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News tagged ‘trademark’
Chinese Authorities and Retailers Removing iPads from Sale Over Trademark Issues
Last week, Apple was said to be facing a potential fine of approximately $38 million as a result of a trademark dispute in China between Apple and Proview Technology, which claims to have held ownership of the "iPad" trademark there since 2000. Noteworthy, Proview is seeking as much as $1.6 billion in damages. Apple believed that it had acquired the rights to the iPad trademark in China in an earlier $55,000 deal with Proview's parent company that also included European rights. But the Chinese arm of the company now claims that the Chinese rights could not have been part of the deal because those rights were not controlled by the parent company.
Now DigiCha and China.com. report that China authorities have begun taken steps related to the trademark issue, confiscating iPads from retailers' shops. DigiCha reports:
Leave a commentApple to Introduce iPad 3 in First Week of March
Citing unnamed sources, AllThingsD reported on Thursday that Apple's so-called "iPad 3" will debut at a special event to be held the first week in March in San Francisco.
Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2, and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: Available for purchase a week or so after the event.
In China Apple May Face $38 Million Fine Over 'iPad' Trademark Infringement
iSmashPhone that in China Apple may face a $38 million fine from government bodies over alleged infringement of the trademark related to the "iPad" name. However, the fine pales by comparison to the $1.6 billion claim from Proview Technology. The company asserts that it owns the rights for the name and seeks to win a series of suits filed against Apple. Also Proview reportedly expects an apology from Apple and seeks an injunction restraining Apple from using this name in China.
New Apple suit claims Galaxy Nexus infringes on 'slide-to-unlock' feature
Mere hours after serving up a ruling on Friday for a failed Samsung lawsuit against Apple, the Mannheim Regional Court held a hearing about Apple’s complaint against Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. It is the first time when Apple has named the South Korean electronics manufacturer's flagship Android handset in a lawsuit, claiming the device infringes the iPhone maker's "slide-to-unlock" utility model that was first introduced with the original iPhone in 2007 and subsequently patented with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October 2011
Examinations of utility model registrations are not as stringent as patent filings and don't carry a presumption of validity which is necessary for a court ruling. Thus the Mannheim court does not foresee an immediate decision in the "slide-to-unlock" suit as it believes the validity or invalidity of the invention is too close to call.
Apple awarded 676 patents in 2011
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple was awarded a total of 676 patents in 2011. Now Apple is No. 39 among companies awarded inventions in the U.S., comparing with the last year result, when Apple won 563 patents and was ranked the No. 46 global company in terms of inventions.
The No. 1 inventor in America was IBM, which was awarded 6,180 patents in 2011. The second place belongs to Samsung, which won 4,894 inventions outside of its home country of Korea. The third place took Canon with 2,821 patents. Panasonic came in the fourth place with 2,559, while Toshiba took fifth with 2,483 inventions. Microsoft is in the sixth place, with 2,311 patents, Hewlett-Packard with 1,308 patents in 14th place, Intel with 1,244 patents in 16th place, and AT&T, whose 721 patents put it in 35th.
Apple granted original list-editing iPhone patent, 13 others
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple an original iPhone patent for editing lists by using touch gestures. Such technology gives an opportunity for inventions regarding use of the handset as a portable hard drive and a filing for the company's now defunct Bluetooth headset.
The original touchscreen patent, first filed for in June 2007, covers a method for displaying and managing lists on a portable multifunction device, and details a simple computer user interface controlled by finger gestures rather than a sequence of button presses and stylus touches. What the abstract describes is the basic list management system found on current iOS devices.
Included in the patent background is a look at the state of portable devices at the time, which Apple claimed "resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data." A far cry from what the company eventually released in the original one-button iPhone.
The company explains that devices which rely on physical pushbuttons are inherently limited in their configurability, and that a conventional user may find it frustrating to operate such an inflexible interface.
Because such devices are designed to read the precise pinpoint contact of the stylus (when a user makes a selection on the touch screen with the stylus), making selections on the touch screen of the device without a stylus, for example, with a user's finger, can prove to be somewhat difficult.
Apple's New Patents Describe Various Aspects Of Thunderbolt Technology
United States Patent and Trademark Office published a series of patents () suggesting that Apple is attemting to possess as many Thunderbolt related patents and trademarks as possible despite the widespread impression that technology is a result of collaboration between Apple and Intel.
Apple granted another key multitouch patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office published on Tuesday that Apple won a core multitouch patent that describes how touch events are recognized by a touchscreen device. The patent blog Patently Apple also noted that this patent was one of the "200+ Patents for new inventions" Jobs lauded when the iPhone first debuted in 2007.
The newly granted patent focuses on the oscillator signal and circuit of a touchscreen-equipped device, an integral invention directly related to how users interact with their multitouch products.
Apple states in the filing: "In general, multi-touch panels may be able to detect multiple touches (touch events or contact points) that occur at or about the same time, and identify and track their locations."
One way to record multiple touches is to generate an oscillating signal circuit that can power and clock inputs over a substrate as in a capacitive touchscreen display. But it is difficult to create a precise circuit-based oscillator. According to Apple's patent, the solution to capacitive touchscreen problem is to calibration logic circuitry which compares the signal oscillation against a reference signal and tunes the clock frequency accordingly. The invention provides for an accurate capacitive display that can not only sense multiple touches, but also detect hover or near touches which are also recognized as "touch events."
Apple May Lose Rights To iPad Name In China
In October Taiwan-based company Proview Electronics charged Apple with trademark infringement related to the “iPad” name and the chairman promised to bring a legal action against Apple for damages in both China and US. Apple quietly acquired the global rights to the iPad trademark and also filed a suit to obtain the rights in China that apparently were not covered by the agreement. According to Reuter’s , today Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen rejected Apple’s suit to acquire ownership over the trademark in China.
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Apple New Patent Application Describes Persistent Overlay UI For iOS
The US Patent & Trademark Office published () an Apple patent application describing a new way of interacting with content on iOS devices. The concept is called “Persistent Overlay” and it aims to provide users with quick access to songs, files, photos and other data through an always persistent, accessible UI.
Steve Jobs Exhibit on Display at U.S. Patent Office Museum
Last week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office opened an exhibition devoted to Steve Jobs. The exhibition honoring Apple’s co-founder includes 30 giant iPhone-like display panels that demonstrate the front pages from over 300 patents that bear Jobs' name as inventor or co-inventor.
“This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.”
Developer Found Code Strings Suggesting iChat In iOS
TUAW that a developer John Heaton have found some hooks (showed above) in the iOS code suggesting that additional instant messaging or iChat-like services could be supported in iOS devices. Such integration would allow people who own iPad, iPod touch, iPhone or Mac to exchange messages with each other.
New Apple Patent Application Describes Virtual SIM Card With NFC Technology
Yesterday US Patent & Trademark Office published () an Apple’s patent application detailing how a future iPhone could use a virtual SIM card which based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
Apple Has Already Begun Development Of Mac OS X 10.8
Apple has already started work on the version 10.8 of Mac OS X. Just in July the company launched the version 10.7 of OS X Lion, which included many new features and was the first Mac OS X version to be sold through the Mac App Store.
Apple has been denied trademark for Multi-Touch
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has denied an Apple’s application for a trademark on the term Multi-Touch, applied by the company on January 9, 2007, the day the iPhone was introduced. Receiving deny, Apple appealed to the Appeal Board. The board also refused to grant the trademark, noting that the term "multitouch" has taken on generic meaning, being used by a wide variety of publications to describe the touchscreen technology on Android phones, tablets, and notebooks.
Thus, from the foregoing, we find that “multi-touch” not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device. Based on the evidence discussed above, as well as other evidence in the record, we agree with the examining attorney that MULTI-TOUCH indeed is highly descriptive of a feature of the identified goods. We now consider whether applicant has submitted sufficient evidence to establish acquired distinctiveness of this highly descriptive term.