is just annoying to the consumer at this point.
- MacParrot, on 07/21/2009, -1/+15There's nothing wrong with patents as an idea. If a company spends a lot of money developing a concept, creating hardware/software based on that concept, and then create products in line with the concept, then they should be protected from other companies stealing their ideas. But to just throw out a bunch of ideas based on something that the company has no plan to make or market, then their patent should be rejected in favor of a company that actually creates a product that may be based on a similar idea.
As far as students or universities developing ideas and then selling them to say Apple or Microsoft, hey why not? At least they're being compensated. - Peleus, on 07/21/2009, -0/+13Is it just me or does patent law anymore seem like domain name squatting... people file a patent for something they will never develop and try to profit from it later.
- Rodik, on 07/21/2009, -1/+13Everyone wants a piece of the corporate pie...
- pilgrim3970, on 07/21/2009, -0/+12THis whole idea of patenting an "idea" is stupid beyond words and shows how broke the patent system is in this country. IMHO, unless you have a working prototype at the time you apply for a patent, then you shouldn't be granted one.
- blackinthmiddle, on 07/21/2009, -2/+11Just to play devil's advocate, it's not when an item was first invented, it's when someone first applied for a patent for said item.
But I completely agree with you. This is one company hoping to hit the lotto. The formula seems to be:
1. Apply for very vague patent that could apply to pretty much any technology
2. Sit on said patent
3. Wait 10 years for other courageous companies to actually try and *do* something
4. Play the lottto (a.k.a.) sue these companies for patent infringement
If each of these 20 companies pays a million dollars to make these guys go away, it'll be a win for Tsera, although I don't even see their patent holding up in court. Just because you were able to obtain a patent doesn't mean you should have been able to. - insertAliasHere, on 07/21/2009, -0/+9They're looking to get a settlement. Many times it is cheaper to simply chuck them some cash than to go to court and fight them. Even if you win, it could cost you more in court fees and lawyer salaries than it would to kick the company doing the suing a few dollars.
- Rudegar, on 07/21/2009, -1/+10apple newton had a touch-pad / touchscreen
laptops from way before 1999 also have touch-pads... - Rudegar, on 07/21/2009, -1/+9suspect you're too late
- caseycoold, on 07/21/2009, -1/+9wow, you're clueless. Having worked at the high end R&D places, I can vouch for him.
MS and PhD candidates and other PhD people come up with theories based on hardcore math/science/engineering, then they or a subcontractor develop it. This is how most tech comes into being. - Zaeboes, on 07/21/2009, -0/+8The joke's on you! I installed linux on my abacus a long time ago, knowing some day it would pay off. *slide clink clink*
- inactive, on 07/21/2009, -1/+9How dare they use touch buttons to control electronic devices like they were designed for!
what next? is someone going to sue everyone for using LEDs as indicator lights on an electronic device?
how about sue for using resistors in an electronic device.
These lawyers need to be rounded up and retrained as something less draining on society, telephone sanitation technicians or street mimes. - newsmonster, on 07/22/2009, -0/+7mmmmm.....corporate pie
- Aeronaut99, on 07/21/2009, -0/+7I used a Xerox 860 word processor in the 1980's that had a touch-pad interface. This so-called patent is spurious and should never have been granted.
- GabrielMSharp, on 07/21/2009, -0/+7Drat... You meddling kids.
- bbtrev, on 07/21/2009, -0/+7Um, just one critical point. A touchpad is the thing you use on your notebook to control your mouse. A touch screen (which these devices use) is a very different piece of technology.
Also they state that “no immediate visual feedback is provided as a command pattern is traced, and the user does not need to view the device to enter commands" which completely contradicts how the interfaces on these devices work.
Just another example of the American judicial system being clogged with ***** rather than prosecuting criminals. - ieatskunk, on 07/21/2009, -0/+7Indeed, it is simple common sense. There are companies out there that buy up patents and make their money simply by suing others over infringements. It's total bull *****.
- GabrielMSharp, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5I hereby copyright Electricity.
Message me for my Paypal account so you can pay your dues. - blackinthmiddle, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5As my brother-in-law, who's a defense attorney, says, "Anybody can sue. It's very easy to do. Winning is another matter."
I can't possibly see this lawsuit going anywhere. It's like saying you invented the button and suing every company that uses one. Just because you get a patent over something doesn't mean it'll hold up in court. They're looking to hit the lotto, that's all. - thcobbs, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5@bliz20
Sorry, there's already prior art on that. - redwallhp, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5...and doing their own share of patent-trolling.
- ieatskunk, on 07/21/2009, -0/+5The only way someone should be able to sue for patent infringement is if they have produced the patented technology or are in the process of developing it. It should be like trademarks where if you dont use it you lose it.
- Balanced, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4You're confusing 'patent' with 'trademark'....
- caseycoold, on 07/21/2009, -1/+5See iPhone and everything else apple has put together. Nothing innovative in itself, but maybe the first time done a certain way, along with a huge PR compaign, and they could sell ice to an eskimo.
- rharris, on 07/21/2009, -1/+5The worst offender is the USPTO for granting stupid patents in the first place.
I've been awarded a patent, but it was for an idea more non-intuitive than using a button to control something.
I do disagree with those saying you should have a working prototype. The problem is that a small inventor often doesn't have the resources to build a prototype. If they go searching for a manufacturing partner, but don't have a patent, then the "partner" could end up stealing the idea. - CaviMike, on 07/21/2009, -1/+5Granted I hate MS and Apple because of their ways but that doesn't mean I'm going to side with Tsera, they're acting just like them.
- Rhydeble, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4Point is, if something is already public knowledge (I.E. you can use a ***** touchscreen intefrace) you can't really patent it anymore.
oh, and two circles standing upright with some sort of axle between them? if you ever use that you owe me a million Euro's - Recoil, on 07/21/2009, -0/+4What do you do when you find out a bigger and better company has come up with an idea that is slightly similar to yours? Do you file a lawsuit as soon as possible? No no no, you deliberately wait a couple of years 'til their product gets really successful so you can claim a ridiculous amount of money for it!
- redwallhp, on 07/21/2009, -0/+3"The patent in question relates to a touchpad that understands input demands by detecting the pattern of strokes and gestures made on the surface by the user, and which uses several predetermined pattern configurations to execute certain tasks."
Let's see, what else falls under that... How about this laptop from 1994? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_500_series
"The 500 series was the first laptop computer to use a trackpad instead of a trackball as a built-in pointing device and the first to have Ethernet networking built-in." - kelmaster1, on 07/21/2009, -1/+4lol, they're seeking triple damages from Apple, saying they knew of the copyright and willfully infringed upon it.
- CaughtThinking, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2"The Patent System Works!" - Patent Squatting Industry
- inactive, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2And we wonder why America is falling behind on the global economy...
If you can't be bothered to sue within a year of the alleged infringement, especially if you haven't actually made a working prototype of your patent, then you have no ***** case. - caseycoold, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2True
- Yage2006, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2Patent system bad must destroy.
- shallot, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2Lawyers...Lawyers...outlaw them...they are menace in out society....
- JHW539, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2Throwing someone to the wolves often involves, well, wolves.
- immatellyouwhat, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2You all commenting on here owe me $38.50 because I invented the internet!!!
-
Show 51 - 86 of 86 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is