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Patent troll sues Apple over VOIP in Messages
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NewsPoster
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Jun 14, 2016, 07:48 PM
 
Non-practicing entity Uniloc, whose sole source of revenue is patent lawsuits and licensing, has taken to the patent-holder haven of the Eastern Texas Court District to sue Apple over four VOIP patents it claims are being infringed by Apple's Messages app. The company has filed dozens of lawsuits against big tech firms, but had its largest win -- a $388 million judgement against Microsoft -- overturned. While Apple's Messages gained some VOIP components in 2014, Uniloc has waited until now to file suit.

The firm has cited four patents it acquired from a defunct marketing company called Ayalogic, once held by another patent troll, that cover a "system and method for instant VOIP messaging, allowing voice messages to send digital audio files to other users by way of an intermediary server. The patents, US Patents 7,535,890, 8,995,433, 8,724,622, and 8,243,723, were originally granted to their actual inventors in 2009, and are all related.

Apple and other tech firms have long lobbied for IP patent law reform that would limit NPEs from filing such lawsuits with more concrete evidence of infringement, proof of good-faith negotiations, and invoke harsh penalties for patent trolls who sue and lose.

315734139-Uniloc-Messages-Patent-Suit.pdf

( Last edited by NewsPoster; Jun 14, 2016 at 10:29 PM. )
     
prl99
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Jun 14, 2016, 09:38 PM
 
"In addition, should Apple's Messages app system be found to not literally infringe the asserted claims of the '890 Patent, Apple's Messages app system would nevertheless infringe the asserted claims of the '890 Patent. More specifically, the accused Apple Messages app system performs substantially the same function (instant voice messaging), in substantially the same way (via a client/server environment), to yield substantially the same result (delivering voice messages to available intended recipients). Apple would thus be liable for direct infringement under the doctrine of equivalents."

So, does every automobile manufacturer have to pay Oliver Evans? (The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789, per wikipedia)

Just because something is similar to something else or does obvious things in a similar manner doesn't mean it's violating a patent unless of course that patent was written so it covers everything that could ever be thought up and the crazy people at the USPTO approved it.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Jun 15, 2016, 09:39 AM
 
I think I'm going to file for a patent that covers moving your mouth and throat in specialized ways to modify your voice in such a manner as to facilitate communication between human entities.

Or, you know, as the layperson would know it -- talking.
     
jdonahoe
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Jun 15, 2016, 11:29 AM
 
@Diablo Don't limit it to humans, give yourself a wider range to sue from.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Jun 15, 2016, 12:11 PM
 
That's true, it's been quite a while since I sued a dog.
     
dariobrandt
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Jun 17, 2016, 11:32 PM
 
Useful writing - Incidentally , if your business needs a DoL WH-226 , my family filled out and faxed a template document here
     
dariobrandt
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Jun 17, 2016, 11:33 PM
 
Useful writing - Incidentally , if your business needs a DoL WH-226 , my family filled out and faxed a template document here http://pdf.ac/6mZrhY
     
   
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