Patent infringement suit targets Apple over use of Intel CPUs

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple, Intel and Hewlett-Packard have all been hit with a new patent infringement lawsuit that takes issue with Apple's iMac and its use of Intel processors.



The lawsuit was filed this week by X2Y Attenuators, LLC, based out of Erie, Penn. X2Y has asserted that Apple's 27-inch iMac, utilizing a 3.2Ghz Intel Core i3 processor, is in violation of five patents it has registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The inventions are U.S. Patent Nos:

6,738,249 Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

7,110,227: Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

7,609,500: Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

7,733,621: Energy conditioning circuit arrangement for integrated circuit

7,916,444: Arrangement for energy conditioning

Apple's 27-inch Core i3 iMac, model No. A1312, is accused of violating all five patents in the lawsuit. But X2Y also broadens its position in the complaint, citing the desktop as "one such personal computer" made by Apple that it believes violates those patents.



X2Y's complaint also specifically cites HP's TouchSmart 610 Series PC as a computer made by HP alleged to be in violation of the five patents. And it also singles out Intel's Core i7-950 3.06Ghz LGA1366 Desktop Processor.



X2Y's complaint was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The company asserts that the alleged infringement by Apple, Intel and HP, without proper licensing of the five patents, has caused X2Y to suffer monetary damages.







The plaintiff seeks to recoup those damages, along with interest, and has asked the court to prevent the three companies from continuing to sell products it believes are in violation of its patents.



The official site for X2y Attenuators notes that it is an intellectual property company that develops "advanced passive component solutions for the electronics industry." It says that the business is "dedicated to helping companies identify applications where X2y components can improve circuit performance and save money."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 66
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,153member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple, Intel and Hewlett-Packard have all been hit with a new patent infringement lawsuit that takes issue with Apple's iMac and its use of Intel processors.



    The lawsuit was filed this week by X2Y Attenuators, LLC, based out of Erie, Penn. X2Y has asserted that Apple's 27-inch iMac, utilizing a 3.2Ghz Intel Core i3 processor, is in violation of five patents it has registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The inventions are U.S. Patent Nos:

    6,738,249 Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

    7,110,227: Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

    7,609,500: Universal energy conditioning interposer with circuit architecture

    7,733,621: Energy conditioning circuit arrangement for integrated circuit

    7,916,444: Arrangement for energy conditioning

    Apple's 27-inch Core i3 iMac, model No. A1312, is accused of violating all five patents in the lawsuit. But X2Y also broadens its position in the complaint, citing the desktop as "one such personal computer" made by Apple that it believes violates those patents.



    X2Y's complaint also specifically cites HP's TouchSmart 610 Series PC as a computer made by HP alleged to be in violation of the five patents. And it also singles out Intel's Core i7-950 3.06Ghz LGA1366 Desktop Processor.



    X2Y's complaint was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The company asserts that the alleged infringement by Apple, Intel and HP, without proper licensing of the five patents, has caused X2Y to suffer monetary damages.







    The plaintiff seeks to recoup those damages, along with interest, and has asked the court to prevent the three companies from continuing to sell products it believes are in violation of its patents.



    The official site for X2y Attenuators notes that it is an intellectual property company that develops "advanced passive component solutions for the electronics industry." It says that the business is "dedicated to helping companies identify applications where X2y components can improve circuit performance and save money."



    Good Gravy! Enough already!!



    Apple sues Samsung. Samsung sues Apple. Apple sues HTC. Lodsys sues app developers. Nokia sues Apple. Apple sues Nokia. . .



    And on and on. Does anyone here really think these patent suits help develop technologies or add to the bottom line of anyone but lawyers? IMO, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Samsung, HTC and a few other big players should all agree to sit down and form a group that agrees not to sue each other, work things out within the group as needed, and to share patents to keep others at bay to avoid patent infringement claims against other group members.



    Or just keep things as they are, using the courts to win in the marketplace. This is beyond asinine IMO.
  • Reply 2 of 66
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,460member
    I don't get it, shouldn't the manufacturer of the Core i3 processor be sued instead?
  • Reply 3 of 66
    negafoxnegafox Posts: 480member
    I'm getting sick of these patent trolls already.
  • Reply 4 of 66
    johnqhjohnqh Posts: 242member
    At this it is a hardware patent
  • Reply 5 of 66
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    IMO, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Samsung, HTC and a few other big players should all agree to sit down and form a group that agrees not to sue each other, work things out within the group as needed...



    That is what they do (discuss) and when that fails they bring suit in front of the court.
  • Reply 6 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Does anyone here really think these patent suits help develop technologies or add to the bottom line of anyone but lawyers?



    Don't blame the lawsuits, blame the U.S. Government for approving these vague, logical conclusion tech patents in the first place!
  • Reply 7 of 66
    The only way to get ahead is to point fingers at the other guy. You cant even build a better mouse trap because chances are somebody already made a patent for it but is too much of a loser to market it properly. Instead they'll just sue you for being smarter.
  • Reply 8 of 66
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Negafox View Post


    I'm getting sick of these patent trolls already.



    You're getting sick of it because these tech sites find it necessary to post every story about it.
  • Reply 9 of 66
    railstoprailstop Posts: 10member
    Seriously, You can't build anything without someone calling infringement. And the suing crap has got to stop.
  • Reply 10 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by railstop View Post


    Seriously, You can't build anything without someone calling infringement. And the suing crap has got to stop.



    "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

    - Shakespeare (Henry VI)



    (You'd think someone would have gone and DONE it by now. Geez.)
  • Reply 11 of 66
    normangnormang Posts: 118member
    Tort Reform, if the company suing loses, they pay bigtime. that would slow this crap down.
  • Reply 12 of 66
    freshmakerfreshmaker Posts: 532member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by normang View Post


    Tort Reform, if the company suing loses, they pay bigtime. that would slow this crap down.



    Great idea. This should definitely be done. Getting sick of all the effing patent trolls out there. It's getting ridiculous.
  • Reply 13 of 66
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by normang View Post


    Tort Reform, if the company suing loses, they pay bigtime. that would slow this crap down.





    Write your local Democrat to get on board with the Republicans, who have been touting tort reform for years, and let's get this done!

    /

    /

    /
  • Reply 14 of 66
    shompashompa Posts: 343member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iamdeadfish View Post


    Don't blame the lawsuits, blame the U.S. Government for approving these vague, logical conclusion tech patents in the first place!



    The strange thing is that all other tech companies can copy apple stuff and get away with it. All smartphones today are Iphone clones. All tablets are Ipad clones.



    When Steve introduced Iphone he said that Apple had over 200 patent on the Iphone. How can Samsung make exact copies of it?
  • Reply 15 of 66
    ahmlcoahmlco Posts: 432member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    IMO, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Samsung, HTC and a few other big players should all agree to sit down and form a group that agrees not to sue each other.....



    The problem is that, as the article notes, X2y Attenuators is an "intellectual property" company that produces nothing. Same with Lodsys. As such, their only reason for existence is "licensing" and/or suing other companies. There are thousands of them out there, hidden in the woodwork like cockroaches.



    Hell, Lodsys was created and staffed SOLELY to hunt down companies that "violate" their patent. The company is a shell. It has no assets. There's nothing to countersue. Try to sue them for bringing frivolous lawsuits, and the "company" simply disappears into thin air, like smoke.



    The entire system needs to be reformed, if not totally eliminated...
  • Reply 16 of 66
    shompashompa Posts: 343member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rot'nApple View Post


    Write your local Democrat to get on board with the Republicans, who have been touting tort reform for years, and let's get this done!

    /

    /

    /



    US should be more nationalistic.

    All patent cases with US companies against non US companies = US companies automatically win
  • Reply 17 of 66
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    I don't get it, shouldn't the manufacturer of the Core i3 processor be sued instead?



    Believe that would be Intel and they were included.



    That said, these patents sound rather broad and could likely apply to a number of chips etc. Which means this reeks of "we waited until someone was making a ton of money that we could try to grab some of". That's also likely why they included HP and Apple.



    With luck this will be tossed as the trolling it appears to be. And with it, the case law continues to negate the notion of broad idea patents





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by normang View Post


    Tort Reform, if the company suing loses, they pay bigtime. that would slow this crap down.



    Hell just make them pay all the court and lawyer fees. That can be enough to sting.



    Also, a major reform for patents that we need is to take a page from trademarks. If someone violates your mark and you do nothing it is deemed that you don't give a shit and you essentially void your own trademark. They should do the same with patents. no more of this waiting for the offender to make money. you see something that is a possible violation you have to speak up right away (right away being defined as say 3 months from the announcement/release of the thing that is a potential offense) or you lose the right to ever do so. After all patents are supposed to be about protecting inventions, not making money
  • Reply 18 of 66
    patranuspatranus Posts: 366member
    Um.....

    If it is the Intel CPU that is infringing on the patents, why are they suing Apple?
  • Reply 19 of 66
    youngjmyoungjm Posts: 8member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Patranus View Post


    Um.....

    If it is the Intel CPU that is infringing on the patents, why are they suing Apple?



    It is just like the app developers being sued by Lodsys(?) except in this case, Intel did not complete some license agreement let alone one that passes to anyone using the technology. This is assuming the patents and interpretation of the infringement is correct......
  • Reply 20 of 66
    jetlawjetlaw Posts: 156member
    Coming Soon: Ford sues Ferrari over their use of the Internal Combustion engine.
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