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Patent Holder That Won Against Microsoft Now Targets Apple

Liam Widman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:52:42 -0500

Apple and 22 other companies are now the target of a new patent infringement suit over the use of browser-embedded interactive Web content. Previous patent suits on behalf of Eolas have gone favorably for the company. In 2004, Eolas was granted $565 million from litigation against Microsoft over a patent. The latest suit alleges that Apple and other companies are in violation of patents 5,838,906 and 7,599, 985. Both involve embedded Web applications. The suit was filed Wednesday in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas.

The suit states that Apple's official website uses QuickTime and Safari to enable the viewing of interactive content. It also alleges that Apple's hardware that runs the previously stated software is in violation of the patents as well. "Intellectual property is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy," said Dr. Michael D. Doyle, chairman of Eolas. "The primary reason for this has been the success of the U.S. patent system in allowing the innovative company in a field to develop and market its new inventions without having competitors unfairly profit from the innovator's hard work.”

The company stated that its patents relate to interactive, browser-embedded applications. The patent that ends in 906 was granted in 1998 and the other was issued this month. It covers the use of embedded applications through the use of browser plug-ins and AJAX.

The list of defendants, in its entirety, is as follows: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Argosy Publishing, Blockbuster, CDW Corporation, Citigroup, Ebay, Frito-Lay, GoDaddy, Google, J.C. Penney, JP Morgan Chase & Co., New Frontier Media, Office Depot, Perot Systems Corp., Playboy, Rent-A-Center, Staples, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Yahoo and YouTube.

Apple Files Theft Detection Patent

Arvind Srinivasan — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:36:31 -0500

Apple has just filed a patent for a system that would use the accelerometer to "determine whether a theft condition is present."

How would it do this? Algorithms, of course. The interesting part is that the patent details a system that can be tweaked by the user to recognize certain acceleration patterns. So, instead of determining that sudden acceleration means theft and it sounds an alarm when you run to class with your own laptop, you could activate it when leaving it on your desk, and make it beep angrily if someone moves it.

If this worked, it would be insanely cool. We just wish that instead of sounding an alarm, the dramatic chipmunk would pop up on the screen and say "I’m watching you." Nothing frightens thieves like a good rodent stare.

Read the full patent here.

Apple Files Patent For Multi Function Mouse

Arvind Srinivasan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:39:19 -0500

If it was possible to hate an Apple product, it would be the Mighty Mouse, without a doubt. Its insistence on looking nice and symmetrical wreaked havoc on our wrists, and the scroll ball had a tendency to fail. So, when Apple filed a patent that described a new “unibody multifunction mouse,” we got excited. However, we're still a little gun shy when it comes to embracing an Apple made mouse. We're looking at you puck mouse.

The concept describes a mouse that would have numerous “button zones” that would be linked to GUI actions (hopefully programmable). For example, they could invoke a certain menu action, open a certain program, etc. Where it gets interesting is the description of the actual mouse:

“The distribution of the button zones may be widely varied. For example, the button zones may be positioned almost anywhere on the mouse (e.g., front, back, sides or the like). Further, the button zones may be formed from almost any shape whether simple (e.g., squares, circles, ovals, triangles, rectangles, polygons, and the like) or complex (e.g., random shapes). The shape of multiple button zones may have identical shapes or they may have different shapes. In addition, the size of the button zones may vary according to the specific needs of each device. In most cases, the size of the button zones corresponds to a size that allows them to be easily manipulated by a user (e.g., the size of a finger tip or larger). Moreover, any number of button zones may be used. In most cases, the number of button zones correspond to the number of button functionalities offered by the mouse.”

Presumably, such a mouse would not have a large array of randomly placed buttons, and would employ touch-sensitive surface, and/or a pseudo-click like in the MacBook Pros. It sounds intriguing, but will it redeem Apple and its mouse mishaps?

What do you think. Would you buy a mouse like this? Would it be better than the Mighty Mouse?

It's an iPod Classic...It's a Phone...It's a Patent!

Arvind Srinivasan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:41:06 -0500

If anyone even had a remote chance of making rotary dial phones popular again, it would be Apple. MacNN is reporting that the latest patent they have been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office is for a clickwheel phone that operates, strangely, like those phones the number pad killed.

Don’t get excited about an iPhone nano, as the patent was filed for in July 2006, perhaps as a decoy or killed concept during the iPhone development process. Personally, We're glad this wasn’t the direction Apple went with the iPhone. If you thought text messaging with a number pad was bad, think searching for anything on an iPod classic, and you know this wouldn’t turn out well.

2 More Patents: Haptic Feedback and RFID Antenna

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:43:50 -0500

And we thought Apple scoffed at the Blackberry Storm’s haptic feedback. Guess not, because Apple has filed a patent that not only recognizes the limitations of a purely smooth touchscreen (can’t see what you are pressing), but shows haptic display technology as the solution.

The patent describes a grid of *big word alert* piezoelectronic actuators that would be activated on command. Now, if you are like us and don’t spend excessive amounts of time on Wikipedia, you probably don’t know what this means. Essentially, the touchscreen would have different surfaces such that the user would be able to feel buttons, while maintaining the no-button approach that Steve Jobs adores.

This could take the form of playback buttons (next song, previous song, pause), and even a haptic keyboard, which could enable touch typing. The good thing about the haptic feedback is that it would be completely programmable, so it could take different forms in different applications.

In another patent described in the same MacRumors article, Apple details an RFID reader integrated in the touchscreen, with the RFID antenna placed in the touchscreen panel itself. RFID tags, if you aren’t familiar with them, are becoming increasingly prevalent as tracking devices for products, key entry for security systems, and several other mainstream products.

Would you be excited about haptic feedback on your phone, and would you ever use RFID scanning to keep track of your robot army? Let us know in the comments.

Fingerprints on iPhones May Become Useful

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:24:12 -0500

The iPhone is notorious for picking up fingerprints like the FBI at a homicide scene. Now, they might finally be put to good use. Apple has filed a patent (We know, today is patent day), exposed by AppleInsider, that shows fingerprint signatures being used to trigger certain events.

Instead of relying on gestures to evoke certain actions, like skipping ahead in a playlist, a fingerprint sensor could trigger the same thing when touched by a certain person in a certain place. Potentially, this could open the door for user identification technology similar to the fingerprint sensors on PCs that we have all made fun of at some point (and remapped to our own fingers), that allow you to bypass password entry with a swipe of your finger.

That said, Apple could still give all of us the finger (pun intended) and omit any such technology from future product releases. With the number of patents they file, one can only imagine engineers do most of them just for funsies.

KaraokePhones

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:45:26 -0500

Not that we aren’t fond of people singing along with tunes on their iPods, but quite frankly, most of you are horrible. It isn’t your fault, we know you can’t hear yourselves. So, we aren’t sure if Apple’s latest patent, uncovered by MacRumors, is the greatest.

The filing is for karaoke-esque software on your iPhone, where you sing along to scrolling lyrics on the screen, and are rated for how well you do. Think of it as a personal Rock Band game, without the guitar and drums. Yes, we know that’s just karaoke.

More interesting than a built-in app, though, would be if Apple opened up APIs to access such software. We could see interesting software that could take advantage of tone and pitch recognition. So, with mixed feelings, we can only wait and watch out for karaoke in future iPhones.

Apple Patents Super-Packaging

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:27:31 -0500

Apple is known for revolutionizing the phone, music player, and personal computer, but their next innovation may not be so, well, glamorous.

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has filed a patent that will revolutionize...the box. No, no, this isn’t any ordinary box. Apparently, this box, which will be packaging for Apple hardware, will allow the devices enclosed within them to receive firmware updates, software updates, and power, via an integrated wireless network interface and some power supply. The box is called “active packaging,” but we can only imagine it would be called something more snazzy, like iBox, by the time it is rolled out (if ever).

The iBox, unfortunately, would not be for individual use. Rather, it would be implemented in the stores, where currently, the products are held in place by a polymer backing. As a result, the wireless interface, coupled with a bunch of other sensors, would allow the devices to display advertisements, interact with one another with respect to their location, and transmit messages to your brain without you knowing it (all of those are mentioned in the filing except for the last one, but we all know the real reason why the iBox was invented).

As always with patents, there is no release date, or even confirmation that such a product will be released. It just pleases us that it is a technological possibility.