Patent suit takes aim at Apple over iPhone, iPad 3G data transfer
The complaint comes from GPNE Corp., based in Honolulu, Hawaii, which has accused Apple and others of infringing on patents related to general packet radio service. As part of the 3G standard for GSM radio frequencies, it allows features such as multimedia messaging, push-to-talk over cellular, always-on Internet access, and point-to-point networking.
The lawsuit accuses "computerized communications devices and computerized tablet devices" manufactured by Apple of infringing on patents it owns. Specifically, GPNE accuses Apple of three counts of patent violation, related to the following inventions:
- U.S. Patent No. 7,555,267 - "Network Communication System Wherein a Node Obtains Resources for Transmitting Data by Transmitting Two Reservation Requests"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,570,954 - "Communication System Wherein a Clocking Signal from a Controller, a Request from a Node, Acknowledgement of the Request, and Data Transferred from the Node are All Provided on Different Frequencies, Enabling Simultaneous Transmission of these Signals"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,792,492 - "Network Communication System with an Alignment Signal to Allow a Controller to Provide Messages to Nodes and Transmission of the Messages Over Four Independent Frequencies"
The first two patents were granted in 2009, while the U.S. Patent and Trademark office awarded the '492 patent in 2010. The filing notes that the inventions were "conceived in Hawaii by two local residents," one of whom, Gabriel Wong, is chairman of GPNE.
The complaint accuses Apple of making and selling portable devices "with the ability to function with GPRS." It specifically names the iPhone 4 and iPad, but is broadly worded to encompass any other 3G-capable devices and models in Apple's product lineup.
In addition to Apple, the full list of defendants in the suit is Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Garmin, Nokia, Pantech, Research in Motion, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson. Other devices listed in the suit include the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and BlackBerry Torch 9800.
GPNE has asked the court for damages, and to require the defendants to pay "a reasonable, on-going, post judgment royalty" for the right to use technology allegedly associated with the '267, '954 and '492 patents. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii on July 1, 2011.
23 Comments
Yikes, that is one serious list of defendants, these guys must be either extremely confident of their patent's validity or extremely stupid.
Yikes, that is one serious list of defendants, these guys must be either extremely confident of their patent's validity or extremely stupid.
It's all or nothing if you're confident.
I'm sure that they'll just settle out of court with most of these companies and then agree to pay the royalties required.
Notably not in East Texas.
It's all or nothing if you're confident.
I'm sure that they'll just settle out of court with most of these companies and then agree to pay the royalties required.
Except in patents it isn't. Mostly a firm that wants to get royalties on a patent will start by attacking a weak firm, getting them to pay up, then using their licensing as evidence that their patent is valid, when they go after the next guy.
It's not incontrovertible evidence of course, but it's enough often for a preliminary ruling in their favour, and at that point they're in a stronger bargaining position.
Going out for the top names in the industry all at once is just begging to be buried in prior art.
The complaint comes from GPNE Corp., based in Honolulu, Hawaii, which has accused Apple and others of infringing on patents related to general packet radio service. As part of the 3G standard for GSM radio frequencies, it allows features such as multimedia messaging, push-to-talk over cellular, always-on Internet access, and point-to-point networking.
How can these patents have been granted and also be REQUIRED for GPRS/3G communications devices? The patents were FILED at the earliest 2007, which is many years after these standards were both ratified.