Mikey Campbell
Serial patent lawsuit filer and non-practicing entity Uniloc on Tuesday filed suit against Apple, claiming Messages app and iMessage backend service features infringe on multiple owned voice over IP patents.
Lodged with the Eastern Texas District Court, Uniloc's claims leverage four patents providing for an instant voice messaging system facilitated through VoIP protocols. At issue, Unicode says, is an audio transmission component of iMessage, and consequently all Messages apps, first introduced alongside iOS 8 in 2014.
Uniloc cites U.S. Patent Nos. 7,535,890, 8,995,433, 8,724,622 and 8,243,723, all related inventions titled "System and method for instant VoIP messaging." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office initially granted the '890 patent to Ayalogic in 2009, a now defunct firm marketing communications solutions for gaming platforms. Subsequent assignments went to patent licensing firm Empire IP.
The Uniloc patents cover an instant voice messaging system capable of delivering digitized audio files from one user to another via an offsite server. Apple's implementation uses similar technology to record short audio snippets in the Messages app, route the resulting data file through its cloud-based iMessage service and ultimately deliver the message to an end user for in-app playback. A video counterpart was also introduced in iOS 8, but the feature is not named in Uniloc's suit.
With a storied history of high-profile patent suits under its belt, Uniloc is known as a voracious complainant with a penchant for filing in the patent holder-friendly Texas court. The firm has over the past few years filed dozens of lawsuits against big-name tech companies including Activision Blizzard, Aspyr, Electronic Arts, McAfee, Microsoft, Rackspace, Sega, Sony, Symantec and more. In 2009, Uniloc won a $388 million jury verdict against Microsoft over an unrelated patent claim. That ruling was later overturned, prompting an out of court settlement.
In its suit against Apple, Uniloc seeks unspecified damages, reimbursement of legal expenses and miscellaneous relief deemed fit by the court.
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16 Comments
Eastern Texas District Court says it all.
Except iMessages does not use VoIP protocols it uses the same media protocols as having a video or audio on a webpage which was fought in court previously and the complainant lost setting s precedent that essentially invalidates this claim. I think someone needs to go to Texas and school those inbreds on how technology works.
Here's something that might change the way Apple and Google and other large companies handle these 3rd party patent claims:
SCOTUS yesterday lowered the bar for the determination of willful infringement and treble damages. It's no longer good enough for a company to claim they had reason to believe they were not infringing. This may lead companies to stop ignoring offers to license from some non-practicing entities.
While you are in East Texas, make sure to stop by the Samsung Ice Skating rink. The only open-air ice skating rink anywhere nearby! Samsung and other tech companies have been sponsoring miiiiiilions of dollars of events in that area for the past decade. Coincidence? I think not...
Literally just watched John Oliver's Patent monologue on YouTube moments before seeing this headline. These patent trolls are absolutely ridiculous.