Apple, Samsung ready for latest patent faceoff

The fiercest rivalry in the world of smartphones is heading back to court this week in the heart of the Silicon Valley, with Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. accusing one another, once again, of ripping off designs and features
The trial will mark the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between the two tech giants that underscore a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.

“There’s a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented,” Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. “Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition.”

The latest Apple-Samsung case will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900-million (U.S.) but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.

Now, jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in another round of litigation, with Apple accusing Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

“Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices,” Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. “Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple’s innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices.”

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.

“Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry,” Samsung attorneys wrote. “Apple has copied many of Samsung’s innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products.”

In the upcoming case, Apple claims Samsung stole a tap-from-search technology that allows someone searching for a telephone number or address on the web to tap on the results to call the number or put the address into a map. In addition, Apple says Samsung copied “Slide to Unlock,” which allows users to swipe the face of their smartphone to use it.

Samsung countered that Apple is stealing a wireless technology system that speeds up sending and receiving data.

The most attention-grabbing claim in the case is Apple’s demand that Samsung pay a $40 royalty for each Samsung device running software allegedly conceived by Apple, more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies. If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2-billion. Apple’s costs, if it loses, are expected to be about $6-million.

“You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high,” said German patent analyst Florian Mueller. “But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it.”

The problem, he said, is that each smartphone has thousands of patented ideas in it; Apple is challenging just five.

Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung’s market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15 per cent of the global market.

Apple claims the following Samsung products now infringe on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1, and Stratosphere.

Samsung claims the following Apple products infringe on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and MacBook Pro.

With the San Jose federal courtroom just a 15-minute drive from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, even jury selection can be difficult. In the previous case, several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.

 

Security Price Change AAPL-Q   Apple     541.65 4.91 0.915 %

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Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a 'hobby

The $99 Apple TV set-top box had racked up $1 billion in sales in the past year.

(Reuters) - Apple Inc sold more than $1 billion of Apple TV set-top boxes in 2013 and is investing heavily in the next generation of products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the company s annual meeting on Friday.
Apple s ability to again transform the fast-moving technology arena is the central question in investors  and Silicon Valley executives  minds as the company s growth slows, and rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google Inc take chunks out of its market share.
Industry executives and Apple observers continue to believe that the company will come up with some sort of wearable device, like a smartwatch, and speculation persists about a long-rumored TV product of some sort to shake up the living room viewing experience.
"We re working on some things that are extensions of things you can see and some that you can t see," Cook said at the annual meeting, referring to a 32 percent increase in research and development costs last year.
Responding to a question about innovation, Cook said Apple preferred not to talk about new products under development so as not to tip off the competition.
"You can see we re getting ripped off left, right and sideways," he said.
Apple s shares fell 0.27 percent to close at $526.24 on Friday. They have clawed back substantial ground since falling below $400 in June, but remain well below the record-high $700 level of 2012, weighed by concerns about whether the company has any new hit products in the pipeline.
Though Cook steered clear of that discussion, he shed some more light on the Apple TV business, which executives have long referred to as a "hobby" for a company expected to chalk up some $181 billion in sales this fiscal year.
The $99 Apple TV set-top box, which streams content from Netflix and other video sources to a TV, had racked up $1 billion in sales in the past year, he said.
"It s a little more difficult to call it a hobby these days," Cook said.

FEEDING FRENZY

Cook took pot shots at Google, saying that most users of its Android mobile operating system are using older versions, presenting a security threat. In contrast, he said, 89 percent of users of devices based on Apple s iOS operating system have the most recent version of the software.
Shareholders at the annual meeting at Apple s Cupertino, California, headquarters re-elected all board members.
In the run-up to the meeting at 1 Infinite Loop, many investors had publicly debated whether Apple should not put any of its massive cash pile to better use.
Cook said the company will provide an update within 60 days on how it will use the cash, which totaled nearly $160 billion at the end of 2013. That time frame is in line with Apple s previous comments that it would announce its latest cash management plans around April.
Apple repurchased $14 billion in stock in a two-week period earlier this year, under pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, who had been publicly calling for the iPhone-maker to buy back an additional $50 billion of stock on top of its existing buyback program.
The billionaire investor, who in late January said he held more than $4 billion of Apple shares, withdrew his shareholder proposal following Apple s announcement of the buyback.
Some analysts believe Apple may eventually dip into its coffers to buy something big. The iPhone maker has so far shied away from the mega-acquisitions that far more aggressive rivals like Google and Facebook Inc have pursued, though Cook did not rule out forking over a big sum of cash if warranted.
Cook said Apple has acquired 23 companies in the last 16 months and remained on the lookout for interesting technology and companies.
Apple is not in a race to acquire the most companies or to spend the most money, but that "doesn t mean we won t buy a huge company tomorrow afternoon," he said.
And he warned shareholders not to focus too narrowly on short-term gains.
"If you re in Apple for only a week ... or two months, I would encourage you not to invest in Apple," he said.
"We are here for the long term."

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Surprise! Apple's Tim Cook is both scary and caring, says new book

So much time, effort, and emotion are expended on analyzing everything at Apple that it's a wonder surprises still manage to emerge.
But on hearing that a new book called "Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs" was to emerge, some felt a tinge of excitement.
Written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane, it promised (at least in some imaginations) to reveal secrets of Cupertino life.
An excerpt from the book was published Friday in the Journal and the revelations are few.
If you'd imagined that Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't have quite the same style as Steve Jobs, this excerpt confirms it. He is described as not having "the quasi-religious authority that Jobs had radiated."
He is also described as "arguably a better manager than Jobs."
There are many of the already received wisdoms about Cook being more practical, more pragmatic, more orderly, more disciplined, and more modest.
Thankfully, he is still described as being scary. "He could strike terror in the hearts of his subordinates," says the book. That's a relief. It would be awful if Apple had suddenly turned into a holiday camp for the indolent.

Posted By :: Muhammad usman

 

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