Tag: patent

iPhone 5 to have interchangeable camera lens?

This implies that the coming generations of the iPhones could sport a removable back cover

US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals one of their research projects involving a camera device that provides the user with configurable optic options. The unique aspect to this is the device’s removable back panel. Although Apple’s patent background mentions a mobile phone, their actual summary and patent detailing mention nothing of a phone in any traditional way. So the device could either represent a next generation iPhone or a standalone camera that Apple has been playing with since 2009. While Apple has toyed with the idea of adding various lenses to handhelds via an external accessory in the past, their concepts were never in-line with Apple’s great design ethic. Today’s design seems to properly address the need for better portable device optical options while retaining an Apple-like form factor. The only real question remaining is this: Is Apple designing this removable back panel design as part of a standalone camera or as part of the iPhone’s reinvention. Which do you think it’ll be?

Source : Patently Apple

June 18, 2012
Apple seeks ban on Samsung Galaxy SIII, based on two patent violations including one for Siri

They are at it again. Apple and Samsung are in legal hot waters yet again, only when things couldn’t get worse. Apple has called for early ban on Samsung’s new flagship device the Galaxy SIII. According to Apple the Galaxy S III violates at least two patents, one is the data tapping patent, the exact on in their suitagainst HTC and the other a unified search patent that covers Siri.

Apple is also arguing that a Million Pre-orders are evidence of the potential damage if the US court lets the dispute slide. Samsung has confirmed that the injunction will not affect the US launch schedule. But knowing how this battle has heated up, we can only wait nd watch what really will happen.

June 7, 2012
Apple vs Samsung settles down as parties drop several claims

Both Apple and Samsung have dropped several claims from the case against one another, after Judge Lucy Koh informed them to do so. Apple has reduced its case to one claim from each of its asserted utility patents, its four iPhone and one iPad design patents, and its trade dress claims for those two devices. While Samsung has dropped their cases to 15 altogether from a a total of 75 and completely deleted two claims.

Both parties can later re-assert the removed claims in another lawsuit if they choose to do so.

The case date for the hearing is on July 30th, after which a real outcome may finally be achieved.

[Apple filing]

[Samsung filing]

May 9, 2012
Microsofts new Patent shows off usefulness of Back panels in a Smartphone

Microsoft’s new patent for Interactive back panel displays could actually change the way we utilize a smartphone today, or tomorrow. The new patent by Microsoft simply describes a device with two screens. The Second Screen is however a low power screen with a lot of potential ( something like an e-ink display) displaying different information based on the current state and information on the original front facing screen. Looking at the patent images you can see a curved back panel which can be used as a display for clock connectivity or simply a status bar.

According to the patent, the display will continue to work even if the device is off. This is something that actually is exciting and hopefully can actually make it to devices in one form or another.

April 23, 2012
Apple Patent Hints at Face Unlock for iOS devices, iPhone, iPad and iPod.

Apple is still at the face unlock for iOS devices, according to their new patent entitled “Electronic Device Operation Adjustment Based on Face Detection.” It describes using a forward facing camera on a device to recognize individual users and also track the orientation of their face with respect to the device.

The process would involve the device to initiate a scan and detect a specific user’s face, and then unlock the device after the person has been recognized. Failing the recognition the alternative option would be to enter a code to prevent total lockout.

“If the detected human face is recognized… an operation of the (device) can be modified based upon the recognized human face,” the application reads. “The modification can include executing a pre-defined set of operations such as opening email, opening text messages, and so forth.”

“The facial data can be used to determine an orientation of the human face relative to the orientation of the presented visual content,” the filing reads. “In other words, the electronic device can determine if the orientation of the presented visual content, is substantially the same, or different, than the orientation of the human face.”

[Appleinsider]

April 9, 2012
Nokia Patents their popular Morph Concept Phone

We are hoping you have already heard of the Nokia Morph concept by now, if you haven’t you should see the video below. According to the patent application the phone will switch between the leaf-shaped candy bar and the wristband. The patent also talks about remote handling of Data and information feeding.

[USPTO]

March 30, 2012
Yahoo sues Facebook for infringing on the social networking patent !

This is possibly going to be the biggest battle since the Apple vs Samsung saga began, Yahoo has allegedly filed a lawsuit to sue social networking giant Facebook for infringing on several patents that are owned by Yahoo. These patents include a series of things Facebook is famous for, ten patents in all, which cover everything from advertising and privacy measures to messaging and social networking itself.

Yahoo claims that the company licenses its patents to several other companies but the matter of Facebook remains unresolved.

Yahoo! has invested substantial resources in research and development through the years, which has resulted in numerous patented inventions of technology that other companies have licensed. These technologies are the foundation of our business that engages over 700 million monthly unique visitors and represent the spirit of innovation upon which Yahoo! is built. Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court. We are confident that we will prevail.”

– Yahoo Spokesperson

Facebook on the other hand claims that there has been no real discussion when it comes to the matter of Facebook infringing Yahoo Patents.

We’re disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation. Once again, we learned of Yahoo’s decision simultaneously with the media. We will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions.”

-Facebook

[AllThingsD]

March 13, 2012
Apple wins Injunction against Motorola in Germany

The Munich I Regional Court handed down a decision awarding Apple an injunction against all Motorola devices for Apple’s patent on “portable electronic device[s] for photo management.” According to FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller, there is a chance that Apple could choose to enforce the ban, which could require Motorola to destroy all existing products that violate the claim.

“Today’s ruling in Munich, Germany on the patent litigation brought by Apple concerns a software feature associated with performing certain functions when viewing photos in a ‘zoomed in’ mode on mobile devices. We note that the Court ruled that performing the functions in a ‘zoomed out’ mode does not infringe on this patent. We expect no impact to supply or future sales as we have already implemented a new way to view photos on our products that does not interfere with the user experience.”

-Motorola

[FOSS Patents]

March 2, 2012
Apple granted injunction in German patent suit against Motorola

Apple has been granted an injunction in the patent suit against Motorola at the German court. The case originally focused on three separate applications of this gesture tech two for phones and one for Tablets, but for now, the one used on the Xoom has been deemed outside of Apple’s purview. This win could cause a further blow to Moto’s already dying numbers. Apple has been in the front race this past year for their Patent wars on a number of handset manufacturers.

February 17, 2012
Apple vs Samsung Heats up : new complaint : 17 devices infringe 8 patents.

With the old lawsuit not yet over, Apple has filed a new complaint that attack 18 new Samsung devices. According to Apple the devices infringe 8 patents that are currently owned by Apple. Four of the patents in question having been granted since the last time Apple filed suit against the Korean firm including missed call management, slide-to-unlock and data-syncing technology.

The devices infringing the patent include the new Galaxy Nexus along with all variants of the Galaxy SII, Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 8.9.

Looks like this battle is going to be a never ending one, or at least till cupertino gets some korean slaves in its undertone.

[Complaint (PDF)]

February 16, 2012
Request for preliminary ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Galaxy Nexus Denied to Apple in German Court

German Court has denied the Preliminary ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus, as requested by Apple on the basis of Touchscreen copyright infringement. The court declared the patent invalid due to the market presence of the same technology before the patent was granted. The court in Dusseldorf has yet to give its final decision on the ban of Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which may finally give us the expectancy of the said Tab.

[Bloomberg]

February 2, 2012
Apple patent suggests fuel cell powered MacBooks

Apple has filed for a new Patent that would allow for new MacBooks to go on for days and weeks without requiring a charge. This new technology would also allow for Cupertino’s new laptops to be slimmer and lighter. Apple has filed for a patent indicating that hydrogen fuel cells would be used to send and receive power from a battery to power a laptop computer. Apple also admits in this patent that the company is developing a product which is small enough and cheap enough to be placed in one of their laptops will be a challenge.

December 23, 2011
Apple awarded patent for in-call App switching, readies the biggest lawsuit yet

Apple has been awarded a patent for a “portable electronic device with graphical user interface supporting application switching.”, this is going to be the company’s biggest win. What this basically means is that Apple has been awarded a patent for a SmartPhone. All brands and all manufacturers will fall under the knife of Apple’s lawyers. This will put and end to all legal battles that the company has with HTC and Samsung.

Of course the patent is worded very vaguely and covers almost all devices that allow you to switch between applications when on a call. This most definitely covers Android and WinPho devices if not Blackberry and Symbian. Apple should be already sharpening its knives to slaughter the entire opposition.

[USPTO]

December 21, 2011
French court denies iPhone 4S sale ban to Samsung

Its like winning and loosing all round, Apple was denied injunction lift suspension and Samsung was denied primary sale ban in France. The french courts yesterday denied Samsung’s request to ban the sales of Apple iPhone 4S in France. The court called the reaction out of proportion with its claims of intellectual property theft and ordered Samsung to pay a fine of €100,000 (about $134,000) to cover Cupertino’s legal fees.

The case is one of many legal battles being waged between Samsung and Apple in the United States, Italy, and several other countries over intellectual property protecting their smartphones.

December 9, 2011
Apple’s Appeal to suspend the temporary injunction lift for Galaxy Tab rejected in Australia

First Apple managed to get an injunction against the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, The Korean company managed to get the courts to temporarily lift the injunction . Apple then appealed this lift of injunction, But it seems that this appeal was denied by the Aussie Court, as is being reported by The Register. Samsung will be now allowed to sell its Galaxy tab 10.1 throughout the holiday season, gathering up enough sales to recover initial costs of ad investments.

Samsung says the device will on on the shelf on Monday, December 12, with list prices of $579 for the 16 GB WiFi Galaxy 10.1 Tab, and $729 for the 3G version in Australia.

[The Register]

December 9, 2011