Sony, Phillips backed Intertrust sues Apple for alleged patent infringement

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Intertrust Technologies, a company owned almost entirely by Sony and Philips, has filed suit against Apple, claiming that the iPhone maker has violated 15 Intertrust patents with the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple's Mac line of computers.

Intertrust revealed word of the suit on Wednesday in a blog post on the company site, in which it revealed the patents in question involve security and distributed trusted computing. The company describes itself as an inventor, devleoper, and licenser of software, technologies, and intellectual property for digital rights management (DRM) and trusted computing.

"Apple makes many great products that use Intertrust?s inventions," said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust?s chief executive officer, in a written statement. "Our patents are foundational to modern Internet security and trusted computing, and result from years of internal research and development. We are proud of our record of peaceful and constructive licensing with industry leaders. We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter."

Intertrust is backed by Sony and Royal Philips Electronics, each of which holds a 49.5 percent stake in the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple had declined comment on the suit.

Intertrust has seen previous success in defending its intellectual property rights against technology giants. In 2004, the company secured a $440 million settlement from Microsoft in order to put an end to a broad patent-infringement suit. Intertrust counts a number of mobile industry giants ? including Adobe, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, LG, Vodafone, Sony, and Philips ? among its patent licensees.

According to the company's About page, Intertrust is working on trust services for fields as diverse as diverse as DNA data processing, online storage, and targeted advertising. The firm also describes itself as a venture investor, with a portfolio including Nest Labs, SyncTV, and Marinexplore.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    Yes.  We have waited all these years to finally decide to sue Apple over such matters involving multiple devices.

  • Reply 2 of 19
    There should be a set period of time in which one could sue a company for infringement of patents, after which no lawsuits could be brought. This and all patent suits brought on by trolls are ridiculous.
  • Reply 3 of 19
    drandeldrandel Posts: 28member
    The latest of the FUD muckers.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    There is a time limit - 20 years.
  • Reply 5 of 19

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by e1618978 View Post



    There is a time limit - 20 years.


    Should be 3 years or less from the release of the product. That should be plenty of time for the company to get its legal ducks in a row.

  • Reply 6 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    According to statements in the article a lawsuit wasn't their first preference to enforce their IP.

    They imply they tried getting Apple to take a license but were unable to, and mention several others who have agreed to licensing terms with them.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    marokero wrote: »
    There should be a set period of time in which one could sue a company for infringement of patents, after which no lawsuits could be brought. This and all patent suits brought on by trolls are ridiculous.

    1. Negotiate a license for IP
    2. Once lawsuit deadline passes, declare license null and void and stop all payments.
    3. Profit!
  • Reply 8 of 19
    Hey, if Apple is infringing? Pay up. Sadly that is the name of the game.

    That being said, we know the solution to this, right?

    Down with DRM!
  • Reply 9 of 19
    jcdinkinsjcdinkins Posts: 114member
    If you don't feel you violated the patents then you won't agree.
  • Reply 10 of 19
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post



    According to statements in the article a lawsuit wasn't their first preference to enforce their IP.



    They imply they tried getting Apple to take a license but were unable to, and mention several others who have agreed to licensing terms with them.




    Yup. This is one reason why legal action does not happen immediately. Kind of obvious if one doesn't have Apple fanboy-blinders on.

  • Reply 11 of 19


    Intertrust sure took a long time to try any license negotiation before bringing this suit. iPhone has been out since 2007, iPad since 2010, and macs been out for so long... That's not troll behavior right? image

     

  • Reply 12 of 19

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by majjo View Post





    1. Negotiate a license for IP

    2. Once lawsuit deadline passes, declare license null and void and stop all payments.

    3. Profit!


    4. Get sued for breach of contract you entered into as part of step 1. 


    5. Regret taking legal advice from appleinsider forum comments ;)

  • Reply 13 of 19
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by marokero View Post


    Intertrust sure took a long time to try any license negotiation before bringing this suit. iPhone has been out since 2007, iPad since 2010, and macs been out for so long... That's not troll behavior right? image

     





    How do you know when they first attempted to negotiate a settlement with Apple?  I don't see a date mentioned in the article.

  • Reply 14 of 19
    19841984 Posts: 955member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post




    Yup. This is one reason why legal action does not happen immediately. Kind of obvious if one doesn't have Apple fanboy-blinders on.



     


    We don't know how much they wanted from Apple though.  They could have requested substantially more than they did with others given that Apple is such a high profile target.  We don't know if they have been violated yet.  

  • Reply 15 of 19

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post




    How do you know when they first attempted to negotiate a settlement with Apple?  I don't see a date mentioned in the article.



     


    It wasn't mentioned but if my memory serves me, it was long ago... back when Monica Lewinski was still crawling around on her hands and knees and putting things in her mouth.

  • Reply 16 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    A copy of the complaint is found here:
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/131483193/Intertrust-Patent-Suit-Against-Apple

    Not uncommonly they accuse Apple of willful infringement and of inducing their customers to also infringe (contributory) on those 15 patents. I'm certain that's meant to help [B]induce[/B] Apple to settle rather than going to trial. Could be costly if they do.

    But should it go to a jury it's not unusual what Interdigital wants either.

    A. A judgment that Apple has infringed each and every one of the Asserted Patents

    B. [B]A preliminary and permanent injunction [/B]against Apple, its respective officers, agents,servants, employees, attorneys, parent and subsidiary corporations, assigns and successors in interest,
    and those persons in active concert or participation with them, enjoining them from infringement,inducement of infringement, and contributory infringement of each and every one of the Asserted
    Patents, including but not limited to an injunction against making, using, selling, and/or offering for
    sale within the United States, and/or importing into the United States, any products and/or servicesthat infringe the Asserted Patents;

    C. [B]Lost profit damages[/B] resulting from Apple's infringement of the Asserted Patents

    D. [B]A reasonable royalty[/B] for Apple's use of Intertrust's patented technology, as alleged
    herein;

    E. prejudgment interest; and

    F. post-judgment interest;

    G. A judgment holding Apple's [B]infringement of the Asserted Patents to be willful[/B], and a
    [B]trebling of damages [/B]pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284;

    H. A declaration that this Action is exceptional pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285, and an award
    to Intertrust of its attorneys' fees, costs and expenses incurred in connection with this Action; and

    I. Such other relief as the Court deems just and equitable.

    Apple will settle this well before a jury ever gets it.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    The amount of effort people seem to be putting in and getting all this background info on court cases against, or initiated by Apple amazes me. I took the effort of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertrust_Technologies]Wikiing[/URL] Intertrust Technologies and even went to [URL=http://www.intertrust.com]their website[/URL]. There I only read the [URL=http://www.intertrust.com/news/apple]statement[/URL]: [I]"We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter.”[/I]

    Where people find the time to search the web and post all this stuff baffles me, including the fast response times, in any given timezone.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    philboogie wrote: »
    The amount of effort people seem to be putting in and getting all this background info on court cases against, or initiated by Apple amazes me. I took the effort of Wikiing Intertrust Technologies and even went to their website. There I only read the statement: "We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter.”

    Where people find the time to search the web and post all this stuff baffles me, including the fast response times, in any given timezone.

    You took the scenic route.;) It's often pretty quick when you know where to look.

    I used scribd to see if there were other recent IP lawsuit filings by Intertrust. I was curious if this was typical of them.That's how this filing popped up. The entire search took less than 3 minutes, browsing the paperwork maybe 5 and making the post probably 10 minutes. There's some excellent resources available that can make searches really pretty easy and fast. Mueller showed me this one.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Props to your quick find, read, and posting. I clearly haven't got my Tech News priorities set right, taking me 2 days to respond. I simply don't seem to have the speed, or time, to read all this and post back.

    Thanks for [B]scribd[/B], I'll bookmark it.
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