Free Republic

Don’t talk tech to me!!!!!

I have years worth of pics in my digital camera. I don’t know how they in there and I don’t know how to get them out of there.

I even have pics in my cell phone. Don’t know how to get them out of there either.

Some day the Smithsonian will have an exhibit of these pics.

That explains the awesome qualify of the photos sent from a friend’s iPhone.

If Apple is infringing on another company’s patents they ought to pay up.

This patent is of the type: if someone uses takes an image with some kind of electronic camera and converts it to a digital format and stores it in a computer compatible format then they could display it on a computer screen... IT includes all kinds of neat flow chart boxes but does not explain how, exactly they would do this. Apple, at the same time as this "invention" was wending its way through the patent office was already making and selling the Apple Quicktake Digital 100 camera. A digital camera that takes an image, converted it to a digital format and stored it in a computer compativle format and could display it on a computer screen. Try again.

You do understand that the whole concept of patents is that you actually patent an IDEA!

From the USPTO:

"A patent cannot be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion. The patent is granted upon the new machine, manufacture, etc., as has been said, and not upon the idea or suggestion of the new machine."

What you are talking about scope is the sad state of patents today. Often, it's not really the device that gets invented, but the sole creativity is involved in creating the patent itself.

No bearing on the validity of the patent.

The patent remains valid, but sitting on it can affect how much money you can get. It is unfair to let a company build up a product and make millions thinking they were in the clear, when you could have told them in the beginning that they were infringing. No, the patent holder only waits until the use gets big enough to cause a larger judgment. This is unfair, and what legal doctrines of equity try to stop.

Unfortunately, in the troll-friendly Eastern district of Texas, just meeting laches doesn't automatically mean the judge will grant equitable estoppel.

Apple must show beyond a reasonable doubt that they had come up with the invention on a date prior to that documented and shown by the patent holders.

Preponderance of the evidence standard. This is a civil case.

Speaking of the Eastern district, something needs to be done to stop all these trolls from going there. You can't say you have to sue in your own district, because many of these patent trolls are companies created in the Eastern district solely for the purpose of launching one lawsuit. But I'm sure something can be done.