[Swordmaker]

CNet is being a bit disingenuous in this article when discussing Apple's patent troubles. It is not telling the entire story, implying that Apple is in the wrong in the cases it mentions.

The Nokia v. Apple dispute discussed in the article was actually a WIN for Apple in that Nokia was demanding that Apple pay triple the amount others members of the cell phone patent pool licensing consortium were being required to pay for Nokia's patents in the pool AND that Apple license the iPhone patents to Nokia in exchange for merely getting fair pricing for what Apple should have gotten by contract as a member of the pool. Apple refused to pay Nokia ANY royalties at all until the dispute was settled, instead putting the royalties into an escrow account. Last week, a settlement was reached in which Nokia gets the royalties they WOULD have received at the normal pool rates and NOTHING more! Nokia claimed a win... But they did not get what they wanted. They just got what they were entitled to by contract, what Apple had put in the escrow account and was willing to pay from day one as a member of the patent consortium! In fact, Apple was the winner...

The Samsung lawsuit is a countersuit in response to Apple suing Samsung for violating Apple's intellectual property by copying the look, feel, and user interfaces of iPhones and iPads. Samsung just lost a major ruling from the judge in the case when she ruled that Samsung has no justification to see Apple's future iPhone 5 and iPad 3 products before release or announcements but that Apple is justified and allowed because of Samsung's past behavior to see Samsung's upcoming phones and tablets to determine if they should be injuncted from sale!

[Swordmaker]

Apple granted the multitouch screen patent on smartphones—Android touch screen phone makers will owe royalties IF Apple agrees to license their technology! They might not! —PING!

Apple multitouch patent granted Ping!
Please, No Flame Wars,
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[benjibrowder]

Apple is using cherrypicked photos that make the Samsung Galaxy S look like something it’s not.

As far as the patent goes, Android does this as well, but I’m not sure Google would have to pay out because it’s open source and Google isn’t releasing it for profit.

Steve is afraid of reliving the early 1990’s, where Microsoft allowed Windows to be installed on any computer running it.

[Political Junkie Too]

Other than varying the image on the touchscreen, how is this different from the mousing areas on laptops that replaced the toggle in the middle of the keyboard?

And shouldn't this go all the way back to elevator buttons that activated by the heat of your fingers?

-PJ

[Outlaw Woman]

What ramifications does this have on Samsung users???

[PastorBooks]

This only highlights the fact that all software patents need to be done away with. Ditto for “business method” patents.

The patent system was conceived in an age when things did not change rapidly and the founders wanted to spur innovation. Software is innovative by it’s very nature; it cannot be otherwise. Patents are now hindering innovation.

Patent terms must be reduced, and patents for software and business methods need to be ended completely.

[aruanan]

including one that allows smartphone owners to use the Web while on a phone call.

Geez. I could imagine this if it was a particular application, the code of which was copied, but not the type of functionality. How about getting a patent for an app that allows the user to use the restroom while on a phone call by using some kind of algorithms that will counteract the restroom reverb and will noise-cancel the sound of trickles, plops, and toilet flushes?

[Cboldt]

More info, good description and dissection of one of the claims at Nilay Patel article at thisismynext.com. The patent No., if anybody wants to read the whole thing, is 7,966,578.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I've been working on a touch screen that touches you back and can also identify if it's a good touch or a bad touch.

My other invention is a lawnmower for lesbians. It's called a carpet mulcher.