Mikey Campbell
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has decided to comply with anonymous requests to reexamine a total of three Apple patents, all of which pertain to litigation with Samsung, with one also being asserted against Motorola in Florida.
The first two patents up for reexamination are iPhone design properties, reports FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, one successfully used in the Apple v. Samsung court trial and another from Apple's recent win of an import ban from the U.S. International Trade Commission. The patent asserted to the ITC was unsuccessful, though Apple still has a chance to reassert the property in an appeal.
Apple's two design patents are nearly identical, each showing drawings of the original iPhone. Mueller notes that the new questions of patentability are also similar, with the USPTO citing three Japanese patents as prior art references. The three patents were not taken into consideration when the USPTO first examined Apple's designs, which the anonymous requesting party now claims are obvious.
"Each of the three [Japanese prior art] references include a rectangular front face having a rectangular screen, a border space around the screen, and an oblong shaped speaker opening above the screen," the USPTO notice states.
The anonymous requester is combining the three Japanese patents other references to invalidate Apple's properties. The USPTO has yet to issue a first Office action to reject claims from either Apple patent.
The third Apple patent is currently being asserted in separate cases against Samsung and Motorola. Here too the USPTO did not file a first Office action and has only agreed to take up the ex parte request to reexamine.
There are five prior art contentions being leveled against Apple's U.S. Patent No. 8,014,760 for missed call management.
Mueller points out that while Apple's two design patents are most likely being contested by Samsung, the identity of the anonymous party questioning the missed call utility patent is less clear.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
16 Comments
This is crap They win litigation and now USPTO re-exam the patent's. Just WOW!
I agree. Who pays for this? We do.
Can anyone ask for a re-examination?
This seems so damn wasteful.
So the Patent Office "has decided to comply with anonymous requests to reexamine a total of three Apple patents". An anonymous request gets the Patent Office to jump through loops? Maybe those reviews should be put on hold until the name of the anonymous person or company is fully disclosed to both the Patient Office and the public.
[quote name="Ali Daniali" url="/t/159156/three-apple-patents-being-reexamined-by-uspto-on-anonymous-requests#post_2383571"]I agree. Who pays for this? We do. Can anyone ask for a re-examination? [/quote] Yes anyone can ask for a reexamination of a patent's claims for validity. They also must supply detailed reasons why the patent may not be valid as issued. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2210.html
So the Patent Office "has decided to comply with anonymous requests to reexamine a total of three Apple patents". An anonymous request gets the Patent Office to jump through loops? Maybe those reviews should be put on hold until the name of the anonymous person or company is fully disclosed to both the Patient Office and the public.
Doesn't work like that. If someone files an "anonymous" request then they are finished once they file - they have no further input in the matter nor can they add additional information later on. However, Apple can keep updating information through the entire re-examination process which could go through several iterations before a final decision is made. By filing anonymously you give up the right to have a back-and-forth exchange of information on the matter - you just have to sit back and wait.