New patent lawsuit targets Apple A-series, M-series chips
Apple has been hit with a lawsuit claiming that its Apple Silicon iPhone and Mac chips infringe on patents owned by non-practicing entity Future Link Systems, LLC.
Credit: Apple
The complaint, lodged Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that Apple A-series and M-series chips directly infringe on claims in four patents focused on "improvements in electronic circuitry." That includes the M1 and A14 Bionic.
According to the lawsuit, Future Link Systems penned a letter to Apple asserting the infringement in April 2018. Apple and Future Link met in May, and later that year, the Cupertino company presented non-infringement arguments to the patents. The plaintiff claims that even after continued back and forth correspondence Apple "refused to discuss appropriate terms for a license."
The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patents Nos. 6,317,804, 6,622,108, 6,807,505, and 7,917,680. The lawsuit claims that all Apple devices that have an A-series or M-series processor, including the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, directly infringe on those patents.
Each patent focuses on a particular aspect of circuit design for electronic devices like computers or smartphones. The '804 patent, for example, focuses on a concurrent serial interconnect within an integrated circuit device. Two of the patents focus on interconnect test units for circuits, and the '680 patent details a communications arrangement for packet data control.
The complaint contends that Apple has knowledge of the patents and "has been willfully blind to its infringement."
Apple isn't the first major chipmaker that Future Link Systems has targeted. In 2017, Intel resolved a patent dispute with the non-practicing entity by agreeing to a confidential settlement. That patent lawsuit indicated that Intel owed about $10 billion in damages for allegedly infringing on Future Link's intellectual property, while Intel put the price closer to $10 million, Law360 reported in August 2017.
The complaint against Apple, which seeks a jury trial, asks for a permanent injunction on Apple infringing on the patents. It also asks for damages, costs, and other expenses associated with the infringement, among other prayers for relief.
Stay on top of the latest Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a quick update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Credit: Apple
The complaint, lodged Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that Apple A-series and M-series chips directly infringe on claims in four patents focused on "improvements in electronic circuitry." That includes the M1 and A14 Bionic.
According to the lawsuit, Future Link Systems penned a letter to Apple asserting the infringement in April 2018. Apple and Future Link met in May, and later that year, the Cupertino company presented non-infringement arguments to the patents. The plaintiff claims that even after continued back and forth correspondence Apple "refused to discuss appropriate terms for a license."
The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patents Nos. 6,317,804, 6,622,108, 6,807,505, and 7,917,680. The lawsuit claims that all Apple devices that have an A-series or M-series processor, including the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, directly infringe on those patents.
Each patent focuses on a particular aspect of circuit design for electronic devices like computers or smartphones. The '804 patent, for example, focuses on a concurrent serial interconnect within an integrated circuit device. Two of the patents focus on interconnect test units for circuits, and the '680 patent details a communications arrangement for packet data control.
The complaint contends that Apple has knowledge of the patents and "has been willfully blind to its infringement."
Apple isn't the first major chipmaker that Future Link Systems has targeted. In 2017, Intel resolved a patent dispute with the non-practicing entity by agreeing to a confidential settlement. That patent lawsuit indicated that Intel owed about $10 billion in damages for allegedly infringing on Future Link's intellectual property, while Intel put the price closer to $10 million, Law360 reported in August 2017.
The complaint against Apple, which seeks a jury trial, asks for a permanent injunction on Apple infringing on the patents. It also asks for damages, costs, and other expenses associated with the infringement, among other prayers for relief.
Stay on top of the latest Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a quick update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
Don't insult maggots like that. They actually have a useful function in the ecology.
How about Slugs? slimy and are a menace to growing crops.
"Each patent focuses on a particular aspect of circuit design for electronic devices like computers or smartphones. The '804 patent, for example, focuses on a concurrent serial interconnect within an integrated circuit device. Two of the patents focus on interconnect test units for circuits, and the '680 patent details a communications arrangement for packet data control."
How easy is it for the chip design details to be deciphered?
Poof no more patent trolls. No more wasting everyone's time patenting everything you can think of as a defence against patent trolls. No more money wasted on legal battles that waste everyone's resources. No more courtroom lottery where people that make nothing, produce nothing, and benefit no one, get rewarded because they knew how to talk slick in front of a jury that understands nothing about the subject.
It would end this stupidity finally and completely.
I zoned out before getting to some of the possibly applicable methodologies. Are the internal bus interconnects serial?
Don't you all watch Shark Tank? They love it when people have a patent and license their product to other companies. Those people that hold those patents no longer have to be the ones to produce the product because they are selling a license for others to make it. Apple had to change FaceTime because they were violating a patent.
Remember when Apple flew a pirate flag on top of their building? Bill Gates said it best, "Hey Steve, you stole the stereo, we stole the TV". Don't assume Apple is innocent in this when they were trying to work out a deal with the company that holds the IP.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/researchers-reverse-engineer-entire-cpu-processor-chips,40590.html