iPhone Patent Infringement Lawsuits by Apple
Phone patent infringement lawsuits brought by Apple and Nokia against each other, plus Apple’s recent patent moves against HTC’s Android phones–are a warning to mobile handset makers of growing litigation.
In October, 2009, Nokia sued Apple, claiming Apple used 10 of Nokia’s patents related to Wi-Fi, phone calls and other Nokia cell phone features.
Then Apple sued Nokia for infringing on the iPhone’s “pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface,” phone connections to computers, touch screen menus, teleconferencing and power conservation.
According to the Associated Press, counter suits are common in patent litigation and usually result in cross-licensing agreements rather than long-term, cat-and-dog fights in the courts.
Telephone and Cell Phone Patent Cases
Patents and trademarks are filed to protect inventors from others profiting from ideas that are turned into products or services. Patents apply to inventions while trademarks refer to company names, logos, words and images that are part of “brands,” such as the word “Coke” or Google’s logo.
You can’t patent an idea, only a design or physical object, like an car or a toaster, whether it’s eventually manufactured or not. Many patents never turn into marketable products.
While Alexander Graham Bell is usually considered the inventor of the telephone, numerous inventors, since 1849, leading to the modern telephone created prototypes. Some were patented but many were not. (See Wikipedia’s “Timeline of the Telephone“.)
The history of the telephone–especially cell phones–is filled with patent claims and litigation. Googling “cell phone patent cases” results in over four million listings.
From Black Rotary Phones to Modern Smartphones
When home telephones were simpler–fewer parts and models–and AT&T (“Ma Bell”) owned the entire U.S. telephone system, patent infringement lawsuits were few. Later, after the invention of the modern cell phone in the early 1980′s, patent claims began growing.
In 2007, the same year the iPhone was released, AT&T sued Vonage, the voIP company, after Verizon Wireless won a court case against Vonage in March of that year.
While the Vonage case involved everything from voice mail to packet technologies, the lawsuits pale by comparison to Apple’s iPhone patent litigation against smartphone competitors who, Apple claims, have copied the “look and feel” of the iPhone plus internal components.
Established Cell Phone Telephony Standards
Standards for Wi-Fi, USB computer connections and cell phone calls are established and controlled by worldwide industry associations, mobile carriers and telecommunications regulatory bodies, such as the the FCC in the U.S.
Wi-Fi, for example, uses the IEEE’s 802.11 protocols. Processing cell phone calls on GSM or CDMA networks involves standards. Without standards followed by telecommunications and electronics manufacturers, your wireless router, mobile phone, television, radio and other electronics products wouldn’t work.
Knowing more about Nokia’s claims against Apple would be enlightening. On face value, however, it seems unreasonable to me that Apple’s iPhone infringes on Nokia’s Wi-Fi and phone call patents. Likewise, Apple stealing Nokia’s power consumption circuitry for the iPhone or computer connectivity is hard to believe.
“Look and Feel” Patents
This area of patent law is more challenging: the “look and feel” of one mobile phone to another. Apple argues that Nokia ripped-off the iPhone’s UI, including touch screen menus. But you can’t patent the arrangement of icons on a touch screen.
Imagine if Sony sued Samsung or other HD television manufacturers because their TV screens or menus resembled each other. While a Sony HD television screen might look like Samsung’s, Sony would probably not win a lawsuit against Samsung.
Walking through an electronics store’s TV department would quickly convince a reasonable person that the quality of each TV’s display is more important than its resemblance to other TV’s.
As handset manufacturers release dozens of new touch screen smartphones that resemble the iPhone, Apple, Nokia, HTC, Samsung and other handset makers will find it increasingly difficult to claim patent infringement.
The Need for Innovation in a Wireless World
Research firms estimate that during 2010 cell phones will grow to five billion worldwide with approximately 4.3 billion mobile phone users. On top of that, another 5 billion mobile devices (e-readers, tablet computers, netbooks, etc.) will be released. That’s ten billion mobile devices across the planet.
For certain, many mobile devices will have a similar “look and feel.” A Kindle, for example, kind of looks like a Sony E-reader. Most netbooks resemble each other. And just like personal computers, each mobile device will contain standardized components from chipsets to memory storage cards.
Instead of more lawsuits, mobile device makers should continually innovate their phones, e-readers, netbooks and other mobile devices, rather than wasting time suing each other.
Mobile technology is quickly advancing and they’re opportunities for numerous inventive companies to create exciting new mobile and wireless gadgets.
