ITC judge rules Apple did not infringe Elan multitouch patent
International Trade Commission judge Paul Luckern has ruled that Apple did not violate a patent held by Taiwanese touchscreen maker Elan Microelectronics.
The ruling, as reported by Reuters, will be followed up by a formal ITC decision that can either accept or reject the judge's findings. The final decision is expected to be released in August.
In March 2010, Elan had accused Apple of "knowingly and deliberately" using its technology and infringing on a patent it owns related to multitouch sensing. The case involved MacBook trackpads and Apple's Magic Mouse.
A year prior, Elan had sued Apple over the same patent in a case that involved iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook trackpads, claiming a violation of its finger positioning technology. Prior to its accusations against Apple, Elan had successfully litigated an infringement claim against trackpad manufacturer Synaptics.
Judge Luckern had previously been involved in a 2006 ITC complaint filed by Creative against Apple's iPod in the "Zen Patent" case, but the two companies reached a settlement prior to the ITC's ruling in that case.
Last month, ITC judge James Gildea ruled Apple did not infringe five Nokia patents, after ITC staff determined in November that Apple had not provided enough evidence to establish a patent violation in 13 patents Apple had alleged against Nokia in its countersuit.
The ruling, as reported by Reuters, will be followed up by a formal ITC decision that can either accept or reject the judge's findings. The final decision is expected to be released in August.
In March 2010, Elan had accused Apple of "knowingly and deliberately" using its technology and infringing on a patent it owns related to multitouch sensing. The case involved MacBook trackpads and Apple's Magic Mouse.
A year prior, Elan had sued Apple over the same patent in a case that involved iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook trackpads, claiming a violation of its finger positioning technology. Prior to its accusations against Apple, Elan had successfully litigated an infringement claim against trackpad manufacturer Synaptics.
Judge Luckern had previously been involved in a 2006 ITC complaint filed by Creative against Apple's iPod in the "Zen Patent" case, but the two companies reached a settlement prior to the ITC's ruling in that case.
Last month, ITC judge James Gildea ruled Apple did not infringe five Nokia patents, after ITC staff determined in November that Apple had not provided enough evidence to establish a patent violation in 13 patents Apple had alleged against Nokia in its countersuit.
Comments
i don't think they are followers, they are leaders..
NOW SAMSUNG, there is another story!
Proving a company "knowingly and deliberately" did anything would be darn near impossible without adequate documentation.
"Knowingly and deliberately" usually just means that they informed Apple of their patent and Apple didn't license it or stop using the disputed technology.
"Knowingly and deliberately" usually just means that they informed Apple of their patent and Apple didn't license it or stop using the disputed technology.
At any rate, chalk one win up for Apple.
from today's macnn.com
"leading some to speculate that Apple would have preferred to settle or dismiss the Elan lawsuit as quickly as possible, as it undermines Apple's claims of proprietary multi-touch technology.
The decision comes as something of a surprise; outside observers had guessed that Apple would go with some kind of settlement solution, worth perhaps as much as $70 million to Elan. It also had reasons for believing a victory against Apple was likely; Elan had had its patent backed by a victory in 2008 against Synaptics. In March of last year the case moved to the U.S. International Trade Commission for investigation.
Read more: http://www.macnn.com/articles/11/04/...#ixzz1KxcMtuFE
why would apple prefer to settle-- ....as quickly as possible as it undermines apples claim of proprietary multitouch technology
don't understand this aspect
i guess the win was in doubt????
does this hurt apple against HTC???
i think the reason apple with this stuff, is because they are a good company.
i don't think they are followers, they are leaders..
NOW SAMSUNG, there is another story!
Read more carefully. Its just a court opinion. Nothing is final until the ITC approves it.
An ITC judge makes a decision. In this case ruling against Élan. Élan can now asked for that decision to be reviewed by the full ITC panel. The patent suit is still pending and will be pending regardless of the out come of the ITC decision (unless the parties settle).
Apple had very little to lose by riding this out. It knew if it lost the first round, it could settle the matter while waiting for the decision to be reviewed by the full panel. Further, Apple doesn't have every form of multi-touch patented. So it i possible for it to infringe a patent based on multi-touch while still having patents pertaining to multi-touch.
Further, the ITC doesn't decide if a companies patent is valid. It assumes the patent is valid. The validity of a patent gets challenged in federal court. The ITC merely makes a determination if a company is infringing the patent. So, a victory by a Elan against another company is irrelevant as to whether Apple is violating the patent.
trying to understand apple's strategy
from today's macnn.com
"leading some to speculate that Apple would have preferred to settle or dismiss the Elan lawsuit as quickly as possible, as it undermines Apple's claims of proprietary multi-touch technology.
The decision comes as something of a surprise; outside observers had guessed that Apple would go with some kind of settlement solution, worth perhaps as much as $70 million to Elan. It also had reasons for believing a victory against Apple was likely; Elan had had its patent backed by a victory in 2008 against Synaptics. In March of last year the case moved to the U.S. International Trade Commission for investigation.
Read more: http://www.macnn.com/articles/11/04/...#ixzz1KxcMtuFE
why would apple prefer to settle-- ....as quickly as possible as it undermines apples claim of proprietary multitouch technology
don't understand this aspect
i guess the win was in doubt????
does this hurt apple against HTC???
Last month, ITC judge James Gildea ruled Apple did not infringe five Nokia patents, after ITC staff determined in November that Apple had not provided enough evidence to establish a patent violation in 13 patents Apple had alleged against Nokia it its countersuit.
Nokia
"Knowingly and deliberately" usually just means that they informed Apple of their patent and Apple didn't license it or stop using the disputed technology.
Actually it could mean Elan might have shown their technology to Apple at one time and Apple choose not to do business with them so now they are pissed, or maybe someone from apple walked by their boot at a trade show and asked a few questions and Elan assume they came up with the idea from that one brief visit.
Most likely, Apple is winning these since they can show prior artwork or can document they had the idea first. Remember our patent system is not first to apply but the first with the idea.