#28: Apple Wins Victory Against Motorola After ITC Invalidates Sensor Patent

#28: Apple Wins Victory Against Motorola After ITC Invalidates Sensor Patent

Google has lost its court case against Apple. 

The huge, multi-national corporation filed a patent claim against Apple.  Google wanted Apple to obtain a license concerning its touch feature, which disabled touchscreen capabilities when the device was close to the users head to avoid mis-dialing.  The case was held at the International Trade Commission, where the judges found Google's argument over a patent, which they had acquired through a buyout of Motorola Mobility, to be invalid.  Google commented on the ruling, stating "Motorola Mobility's patent portfolio will help protect the Android ecosystem.  Android, which is open-source software, is vital to competition in the mobile device space, ensuring hardware manufacturers, mobile phone carriers, applications developers and consumers all have choice."

Patent No. 6,246,862 references a "sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device," or the sensor in the iPhone that prevents the phone from being activated when close to a user's face. 

The dispute between Motorola and Apple began in 2010 after Motorola filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the Cupertino-based company infringed on eighteen of Motorola's patents. After being acquired by Google, Motorola expanded its charges against Apple, stating that the company violated six patents having to do with iCloud. 

The patent that was invalidated today is the final patent in the above mentioned case, with all other charges against Apple previously cleared by the ITC. Google will likely appeal the decision, thus further extending the litigation between the two companies.

#27: Apple wants to use iPhone to locate, interact with cars

#27: Apple wants to use iPhone to locate, interact with cars

The two patents, published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, describe Apple inventions for using an iOS device to find a parked car in a parking structure, getting guidance to said car, gathering parking fee information and, once near the automobile, activating vehicle functions like door locks, power windows and the engine starter. 

First, Apple's "Method for Locating a Vehicle" outlines a method in which a mobile device can pair with a vehicle via Bluetooth to determine whether it is in a parked state. If the condition is met, the handset then communicates with a wireless system within the parking structure to determine a parking location before moving away from the vehicle. 

When returning to the parking structure, the mobile device can access the parking structure's location system to request current positioning data. The received information is then compared to the vehicle location already stored on the device to determine a route back to the car. 

In another embodiment, the automobile itself communicates with the parking structure's location system, which logs the car's position and stores the data for later access by a mobile device. This method also allows the parking system to handle guidance and routing directions, which are subsequently sent to a handset upon request.

METHOD FOR LOCATING A VEHICLE

Another related Apple patent application seeks to turn the iPhone into a Swiss Army knife of sorts for auto owners. That invention describes using a Bluetooth pairing between your smartphone and car that brings greater intelligence to the common tasks of remote door opening and starting.

Unlike current car key fobs where you simply push a button to open or start your car, the smartphone would also allow you to set some parameters.

For instance, the patent could automatically unlock your car whenever it senses the phone within a certain distance. Another example could allow remote starting – but set the auto’s max speed to a crawl, perhaps slowing any potential car thief.

Perhaps most intriguing for those of us parents who always considered giving our teens the remote starter is the potential to forbid use of car’s certain functions. A teen could turn on the heater in sub-zero winters, but not the radio, eliminating the mind-jangling ruckus before you’ve had a second cup of coffee.

ACCESSING A VEHICLE USING PORTABLE DEVICES

#26: Apple patents way to show info to callers on hold

#26: Apple patents way to show info to callers on hold

Callers placed on hold could see anything from local news and weather reports to details about the person being called.

Waiting on hold may not be so dull if a newly patented Apple technology ever ends up a reality.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Apple, the patent called "Communications system that provides user-selectable data when user is on-hold" envisions a system for showing useful and interesting information to mobile phone callers waiting on hold.

The information being displayed would be adaptive and contextual, according to the patent, meaning it would vary depending on the caller, the caller's location, the date and time, and other items. As one example, the caller might see details describing the last conversation or future appointments with the person being called. As another example, the caller could be treated to local news and weather reports based on their locale.


For the technology to work, each caller would have to have a profile on the phone so the system can identify that person and present the appropriate on-hold information.

The information could even stay on the screen after the caller is no longer on hold. It would simply appear as a semi-transparent overlay so that the caller can still see important background data, such as the length of the call.

#25: Foxconn Android patent license agreement with Microsoft

#25:  Foxconn Android patent license agreement with Microsoft

Microsoft has finally convinced Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai to agree to its Android licensing deal, joining the already sizable list of original device manufacturers that produce Android devices that have already signed on the dotted line.

Like previous agreements Microsoft has struck with Hon Hai's rivals, details of the worldwide patent licensing agreement were not disclosed. However, Microsoft said that it will receive royalties from Hon Hai.

The patent agreement between Microsoft and Hon Hai involve smartphones, tablets and televisions powered by Google's two operating systems. Hon Hai also holds more than 54,000 patents worldwide.

Hon Hai joins companies like Nikon, Acer, Viewsonic, and Samsung, who will pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount of royalties just to use patented technology, in order to avoid litigation from Microsoft.

This is the same tactic we've seen time and again from Microsoft. Failing to succeed in the smartphone market, they are resorting to legal measures to extort profit from others' achievements and hinder the pace of innovation. 

#24: Apple hit with patent suit over simultaneous voice and data

#24: Apple hit with patent suit over simultaneous voice and data

Apple is once again being taken to court for alleged patent infringement, as non-practicing entity Wyncomm claims the iPhone and iPad are in violation of a 16-year old AT&T patent pertaining to simultaneous voice and data transmission.

Patent holding company Wyncomm filed the suit in a Delaware district court on Thursday, alleging Apple's cellular products are in infringement of a Wi-Fi related patent. The complaint is targeting an Apple product features that allows a user to make a phone call and use Wi-Fi data at the same time.

The patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 5,506,866 for "Side-channel communications in simultaneous voice and data transmission," was originally an AT&T invention granted protection by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1996. 

As noted by The Essential Patent Blog, the property changed hands multiple times, including ownership by Lucent, AT&T subsidiary Paradyne, and two patent holding companies, before ending up with Wyncomm. The NPE, or "patent troll," is also asserting the same patent against Acer, ASUSTek, Blu Products, Bonac Innovation, and Casio, with complaint all filed on the same day. 

#23: Nokia's patent application for tablet

#23: Nokia's patent application for tablet (too late?)

    Nokia has been rumored to be working on a Windows 8 tablet since last year now and the company was expected to show up with a Lumia tablet at Mobile World Congress. However, that remained a Nokia fan’s dream and nothing solid has come out on the tablet front since then.

However, a patent application by the company suggests it could be readying a tablet for launch. Unwired View reports that the patent application is called 'Apparatus Cover with Keyboard' and it sounds awfully similar to the Surface cover.

The application details a mechanical keyboard/cover integrated into a tablet device and one which can fold in multiple ways, based on the user’s different needs. The Surface tablet, Microsoft’s slate for Windows 8 and RT, also has a similar cover, which folds in a couple of ways to present users with a keyboard and a kickstand. 

The patent application is from early in Nokia’s licensing agreement with Microsoft and is dated October 2011. The keys on the keyboard are shaped very similarly to the keys on the QWERTY keypad on the likes of Nokia E7. 

For those thinking that this was intended to be used with a Windows RT device, it must be noted that that particular variant of the OS was not released till later this year. And Microsoft launched the Surface tablet last year, with a similar cover. So this could just be a patent application that never amounted to anything.

Interestingly, rumors floating around about the Nokia tablet, did mention that it would have a specialized battery-equipped flip cover. The cover was said to double up as a keyboard and a kickstand for the tablet and feature two USB ports for additional connectivity. 

#21: Apple Convertible Tablet Patent

#21: Apple Convertible Tablet Patent

Thanks to the plethora of Windows 8 laptop-tablet hybrids what’ve come out recently, you’ve probably already seen a bunch of laptops that can transform into tablets, and vice versa. So, you probably won’t be surprise with one of Apple’s most recent patent applications, a design for a MacBook that can be converted into a tablet.

The convertible MacBook design (which you can see in the image above) has a swiveling, detachable screen that communicates with the base wirelessly via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other wireless technologies. The base isn’t just a keyboard dock, though; it contains the laptop’s CPU, GPU, and other components. So while the display does have a touchscreen panel, it doesn’t exactly transform into a standalone tablet, and you can’t carry it around without the base. In addition to these features, the display, which seems to have a battery of its own, can be charged either via reattaching it to the base or via wireless induction technology, wherein it can draw power from the base even if it’s not attached.

The device clearly isn’t for on-the-go people who want a tablet to carry around that they can plug into a keyboard dock when needed (there are plenty of devices like this, such as the Surface Pro, or you can just buy an iPad keyboard dock). But even if this convertible MacBook is exactly what you’re looking for, know that Apple has filed tons of patents in the past, and there’s no guarantee that this design will ever be manufactured for commercial release.