Sam OliverAccording to The Beijing Times, Luoen Network Information has sued Apple over the design of the iPhone, alleging that the patents owned by the company in China are invalid. As translated by MeizuMe, Chinese law makes it possible only to apply for product-specific patents.
"If one applies for a patent covering different types of products, the patent will be invalid," the report said.
Apple's patents reportedly covered three products originally. When it was discovered Apple did not specify a product, the nation's patent bureau helped the company register the filing for the iPhone.
Apple's patent applies to the shape of the iPhone — rectangular with round edges, a vertical display, and the singular home button. But Luoen Network Information hopes to prove in its lawsuit that Apple's patented design is too broad. It also argued that MP3 players and phones released before the iPhone had a similar design.
The report noted that the outcome could have an impact on Apple's own pursuit to halt the sale of the Meizu M8 smartphone. Apple has aggressively sought to cease the sale of knock-off products, which are prevalent in China, and attempted to prove in court that the M8 has "an appearance roughly similar" to the iPhone.
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39 Comments
Unless these small companies like Meizu pump loads of cash into the Chinese governments hands Apple will easily defend this.
Never trust China with any type of American product these days! They are trying to undermine the American dollar in so many ways that it is just criminal.
This case is just a further example of how the Chinese government is overstepping its boundaries once again. Apple is an American company and therefore should be able to produce by American laws.
Apple is an American company and therefore should be able to produce by American laws.
If Apple wants to sell only in America, then certainly.
This is old news from May:
http://www.chinaipr.gov.cn/casesarti.../649189_1.html
They wanted to block it from being awarded by citing LG and Dopod.
The Patent office didn't concur.
So now they are suing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopod
In other words, HTC is suing Apple to try and invalidate their patents and thus try to get leverage because Apple is suing the crap out of HTC.
Looks like China is upset that they can't create knockoffs of the iPhone, like they do with every other product.