Small Spanish tablet maker wins patent attack from Apple
After successfully defending itself from a patent infringement suit from Apple, a small Spanish tablet maker has turned the tables and is now suing Apple for anticompetitive behavior.
The company Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala, also known as "NT-K," was accused by Apple in 2010 of copying the design of its iPad. But according to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, the company from the Valencia region of Spain successfully defended itself from accusations of infringing upon the design-related patent.
One of the products made by the company is the NT-K Pad A91, and Android-powered touchscreen device with a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM and 4GB of internal storage. It also features Mini USB and USB 2.0 ports.
After winning the suit originally filed by Apple, NT-K can now turn its attention to its own countersuits against the iPad maker. In August, NT-K filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in Spain, accusing the company of anticompetitive behavior.
Another lawsuit filed by NT-K against Apple seeks compensation for monetary damages, lost profits and "moral damages."
Apple, in November of 2010, asked the court for a customs ban on NT-K's products, and Spanish customs began seizing shipments of the company's tablets being shipped from China. Criminal charges were also added by Apple in December of last year, but those charges were also dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient justification."
Apple is involved in a similar lawsuit against another smaller tablet maker named JAY-tech in Germany. Like NT-K, JAY-tech has also opted to defend itself in court against Apple's accusations.
Through a number of lawsuits, Apple has aggressively defended its intellectual property across the world recently, with high-profile lawsuits against Samsung, Motorola and HTC. In 2009, Nokia and Apple also filed mutual lawsuits against one another, but the two companies resolved their dispute out of court this June, with Apple agreeing to pay Nokia for licenses.
The company Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala, also known as "NT-K," was accused by Apple in 2010 of copying the design of its iPad. But according to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, the company from the Valencia region of Spain successfully defended itself from accusations of infringing upon the design-related patent.
One of the products made by the company is the NT-K Pad A91, and Android-powered touchscreen device with a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM and 4GB of internal storage. It also features Mini USB and USB 2.0 ports.
After winning the suit originally filed by Apple, NT-K can now turn its attention to its own countersuits against the iPad maker. In August, NT-K filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in Spain, accusing the company of anticompetitive behavior.
Another lawsuit filed by NT-K against Apple seeks compensation for monetary damages, lost profits and "moral damages."
Apple, in November of 2010, asked the court for a customs ban on NT-K's products, and Spanish customs began seizing shipments of the company's tablets being shipped from China. Criminal charges were also added by Apple in December of last year, but those charges were also dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient justification."
Apple is involved in a similar lawsuit against another smaller tablet maker named JAY-tech in Germany. Like NT-K, JAY-tech has also opted to defend itself in court against Apple's accusations.
Through a number of lawsuits, Apple has aggressively defended its intellectual property across the world recently, with high-profile lawsuits against Samsung, Motorola and HTC. In 2009, Nokia and Apple also filed mutual lawsuits against one another, but the two companies resolved their dispute out of court this June, with Apple agreeing to pay Nokia for licenses.
Comments
There. All the trolling is out of the way. Can we shut up about it for just once?
oh crap, this can't be good.
Ah, thanks. I forgot that one.
"Apple is doomed", "This is the first step in breaking the iPad monopoly", "Ha ha, Apple, you deserve it for trying to patent a rectangle"?
There. All the trolling is out of the way. Can we shut up about it for just once?
"Apple is doomed", "This is the first step in breaking the iPad monopoly", "Ha ha, Apple, you deserve it for trying to patent a rectangle"?
There. All the trolling is out of the way.
Or Apple should have just stuck to suing Asian companies in western courts.
Based on the few designs I've seen I don't agree with Apple's lawsuit against Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala. Stay classy, Apple.
I'm wondering if Cook will eventually handle these lawsuits differently than SJ.
oh crap, this can't be good.
It's neither good nor bad. It's the way the game is played.
Antitrust isn't about filing suits to defend IP. it's about using one market to advance in another that is unrelated.
This company should have received damages for the lost sales from the patent suit. Perhaps not as much as they thought they should but that's something to take up with the court and the judge. It is very likely that this new suit will be dismissed as irrelevant.
And before anyone starts bagging on Apple for the original suit, understand that they had to do it just like they have to sue Samsung. Trademark/Trade Dress protection requires that you defend against any and all even slightly possible offenders. If you don't then later when someone is pulling a bigger copy they can use "but Apple didn't do anything about them, and them, and them, oh and what about them and them. Clearly they don't really care if folks copy" and have the courts agree with the offender.
I'm wondering if Cook will eventually handle these lawsuits differently than SJ.
I'm wondering how much of these lawsuits were Jobs at all. To me this would seem like an overly depressing and time consuming when you have more important stuff to deal with. Leave it to the lawyers to determine who to sue and why. Same goes with Samsung. While their latest moves are desperate they actions that I'd think any multi-national company respond even if knowing they won't win.
Apple, in November of 2010, asked the court for a customs ban on NT-K's products, and Spanish customs began seizing shipments of the company's tablets being shipped from China. Criminal charges were also added by Apple in December of last year, but those charges were also dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient justification."
This sort of behavior is totally sleazy.
Bullying little companies that don't even compete, much less infringe?
Criminal charges which lack sufficient justification?
What's next, hunting down and kidnapping family members of competitor's employees?
They really should just file their "socialist" FSF manifesto with the Spanish courts as proof of "moral damages". That's the subtext behind this lawsuit, some kind of moral crusade, originally started by Richard Stallman against evil greedy capitalists like Apple would seek to limit our "freedom" to copy content and ideas. That's what it's really about, isn't it? Some kind of ideological difference. The freedom, the moral right to take from Apple and profit. Who needs an industrial design staff when you can wait for Jony Ive to do the work and just do whatever he did. I hope the back of NT-K pad says "Desgined in California by Jony Ive".
And before anyone starts bagging on Apple for the original suit, understand that they had to do it just like they have to sue Samsung. Trademark/Trade Dress protection requires that you defend against any and all even slightly possible offenders.
I snipped the misapprehensions concerning Trademark law.
And I point out that even if you were correct about Trademark law, Apple filed a bogus Patent Infringement claim.
There is no requirement to file bogus lawsuits in order to preserve patents.
Apple is just trying to bully little companies. They say that when you stand up to a bully, they will back down. I certainly hope that it works in this situation, and that the company which Apple victimized is fully compensated by Apple for their abuse.
"moral damages"... Yup, sounds like a company of Fandroids
They really should just file their "socialist" FSF manifesto with the Spanish courts as proof of "moral damages". That's the subtext behind this lawsuit, some kind of moral crusade, originally started by Richard Stallman against evil greedy capitalists like Apple would seek to limit our "freedom" to copy content and ideas. That's what it's really about, isn't it?
My guess is that the countersuit has nothing to do with the FSF.
Instead, it is a claim that Apple knowingly filed a bullshit lawsuit in order to immorally use the courts to hurt legitimate competitors, instead of competing fairly.
That type of sleazy business tactic should be proper subject matter for the courts, IMO.
But it?s not copying nearly as closely as some. I?m not surprised they lost.
And in defending patents/trade dress/etc, legally I don?t think Apple CAN choose to let the ?little guy? get away with it. They have to defend their creations from everyone. Sometimes they lose.
Criminal charges were also added by Apple in December of last year, but those charges were also dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient justification."
I am a big supporter of Apple defending its IP, but the criminal charge went well beyond the pale.
Courts can be capricious particularly when they get out of their comfort zone.
I would think that this company would have filed in the most friendly court it could find.
It's neither good nor bad. It's the way the game is played.
Antitrust isn't about filing suits to defend IP. it's about using one market to advance in another that is unrelated.
This company should have received damages for the lost sales from the patent suit. Perhaps not as much as they thought they should but that's something to take up with the court and the judge. It is very likely that this new suit will be dismissed as irrelevant.
The bigger problem for Apple is that this suit will be used as an example of how any iPad looking device stands on shaky grounds, including Samsung's.
I really doubt that the judge will dismiss anything here as irrelevant since Apple asked the courts to ban the product and had them seized.
It clearly IS copying the iPad?s look?without seeing the iPad, they?d never have made it look the way it does. Tablets don?t HAVE to look like iPads, and not all of them do.
Do you have any examples? The pics I've seen look like any other cheap Android-based tablet with no possible way it could be mistaken for an iPad.