VoIP-Pal serves Apple in $2.8B patent infringement suit over iMessage & Wi-Fi Calling
Patent holder VoIP-Pal on Tuesday announced that it has formally served Apple in an infringement lawsuit, claiming over $2.8 billion in damages from concepts used in services like Wi-Fi Calling and iMessage.
The lawsuit was originally launched on Feb. 9, but VoIP-Pal said it waited until May as it was trying -- and is still trying -- to reach a settlement through talks. The company is also pursuing actions against AT&T and Verizon, in total seeking some $7 billion if it can't negotiate out of court. The tally against Apple was calculated assuming a 1.25 percent royalty rate based on iPhone, iPad, and Mac profits.
The company is specifically accused of exploiting patents related to VoIP-Pal's "caller attribute classification and routing product design." In the case of iMessage, for instance, this involves the automatic switching system that will direct messages through Apple networks if both people are on Apple devices, or SMS if one person is not.
That system has previously proven controversial, and was in fact the subject of a failed lawsuit over problems switching from an iPhone to Android. iMessage links a person's Apple ID with their phone number, and people who switch away from iPhones can find that texts from iPhone-owning friends will go missing.
Although that case ended up dismissed, Apple was long barraged by public complaints about the underlying problem, and ultimately had to create Web tool to let people delink their phone numbers.
VoIP-Pal's case is likely to be settled out of court, presumably through patent licenses or a special agreement. Most such patent disputes don't go to trial, given the expenses involved and the potential penalties for losing.
The lawsuit was originally launched on Feb. 9, but VoIP-Pal said it waited until May as it was trying -- and is still trying -- to reach a settlement through talks. The company is also pursuing actions against AT&T and Verizon, in total seeking some $7 billion if it can't negotiate out of court. The tally against Apple was calculated assuming a 1.25 percent royalty rate based on iPhone, iPad, and Mac profits.
The company is specifically accused of exploiting patents related to VoIP-Pal's "caller attribute classification and routing product design." In the case of iMessage, for instance, this involves the automatic switching system that will direct messages through Apple networks if both people are on Apple devices, or SMS if one person is not.
That system has previously proven controversial, and was in fact the subject of a failed lawsuit over problems switching from an iPhone to Android. iMessage links a person's Apple ID with their phone number, and people who switch away from iPhones can find that texts from iPhone-owning friends will go missing.
Although that case ended up dismissed, Apple was long barraged by public complaints about the underlying problem, and ultimately had to create Web tool to let people delink their phone numbers.
VoIP-Pal's case is likely to be settled out of court, presumably through patent licenses or a special agreement. Most such patent disputes don't go to trial, given the expenses involved and the potential penalties for losing.
Comments
The patent system needs an overhaul, especially in regard to "non-manufacturing entities" who exist only to scam and extort money from those that actually produce valuable goods and services.
a healthy system would make it illegal to conduct "business" with patents when that "business" was the holding of patents for licensing and infringement lawsuits.
http://media.wix.com/ugd/768c4e_0f002715ae4544b6a3e6e1c4b0f92be1.pdf
It is interesting that back in 2011 they had a Blackberry app.
Why wouldn't they have just sued Blackberry over BB Messenger, rather than develop a competing app??
The USPTO needs to be taken out and shot... Oh silly me they granted a patent to the NRA for that.
I am really glad that I do not live in the USA. There is probably a patent on stepping outside your front door to pick up the mail that gets violated every day by a good portion of the population.
Send the lot of them to jail for serial patent violations.
There are some real innovations in algorithms and a mechanism to protect and reward those genuine innovations is needed (eg encryption schemes and implementations) but at the moment, the people responsible for granting patents seem incompetant - and if a patent slips through and starts being used to try to extort money like this, the claimant needs to be slapped down with punitive damages which could be used to better fund competent patent officers.
Its possible there is some really clever algorithm which has been directly lifted by Apple here, but unless there's evidence that the work has been 'borrowed', and if Apple have evidence the concept was derived independently / is obvious, this needs throwing out.
i would hate to be a software developer today - it must be like trying to paint with both hands tied behind your back and having to give instructions to banks of lawyers to check and re-interpret before any mark is made on a canvass.
"Voip-Pal.com Inc. (“Voip-Pal,” or the “Company”) is a publicly traded holding corporation (OTC Pink: VPLM) that acquired Digifonica International (DIL) Limited (“Digifonica”) in 2013 in order to fund, co-develop and complete Digifonica's suite of patents.
Digifonica is a technology development company founded in 2003 with the vision that the internet would be the future of all forms of telecommunications. Digifonica assembled a team of twenty top engineers with expertise in Linux and Internet telephony which developed solutions for future connectivity using the internet. Digifonica operationalized and tested its suite of software solutions with applications in five core areas of internet connectivity: ..."
Yes, a holding company or more commonly called a patent troll.
http://www.voip-pal.com/#!patents-detail/pafne List of patents they acquired from Digifonica they're using to extort money from companies actually providing VoIP-like services.