Final Week Blog 2 - Summary of Google's Losses

Since this is my last post for this class, I thought it would be nice to end with a summary of one of my primary findings, which were Google's losses. There was a nice article on Foss Patents that discusses how disastrous last month was for Google. In my blogs for the last few weeks, I have talked about how they were losing some essential lawsuits, and even if they won on some occasions their gain was much less than what they had asked for. Therefore, as the author of this article states, Google is definitely on the losing track.
Well, Google actually started off with a WIN last month, because Apple's slide-to-unlock patent was invalidated in Germany. However, this wasn't a huge win. It was just one of numerous patents that Apple holds and besides, as we can see from Android smartphones nowadays, they have come up with alternative solutions.
Next came a LOSS for Google, as the ITC ruled that Android's text selection infringed on Apple's patents. This was not a major loss, but was still bad news for Google. After this ruling, Google faced some major defeats. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, several companies signed license agreement deals with Microsoft for its Android and Chrome devices. This means that these companies admitted that such devices of theirs were infringing on Microsoft's patents. While Google has not negotiated anything with Microsoft about this yet, I think we can expect to hear something about this in the near future.
There were several other cases in which Google had "minor" wins but "major" losses. Moreover, the author of this article mentions how the previous month for Google was as bad as it was for them last month. This seriously makes me raise the question, "Was Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility a waste?" I certainly hope not, not only because I like Google, but because they spent a lot of money on that.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/april-was-disastrous-for-google-on.html

Final Week Blog 1 - A Silly Patent

Because I used to play golf, this "silly" patent immediately caught my eye. It's a linear putter device of a golf club. Basically, it is a rod that you can attach to the end of your club so that the putter becomes long enough that you can connect it to your chin. With the putter constantly connected to your chin throughout your stroke/swing, this patent inventor claims that the golf club is moved in a more consistent and linear manner.
Now, the questions to ask are: Is it
1. novel? I claim it is not. There are tons of devices out there that help improve your stroke in a similar fashion. However, I have never heard of a device that actually connects the club to your chin...
2. useful? Absolutely not. It it were useful, many golfers would be using this right now so that it would improve their scores and results. Also, using such a device when playing a round of competitive golf is prohibited by the rules of golf. Therefore, even if someone found it useful, they would be only able to use this while practicing.
3. nonobvious? It is obvious that, having the club connected to one part of your body will improve the consistency in your stroke. There is actually something called the belly putter, which is a very long putter so that you can keep the end of the club attached to your belly while you make your stroke.
I think that this patent does satisfy the enablement requirement as it does have the potential to improve your stroke. It might not help everyone improve their golf games, but it can work for some.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6659880.html

Week 13 Blog 2 - It is ZTE

Last week, I talked about Microsoft and Hon Hai signing a patent deal so that the latter would not have to worry about infringing on the former's patents anymore. In particular, this was the 20th Android license agreement for Microsoft, so I wondered when the 21st one will happen. Well, it happened today.
ZTE, a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company signed a patent license deal for its use of the Android and Chrome operating systems with Microsoft. According to the author, this Chinese company has agreed to pay Microsoft royalties for such devices, similar to Hon Hai.
This is once again bad news for Google. As I mentioned last week, Google has yet to admit that their products are infringing on Microsoft's patents. In fact, although one billion Android devices would be in use by the end of this year, the majority of those sales will be involved with Microsoft, since around twenty different companies have taken third-party Android patent licenses!
Likewise to the author of this article, I wonder when Motorola Mobility will show up on this list of Microsoft's patent deals. Microsoft is already claiming that Google is infringing on their patents, but Google keeps fighting back by making separate infringement claims of its own. I wonder how high the chances of Google are to avoid another huge loss.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/just-like-one-week-ago-when-foxconn.html

Week 13 Blog 1 - Another Update on Nokia vs HTC!

An article from Foss Patents immediately caught by eye, as it was an update on the battle going on between Nokia and HTC! What surprised me is how hard HTC is fighting. While RIM (Blackberry) and ViewSonic were quick to admit their infringement on some of Nokia's patents, HTC has been defending itself for almost a year (!), according to the author of this article.

However, this is working pretty well for HTC. Recently, some judges in Germany have announced the dismissal of Nokia's assertion on two of its patents against HTC. The first patent is the EP1581016, which is about a communication network terminal for accessing the Internet, and the second patent is the EP0792077, which is about a multi-service mobile station. Nokia has claimed that one of the most popular application on Android devices, Google Play was infringing on the first patent because it allows third-party application developers to provide date to the end-user devices. Since this assertion was dismissed, I guess this was pretty good news not only for HTC but also for Google. I think this was pretty significant for Google, since it looks like they have not been getting very good news lately.

Going back to how hard HTC is fighting, they have also countersued Nokia multiple times. Although HTC ended up losing against Nokia over a battery conserving method patent, HTC has come out strong, stating that this particular settlement would not affect them in any way, since they have come up with an alternative solution.

When I first started reading about the battles going on between these two companies, I thought HTC did not have a chance in successfully defending itself. Therefore, reading about this recent news, I am quite surprised how things have turned out so far. I will for sure be following these collection of lawsuits.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/german-court-dismisses-another-nokia.html

Week 12 Blog 2 - Microsoft's License Agreement

I read an article on Foss Patents about Microsoft and Hon Hai, a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company and who is the parent company of Foxconn, signing a patent deal for Android and Chrome devices. With this patent license agreement, their clients will now be protected from patent claims from their uses of the Android and Chrome operating systems. Thus, they will not have to worry about infringing on Microsoft's patents anymore!
Hon Hai has basically agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft for its Android and Chrome devices. According to the author, this is bad news for Google since it has been denying that their devices do not infringe on any of Microsoft's patents.
However, this was not the first Android license agreement  for Microsoft; in fact, this was the 20th one. They have also signed patent deals with LG, HTC, Samsung, General Dynamics Itronix, Barnes and Noble, Nikon, Acer, and several others. The author of the article is wondering what the 21st deal will look like. What was special about this particular agreement between Hon Hai and Microsoft was that it came out as a big surprise. No one predicted this was going to take place as no rumors existed about the deal.
Likewise to the author, I don't think it will take too long for a negotiation between Google's Motorola Mobility and Microsoft to take place...what do you think?

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/foxconn-parent-hon-hai-signs-with.html

Week 12 Blog 1 - Sony vs. Red Digital

On Patentlyo, I read an article about a battle going on between Sony and Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. While I was pretty familiar with Sony, I did not know about Red Digital. I found out that they are an American manufacturer of digital cinematography tools, and that many of their products have been used to shoot several TV shows and movies. Their stylish cameras have gained widespread attention, along with the fact that the founder of this company, Jim Jannard is also the founder of Oakley.
The battle between these two companies started when Red Digital sued Sony over two patents a couple months ago, for U.S Patent #8,358,357 and #8,174,560. In this lawsuit, Red Digital demanded Sony to stop the production and also destroy their infringing products, such as the F65, F5, and F55 models.
Well, Sony has come back this month and countersued Red Digital for patent infringement. They have actually sued them over seven patents, for U.S Patent #5,442,718, #5,523,795, #5,999,213, #6,009,233, #6,423,993, #7,138,617, and #7,304,287. These patents are all directed to digital camera technology, as  they are about "a method of and apparatus for setting up electronic device" and an "apparatus and method for recording and reproducing a video signal with camera setting data."Similar to Red Digital's demands on the Sony products, Sony has also demanded Red Digital to stop the production of their products such as the Red One, Epic, Redmote, and Scarlet cameras, and to also destroy any remaining ones in the market.
It appears like this is an intense battle. The author of this article discusses how although this case is only taking place in the United States for now, Sony is attempting to enlarge this dispute by bringing it to a global scale. This may be a disadvantage for Red Digital as Sony is a large company than them, meaning that Sony also has a stronger patent portfolio. I think that Red Digital may suffer to defend itself.

http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2013/04/sony-v-red-digital-redcom.html
http://www.worldipreview.com/news/sony-and-red-digital-cinema-locked-in-patent-tussle

Week 11 Blog 2 - Apple's Loss

I just read about an article on Foss Patents that talked about how Apple's slide-to-unlock patent was invalidated. This was very interesting to me as it was the first time I read about such a case.

This lawsuit happened in Germany, where the court ruled that Apple's patent was invalid since it failed to meet one of the requirements under the patent laws of Europe. In Europe, in order for software to be patent-eligible, they must solve a technical problem with technical means. Thus, the court ruled that a sliding gesture to unlock a phone was not a technical innovation.

I know how different countries have totally different aspects on certain things, but I didn't know that this was the case for patents as well. In the United States, "everything under the Sun made by Man" is patent-eligible, but this certainly is not the case in Europe. How interesting.

The author mentions in the beginning of the article that this was a "win" for Samsung and Google's Motorola Mobility. I'm not too sure how this will affect those companies' products though. It seems like they are doing completely fine in the United States, where they have come up with alternative ways for users to unlock their smartphones. I'm just curious to see whether changes, if any, will be made to their products sold in Europe.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/apples-slide-to-unlock-patent.html