Mikey Campbell
In a court filing on Wednesday, a Texas-based non-practicing entity sued Apple for alleged patent infringement regarding the company's Numbers spreadsheet software.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, accepted the suit from Data Engine Technologies LLC, which claims Apple's Numbers infringes on a 1995 patent for a "system and methods for improved spreadsheet interface with user-familiar objects," reports CNET.
First discovered by Priorsmart, the suit alleges that Apple had prior knowledge of the patent as early as 2010 and went on to cite the IP in its own 2007 patent for manipulating spreadsheet cells.
The property being asserted is U.S. Patent No. 5,463,724, which was granted to Borland International and later purchased by Data Technologies, a non-practicing entity or "patent troll."
Apple first rolled out Numbers in 2007 as part of the iWork '08 software suite and went on to expand the software's capabilities by introducing it on the mobile iOS platform in 2010.
The suit is seeking damages and an injunction against Apple's infringing products, most likely in the hopes that Apple will settle out of court to avoid a possibly lengthy trial process.
Andrew Orr
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
77 Comments
Will you stop with the silly patent troll nonsense? The rightful owner of a patent has the right to enforce it whether they are using it or not. It's like this. Let's say that you inherit a factory from your parents that was used to make widgets and includes all the equipment you need to manufacture widgets. You don't want to make widgets, so you sell the factory to a real estate investor who will then rent it to someone who wants to make widgets. Does the fact that you don't make widgets mean that someone else can just move in and start using your factory without permission? Does the fact that the real estate investor doesn't want to make widgets mean that anyone can move in without permission and start making widgets? So why should patents be any different? There is absolutely no requirement in US patent law (or any other country that I know of) that only allows you to enforce a patent if you are using it.
This has gotten to be ridiculous.
Some idiot scribbles an idea on a napkin and gets a patent. He doesn't have the brain power to actually create the product, yet, he has the right to sue someone who spends the hours developing and investing in the idea. Time to put an end to the free ride of all the PATENT TROLLS!!
[quote name="jragosta" url="/t/152971/apple-sued-by-patent-troll-over-numbers-software#post_2201099"]Will you stop with the silly patent troll nonsense? The rightful owner of a patent has the right to enforce it whether they are using it or not. It's like this. Let's say that you inherit a factory from your parents that was used to make widgets and includes all the equipment you need to manufacture widgets. You don't want to make widgets, so you sell the factory to a real estate investor who will then rent it to someone who wants to make widgets. Does the fact that you don't make widgets mean that someone else can just move in and start using your factory without permission? Does the fact that the real estate investor doesn't want to make widgets mean that anyone can move in without permission and start making widgets? So why should patents be any different? There is absolutely no requirement in US patent law (or any other country that I know of) that only allows you to enforce a patent if you are using it.[/quote] You contradicted yourself or your wording was off. If you're renting it so someone can make widgets why would it be a problem if someone did start making them? I understood what you meant and agree.
Reminds me a lot of the old AppleWorks spreadsheet.
On another note: My iPhone5 arrived today in perfect (no nicks or scuffs) and a week earlier that planned. The only unusual thing is that there was a note in the box that read, "Help! I'm being held captive in a Chinese iPhone factory."