Apple hit with summons over iTunes Store Allowances
Apple this week came under legal fire from a small California firm that claims to hold a patent on concepts used by the iPod maker to facilitate the 'iTunes Store Allowance' feature of its industry leading digital download service.
In a scant complaint barely stretching 6-pages, Newport, Beach-based Restricted Spending Solutions (RSS) asserts that it developed in 2001 and successfully patented five years later methods for a "controlled entertainment spending account" that were later adopted by Apple without its authorization.
Specifically, RSS points to its November 28, 2006 Patent No. 7,143,064, which describes a "computer-based method for allocating funds in pre-established accounts for use by customers, by creating for each customer a customer account file containing a record of funds deposited for the customer, and limiting how the funds in each customer account file may be spent on audio and video entertainment."
By its own account, Apple describes its similar 'iTunes Store Allowance' feature -- believed to have been implemented sometime in 2004 or prior -- as "a nifty way for you to give a gift that keeps on giving. [It] allows you to send a monthly iTunes Store credit to a family member, friend, or colleague in an amount from $10 to $200. Each month, your chosen amount will automatically be added to your recipient's iTunes Store account."
In its complaint, filed Wednesday in an Illinois district court, RSS alleges that Apple has had full knowledge of its patent since at least July 7, 2005, and has thus caused irreparable injury by virtue of its infringement.
RSS is requesting that the Court permanently enjoin Apple from further infringement, award it attorney's fees and treble damages, and mandate that Apple destroy or hand over all products that incorporate features covered under its patent.
The little-knonw firm also demands that Apple send a copy of any decision in the case favoring RSS to each person or entity that made use of iTunes Store Allowances.
In a scant complaint barely stretching 6-pages, Newport, Beach-based Restricted Spending Solutions (RSS) asserts that it developed in 2001 and successfully patented five years later methods for a "controlled entertainment spending account" that were later adopted by Apple without its authorization.
Specifically, RSS points to its November 28, 2006 Patent No. 7,143,064, which describes a "computer-based method for allocating funds in pre-established accounts for use by customers, by creating for each customer a customer account file containing a record of funds deposited for the customer, and limiting how the funds in each customer account file may be spent on audio and video entertainment."
By its own account, Apple describes its similar 'iTunes Store Allowance' feature -- believed to have been implemented sometime in 2004 or prior -- as "a nifty way for you to give a gift that keeps on giving. [It] allows you to send a monthly iTunes Store credit to a family member, friend, or colleague in an amount from $10 to $200. Each month, your chosen amount will automatically be added to your recipient's iTunes Store account."
In its complaint, filed Wednesday in an Illinois district court, RSS alleges that Apple has had full knowledge of its patent since at least July 7, 2005, and has thus caused irreparable injury by virtue of its infringement.
RSS is requesting that the Court permanently enjoin Apple from further infringement, award it attorney's fees and treble damages, and mandate that Apple destroy or hand over all products that incorporate features covered under its patent.
The little-knonw firm also demands that Apple send a copy of any decision in the case favoring RSS to each person or entity that made use of iTunes Store Allowances.
Comments
They're so generic. Patenting allowances? This is nuts.
However if they're going to sue Apple, then they should sue Microsoft while they're at it because Microsoft has the same system on the XBox 360.
Ah, this is bullshit. Why the hell do these patents get accepted in the first place?
They're so generic. Patenting allowances? This is nuts.
Ah, this is bullshit. Why the hell do these patents get accepted in the first place?
They're so generic. Patenting allowances? This is nuts.
Yeah, basically a gift card that auto-refills from a credit card every month. Wow, that took a work of genius to "invent."
It's getting silly in the States with these patents. In another 20 years will anyone be able to do anything without infringing on a patent.
Doesn't my bank account work in the same way with direct deposit?
It's getting silly in the States with these patents. In another 20 years will anyone be able to do anything without infringing on a patent.
Yes, because all the really obvious "Do what we always did, only now on a computer/internet/web connection" patents will have expired.
Yes, because all the really obvious "Do what we always did, only now on a computer/internet/web connection" patents will have expired.
I wish I had your faith in the USPTO.
I own all the rights to the letter "L." I received the patent for the design of this letter in early 1952 and am presently in litigation with Lloyds Of London, ltd., regarding its illegal infringement of my copyright. My attorneys are actively preparing further lawsuits against the heirs of Lillian Hellman and Larry "Bud" Melman.
sorry botvinnik, I OWN ALL the rights to the letter ""L"" as described. i require that anyone placing the letter L in quotes violates my patent! also, i've patented A and a that appear in every other word in an advertisement or forum.
by the way, SJ is patented too. you know who will be hearing from my lawyers!
y'all will be hearing from my patent-chasing lawyers!
cheers!
the patent queen (this is patented too, so don't get any ideas!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanathan_V._Guha
"In March 1999, he created the first version of RSS as part of Netscape's personalized home page project."
"George, that's a nice idea, but it's rather labor intensive. And because it isn't novel, we can't patent it. I know, let's automate it!"
But with a suit like this, they seem to think that the IDEA can be patented. There was no code to copy. So, Microsoft can copy the entire GUI of the Mac, down to the freakin' keystrokes, and that is OK. But no one can code an allowance feature because someone staked claim to it in theory.
Good one!
What is it with companies patenting stuff and then not using them, even apples at it.
Apple has patented designs that they could actually implement and which could be useful (their patents for novel ways to access an optical drive that could have been used in the Macbook Air for example). Many other companies have decided to become patent clearinghouses and thus use a business model which says we'll sue everyone and anyone to make money instead of actually making a real product. There's a big difference.
And yes, this suit is ridiculous.
If the patent is for the implementation of the idea does that mean it's strictly related to WebObjects which Apple uses as the backend for iTunes? If so couldn't the idea be implemented using say PHP instead?
Incidentally it seems America is one of the few countries in the world that allows patenting of an idea which is retarded because I can assure you that this lot are not the first and certainly won't be the last to come up with this idea.
Here in New Zealand (and most other countries) a patent can only be granted if you have a working prototype. You can't simply roll on up and say "I'm going to patent an idea for buying points my kids can use without access to my credit card..."
In theory someone can patent the same idea but done differently. In this case RSS could not charge Apple unless RSS' patent was for a WebObjects implementation. Even then it would still have to provide code to prove that Apple's implementation is the same and let's face it with software there's more than one way to skin a cat.
I already patented the idea of shotgun patenting stupid ideas in hopes one day some big company uses them and I sue their asses off!
Hmmmmmmmmm......... I have a "patent pending" on "patenting".
Just a soon as that puppy is through, I'll grab me a few thousand lawyers and sue the "patents" off everyone in sight!
Seriously, what a waste of money these things are. A patent is to protect a true invention, not some minor, trivial take on something that has been done for sometimes thousands of years!!!
When you apply for a patent, it gets initially reviewed by a screener for basic validity, correct filing, etc. If given the go-ahead it gets review by a 3-person panel of experts that have experience in a similar/related field as that of the application. They would follow the basic rules we have now, EXCEPT that the filing would have to meet a *HIGH THRESHOLD* for originality and ingenuity, as the current system is supposed to now, but which is broken. People would not be granted patents for brain-dead common sense extensions of prior ideas.
The bar of acceptance would also be set much higher for "abstract" ideas and things such as software patents. One example being things like Amazon's "one click" shopping would NOT be patentable.
This would also be enforced by punishing and/or fining companies who submit thousands of pathetic patents that come nowhere near being accepted and/or bundles of patents that are very similar, where companies are throwing every conceivable idea against the wall to see what sticks. This is abuse of the system and was never intended to be the working model for patents.
Lastly, There would be entirely new provisions for defeating patent trolls. I'll leave that mechanism to the professionals....