Did the world’s tech giants just discover they have lawyers on retainer? That’s certainly how it seems, as company after company has decided ’tis the season to target the competition with patent infringement allegations. Sony, the latest, is aiming squarely at LG, claiming that the Korean manufacturer’s violating eight patents with its mobile devices — including the LG Fathom, Xenon, Neon, Remarq, Rumor 2, Lotus Elite and VL600 LTE modem — claiming that these devices transmit variable-bandwidth audio streams, live-preview camera snapshots, hand off cellular calls and more in ways that infringe Sony’s intellectual property. Sony’s now filed both an ITC complaint in an attempt to ban new product shipments from the US, and a lawsuit in federal court that will no doubt seek monetary damages. Now, if recent history is any indication, LG will turn around and smack Sony with a patent stack of its own, and we’ll all go back to dreaming about LG devices we’d actually care to purchase.
Amazon has patented a system for automatically converting gifts prior to them being delivered, bypassing the hassle of a returns process but still allowing giftors to believe the original item has been received. The patent, “System and method for converting gifts”, was filed back in 2006 and partially credited to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos; it describes a system where pre-defined rules – such as “no wool” or all items from a certain individual – are used to filter through presents bought for an individual, alerting them via email and then allowing them to replace it with an alternative of their choice.
Although the benefit to Amazon would primarily be one of simplifying their returns process, the patent details potential upsides of the filtering system to gift recipients. Matters of taste are a common theme, with unpleasant Christmas jumpers automatically being put on hold, as well as overly cautious presents that do not fully match up with the recipient’s expectations:
“It sometimes occurs that gifts purchased online do not meet the needs or tastes of the gift recipient. In some cases, concern that the gift recipient may not like a particular gift may cause the person sending the gift to be more cautious in gift selection. The person sending the gift may be less likely to take a chance on a gift that is unexpected but that the recipient might truly enjoy, opting instead for a gift that is somewhat more predictable but less likely to be converted to something else.” Amazon patent 7831439
Causing most controversy is the fact that Amazon would allow for a thank-you note to be sent to the sender of the gift, referring to the original choice rather than the replacement item (or the fact that you swapped it for a gift card). “The user may also be provided with the option of sending a thank you note for the original gift” the patent describes, “even though the original gift is converted,” though it would also be possible to disclose that the present was exchanged, presumably in an attempt to better educate people to your tastes.
Skype blamed its supernodes for the VoIP network’s downtime last week, and it seems the P2P technology is also to blame for a new patent infringement lawsuit filed against the company. Gradient Enterprises claims Skype is stomping all over its “Method for Detecting, Reporting and Responding to Network Node-Level Events and a System Thereof” patent, granted back in February 2010, without coughing up the necessary licensing fees
Just as Skype’s supernodes communicate network status and manage VoIP call routing in a decentralized way, meaning that – in theory at least – the system is not reliant on a single server hosted by Skype itself, Gradient’s patented technology covers cross-node communication of status and events. As the patent describes:
“An event detection system communicates network event information associated with an event detected at one or more of the nodes in the network to the one or more first mobile agents, and a reporting system disseminates from the one or more first mobile agents information describing the detected event to one or more other nodes.”
The video quality you can get from a DSLR that can record video in HD is very impressive giving the capability to make really good photos and video with one go. The catch that some are finding when they are trying to make pro level video with the DSLR is that it’s hard to zoom smoothly in manual zoom mode that DSLR cameras support.
Nikon has filed for a patent that outlines a cool new DSLR lens that has both manual zoom and electronic zoom modes the manual mode would allow the shooter to zoom quickly when taking still shots where being smooth isn’t a factor. The same lens would have an electronic zoom mode.
That electronic zoom mode would allow for smooth zooms that look professional and are easy to perform. Where this patent will come into play is unknown. The patent app was filed on June 3, 2009 and published last week.
As patent application illustrations go, Canon hasn’t exactly pushed the boat out this time, but there’s enough to see that the company is interested in how digital cameras and cellphones might one day talk among themselves. In an application titled “Communication Device and Control Method Thereof“, Canon outlines a system whereby NFC – or another short-range wireless technology – could be used to turn your cellphone display into an ad-hoc viewer for content on your digital camera, as well as transferring content across or updating settings.
As soon as the camera and phone are moved within wireless range, the processors in each bump heads and figure out the exact capabilities on offer: so, if your phone has a data connection, you may be offered uploading functionality to put your pictures onto Flickr or another online gallery. Meanwhile, Canon expects the same wireless negotiation protocols to be used in other hardware, such as printers, so that moving the camera close to a printer would offer task-specific choices such as producing thumbnail previews or whole-page images.
Considering we’re seeing a push for NFC in mobile devices by Google, with Android 2.3 and the NFC hardware in the Nexus S, together with companies like Apple seemingly looking to the short-range wireless as well, this could well be a useful system for getting DSLR content online more easily and without a computer.
Embedding an antenna in the external body of a phone? Maybe not such a good idea. Hiding it behind the logo sounds a little more practical, and that’s the idea Apple wrote up in a patent application dated June 17th, 2009, back before we knew antennas and gates could be so wickedly conjoined. That was also before we knew about the iPad, which seems to have one of these so-called “logo antennas” within it, as found when iFixit did their dirty thing. The same can be said for iMacs, which also have antennas peering through an apple-shaped hole to avoid any reception issues caused by an aluminum chassis. It looks to be a good solution, but not exactly a novel one. In roaming around the USPTO archives we found a similar 2003 patent from Dell also called “Logo Antenna,” the big difference being that while Apple’s logo forms a window for the antenna the logo in Dell’s patent actually is the antenna.
Apple engineers are always hard at work trying to better their hardware, trying to find every route possible to make it more interesting, usable, and effective. While “Antennagate” may have thrown a wrench in a lot of people’s planning and hard work, and caused an antenna-related campaign of which no one had seen before, it also meant that those same engineers were already hard at work on a fix right after the launch of the latest generation iPhone. And, if a recent patent application is any indicator to the fact, they may have found a potential fix for the whole situation: hiding it behind the logo.
Apple is calling it the “logo antenna,” and it’s right where you think it is. The patent (which, as mentioned above, is an application at this point) is clear in pointing out that the logo antenna isn’t just for an iPhone, either. As you can see in the image above, they make it very clear that they could put the same technology into their laptop line-up, or “telephonic” MacBooks. Patently Apple points out that this is the third time Apple has patented a telephonic MacBook, and suggests that this is an obvious trend, which Apple is focusing on for a reason. It’s also not surprising that Apple is already planning on using this same technology, if not better variations of it, and putting the logo antenna in even smaller devices, like something you can wear.
According to PA, the new technology could use a housing that is machined from an aluminum block –or other metals– that service as conductive sidewalls. The housing could then be used to hold wiring, displays, and other integrated circuits. The hope is that the new logo antenna will allow the device to “gain a stronger signal without intervening metal or other conductive housing walls interfering.” It’s not a secret that as our gadgets get smaller and thinner, it is becoming more difficult for engineers to put antennas into them. But this new design, with that aforementioned conductive housing, or “conductive antenna cavity,” could mean a huge transition in antenna technology.
You know that killer new app you just got for your iPhone? Could you beam us a copy to try? Of course you can’t — it doesn’t work that way — but someday soon it might. The fine folks at Patently Apple recently unearthed an Apple patent app that describes a way to transfer apps over peer-to-peer Bluetooth or shiny, star-filled WiFi. The idea goes that if a company wants to spread a program by word of mouth, it might as well make it shareable too, and so the owner of an app could transfer an “application seed” to friends and associates with a similar device. You’d pick from a menu of apps to beam over, where only those greenlit by their developer would be available to send, and your recipient would receive a trial version — or somewhat less excitingly, a link to the App Store — over the air. The patent app suggests that recipients could even share the demo in turn, generating generation after generation of word-of-mouth sales, and that companies might even reward particularly influential sharers in some way. What’s that rumbling we hear? Just the gears turning in the minds of men plotting the next great pyramid scheme.
The legal spat between Apple and Nokia has gained another convoluted twist today, as Nokia files further claims in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands over alleged patent infringement. “These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts,” said Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia.
“The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences” Melin continued, “for example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone.” Nokia has been careful to point out that none of the contested patents are considered “essential to any wireless communication standard”, seemingly an attempt to further differentiate their own intellectual property.
Press Release:
Nokia files patent infringement complaints against Apple in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands
December 16, 2010
Espoo, Finland – Nokia announced it has filed claims in the UK High Court, Dusseldorf and Mannheim District Courts in Germany and the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands, alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in many of its products sold in these countries, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
“These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts,” said Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia. “The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences. For example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone.”
Nokia’s filing in the UK covers 4 Nokia patents related to touch user interface, on-device app stores, signal noise suppression and modulator structures.
Nokia’s filing in Dusseldorf, Germany covers 7 Nokia patents related to touch user interface, antenna structures, messaging functionality and chipsets.
Nokia’s filing in Mannheim, Germany covers 5 Nokia patents related to on-device app stores, caller ID, display illumination and the integration of multiple radios.
Nokia’s filing in the Hague, Netherlands covers 2 Nokia patents related to signal noise suppression and data card functionality.
None of the asserted patents have been declared essential to any wireless communication standard.
During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry’s strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with around 11,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia’s strong patent position.
We told you that this would likely go on forever. Nokia just announced that the company has filed claims in the UK, Germany, and The Netherlands alleging that Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are infringing upon Nokia’s patents. This adds 13 more patents to the 24 already asserted in the ITC and US federal claims. Here’s a particularly snippy remark made Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia:
“The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences. For example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone.”
The new Nokia patent claims are wide ranging covering user interface, on-device app stores, antenna structures, signal noise suppression, messaging functionality, chipsets, caller ID, display illumination, integration of multiple radios, and data card functionality. Click through for the full press release.
Amazon has 
The legal spat 
