http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100302/apple-sues-htc/
Apple Sues Google Nexus One Maker HTC
by John Paczkowski
We’ve been pushing the state-of-the-art in every facet of design … We’ve been innovating like crazy for the last few years on this and we’ve filed for over 200 patents for all of the inventions in iPhone. And we intend to protect them.
– Apple CEO Steve Jobs, January 9, 2007
Asked for his thoughts on iPhone rivals during a January 2009 earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook said the company would not stand for having its intellectual property ripped off. “We are watching the landscape,” he said. “We like competition, as long as they don’t rip off our IP, and if they do, we’re going to go after anybody that does … We think competition is good; it makes it us all better. But we’re ready to suit up and go against anyone.”
Well, looks like Apple (AAPL) is suiting up, and against two formidable oppononets. This morning it filed sued against HTC, a Taiwanese handset manufacturer that makes a number of Android smartphones, including the OS’ marquee device: Google’s (GOOG) Nexus One. In a suit filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware, Apple alleges that HTC infringed some 20 patents related to the iPhone’s GUI, underlying architecture and hardware.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,”Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a press release announcing the action. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
It’s not yet clear if Google is implicated here. But it certainly seems a possibility. After all, HTC manufactures a number of Android devices and while Google insisted at the Nexus One’s launch that it didn’t design the device, it clearly played a role in its development.
Of course, it could be that Apple is suing HTC because it can’t, for some reason, sue Google. More details to follow once I get a copy of the suit.
Apple vs. Google: Game On
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100302/apple-vs-google-game-on/
by John Paczkowski
Is Apple’s lawsuit against HTC a proxy through which to strike at Google and its increasingly popular Android OS? It certainly looks that way.
While not directly named in the lawsuit, Google (GOOG) figures prominently in it simply because of the sheer number of times “Android products” are called out in the complaint. According to Apple (AAPL), “Accused HTC Android Products” infringe no fewer than nine of its patents–some dating from back to the company’s NeXT days. They are:
* Patent #5481721: Method for providing automatic and dynamic translation of object oriented programming language-based message passing into operation system message passing using proxy objects
* Patent #5519867: Object Oriented Multitasking System
* Patent #6275983: Object-Oriented Operating System
* Patent #5566337: Method and apparatus for distributing events in an operating system
* Patent #5929852: Encapsulated network entity reference of a network component system
* Patent #5946647: System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data
* Patent #5969705: Message protocol for controlling a user interface from an inactive application program
* Patent #5915131: Method and apparatus for handling I/O requests utilizing separate programming interfaces to access separate I/O service
* Patent #RE39486: Extensible, replaceable network component system
These patents all cover operating system-level behavior. Could these behaviors be specific to the version of Android running on HTC’s devices? I suppose that’s possible. But it seems unlikely. As Engadget’s Nilay Patel writes in an excellent breakdown of the patents at issue, “Some of these patents are from 15 years ago and cover OS-level behavior–it’s hard to see how they can relate only to HTC’s implementation of Android and not Google’s OS as a whole.”
In other words, this may be an early salvo in Apple vs. Google. If that’s the case, why was it made against HTC? As I noted in an earlier post, as a contract manufacturer, HTC is an easier target.
And, of course, Google isn’t building the allegedly infringing devices. But more important, Apple and Google still work closely together on two apps that are core to the iPhone and soon, the iPad as well: Search and maps. Going after Google outright might put those projects at risk at a time (pre-iPad launch) when they need to be preserved.
Safer then for Apple to spank a company like HTC to make its point–unless, of course, Google feels compelled to come to HTC’s defense.
Reached for comment, Google had only this to say: “We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.”
蘋果與HTC、諾基亞等展開專利大戰
http://tech.163.com/10/0304/02/60TA51MV000915BE.html
(本文來源：新快報 作者：董毅)
據國外媒體報導，蘋果表示已對全球最大的智慧手機製造商宏達電（HTC）提起訴訟，並稱宏達電侵犯了蘋果20項與iPhone的相關專利。僅僅數月前的2009年底，諾基亞在美國提起訴訟，稱蘋果幾乎所有產品都侵犯其專利，並要求美國禁止進口蘋果生產自中國的iPhone、iPod以及Mac電腦；2010年1月，蘋果又反訴諾基亞專利侵權，要求美國政府禁止進口諾基亞手機。
蘋果速戰速決鉗制對手
據瞭解，蘋果公司此次同時向美國國際貿易委員會（ITC）和特拉華州聯邦法院提起訴訟。分析人士認為，這樣做的好處是ITC審理的進度很可能要比聯邦法院快。根據過去的記錄，ITC審理此類案件的速度要遠遠快于傳統的聯邦法院系統，因此科技企業通常都向其提交法律糾紛。ITC最快能在14至16個月審理並判決案件，而地區法院往往等上幾年才能對案件開庭審理。
蘋果CEO史蒂夫•約伯斯在一份聲明中措辭強硬地表示：“要麼對競爭對手侵犯蘋果專利的行為坐視不管，要麼就行動起來制止他們，我們選擇了後者。競爭對所有人都有益，但我們的競爭對手應該去自己研發新技術，而不是盜用我們的。”
谷歌手機或被美國禁售
蘋果在向ITC提交的訴訟檔中稱，宏達電生產的包括穀歌NexusOne在內的多款手機，以及基於Windows Mobile作業系統的其他型號手機，都侵犯了蘋果iPhone在用戶介面、底層構架和硬體方面的相關專利。法律人士認為，一旦ITC裁定HTC敗訴，將直接導致穀歌NexusOne及HTC為各大運營商定制的智慧手機在美國市場的全面禁售。
不過該人士預計這項裁定不會影響到谷歌手機在美國以外的市場，譬如中國香港特別行政區。目前，穀歌NexusOne手機在全球多個地區發售，暫不包括中國內地，只有少量水貨流入，售價高達4300元。有分析認為，若HTC敗訴或將導致穀歌NexusOne 等一系列基於Android系統的智慧手機大幅降價。
諾基亞或借機收復失地
據市場研究公司Gartner 統計，自從蘋果iPhone發售以來，去年第三季度，諾基亞市場份額從上年同期的42.3%下滑至39.3%。雖然蘋果在今年1月針對諾基亞提出了新的專利侵權投訴，要求美國禁止進口諾基亞手機。分析認為此舉收效甚微——因為諾基亞在美國市場的佔有率本來就不高；相反，美國市場對蘋果而言至關重要，一旦諾基亞在訴訟方面獲得進展，對蘋果財政收入的負面影響巨大。
也有業內人士認為，諾基亞與蘋果數額高達數億美元的專利糾紛，更有可能以和解收場。此前，由於專利糾紛，諾基亞和高通曾一度交惡，不過雙方最終達成了和解。最近，諾基亞甚至會推出一款採用高通最新處理器的智慧手機。有跡象顯示，諾基亞有可能複製與高通和解的方式，進一步提高市場佔有率，並聯手蘋果打壓Android智慧手機的發展。
多點觸摸技術或被蘋果獨佔
一直以來，Android系統對多點觸摸等技術都諱莫如深。這並非技術上做不到，而是因為蘋果一直聲稱針對手機的多點觸摸技術擁有專利權，因此從Android 系統的第一款手機G1，至最新的NexusOne都沒有全面內置多點觸摸技術。而Palm早在去年推出Pre智慧手機時，就不顧蘋果反對使用了多點觸摸技術，結果並沒有被蘋果起訴。似乎因為這些先例，最近，HTC也逐漸試探性地在旗下智慧手機領域引進這項廣受消費者歡迎的技術；而摩托羅拉等其他Android手機製造商也如法炮製。
這樣做的結果或讓蘋果失去容忍的耐心，此次將HTC告上法庭，也有敲山震虎的意味。據記者瞭解，不僅僅是多點觸摸技術本身，iPhone的操作及上網等一攬子專利早已被蘋果註冊，任何與之相似或者模仿的設計，都有被蘋果拖入專利訴訟泥潭的風險。
近期手機業官司全記錄
2010年3月2日，蘋果起訴HTC，稱HTC的多款智慧手機侵犯iPhone的10項專利。
2010年2月12日，以色列Emblaze公司起訴蘋果，稱蘋果在iPhone、iPod及Mac電腦中侵犯了其流媒體技術專利。
2010年1月23日，摩托羅拉起訴RIM（黑莓手機製造商）侵犯摩托羅拉的5項專利。在智慧手機領域摩托羅拉一直想取代RIM佔領企業及手機郵件市場。
2010年1月15日，柯達在美國起訴蘋果和RIM侵犯了兩項專利，並要求美國全面禁售i-Phone及黑莓手機。
2010年1月13日，韓國電子通信研究院稱將起訴諾基亞等數家手機企業，稱對方侵犯了其大約7項3G專利技術，目的是為了獲取2.7億美元的專利授權費。
2010年1月，蘋果起訴諾基亞侵權其註冊專利，要求美國禁止進口諾基亞手機。
2009年12月底，諾基亞向ITC提起訴訟，指控蘋果iPhone、iPod和Mac電腦都侵犯了諾基亞的7項專利。
2009年10月，諾基亞在美國和英國起訴三星、LG電子和夏普等廠商聯合壟斷液晶面板價格，而這三家廠家均是諾基亞手機的競爭對手。
2009年1月19日，美國德克薩斯州SaxonInnovations公司要起訴RIM、Palm和諾基亞等6家手機公司，稱多款產品侵犯了其兩項專利，要求賠償。
