Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 Patents...

[sprintgirl]

i just think its funny that apple just got sued by nokia for pretty much the same thing...and palm uses multi touch pinch zoom...but nobody sues them. everybody sues everybody and i doubt if the htc lovers have a reason to be worried. the legal system is full of loopholes just need their lawyers to be smart enough to find the right one to slip through.

[BlackDynamite]

Originally Posted by BeefJerky

This is wrong on so many levels. Simply put, you do not own the software, you only buy a license for it. As such, you are subject to the terms of the license agreement (or EULA). If the license says that you cannot install it on 3rd party hardware, than you cannot. As an analogy, a software license is akin to having a drivers license. You can get one, but you are subject to very specific terms and conditions regarding what you can do with it. You are limited in what rights you have, and can also also get the license revoked. The reality is that this is a very cut-and-dry case, and no court of law will take Psystar's side in this.

We'll see how this all plays out. While it's true that you are bound to a EULA, it's also true that a EULA has to meet certain criteria in order to be valid.

Remember- Microsoft got smacked down by just about every government in the free world for doing something similar to this with Windows back in the day. Their's was slightly different (they said they didn't want Windows running on hardware that also ran Linux) but it's the same basic principle: once you buy the software you are free to do whatever you want (within reason) with it.

In short- just because it's in a EULA doesn't mean the consumer is bound to that EULA. That EULA still has to follow the laws. Microsoft found this out the hard way, and I'm positive Apple will too if Psystar has enough money to fight them.

[Recursion]

Originally Posted by BeefJerky

This is wrong on so many levels. Simply put, you do not own the software, you only buy a license for it. As such, you are subject to the terms of the license agreement (or EULA). If the license says that you cannot install it on 3rd party hardware, than you cannot. As an analogy, a software license is akin to having a drivers license. You can get one, but you are subject to very specific terms and conditions regarding what you can do with it. You are limited in what rights you have, and can also also get the license revoked. The reality is that this is a very cut-and-dry case, and no court of law will take Psystar's side in this.

On the other hand, using overly broad patents to try to eliminate competition is more of a gray area. While there are laws regarding anti-competitive behavior, I'm not aware of any that specifically refer to patents. At the same time, I'm quite sure there are precedents set from previous court cases of this nature. These are quite often decided unfavorably for the business that chooses to employ these kinds of tactics. The likelihood of Apple actually being the victor in one of these lawsuits is very small. Apple doesn't necessarily care about winning, and may simply hope to force the other business to concede to licensing agreements for fear of bankruptcy.

Agreed, re: Psystar's situation. The whole "licensing" arrangement that has arisen, as compared to the "sale of a copy," has given copyright/patent holders much broader control over their property.

Re: misuse of overly-broad patents, yeah, I don't think the Clayton and Sherman Acts (the main US Antitrust Statutes) specifically reference patents, but I'm pretty sure there is case law that does so in light of these statutes. It seems pretty clear to me that misusing a patent would qualify as "attempted monopolizing." And I'd wager that HTC's answer will include counterclaims for Apple's anticompetitive conduct.

[Mr. X]

Threads merged, no reason to have them in a device section and multiple threads on this subject.

[dicast]

Htc got the Iphone killer and Apple agreed. Apple, instead of suing htc....why dont you come up with a better phone and open to all carriers.

[kyrumo]

HTC has been making phones alot longer then Apple, maybe they need to look into their patents files

[rb240z]

HTC only has around 58 patents or around that number, compared to the hundreds apple holds. I think google should entice motorola to step in and use their patent for use of a mobile device as a phone. That would just shut everyone up.

[keentech]

Salty Dawg and Recursion -- I didnt mean to bring up something off the topic (sorry OP) and get you two into a debate. I see both sides of the issue, but I feel if I can buy the hardware legally and the software legally that are compatible without someones logo on the case then I should have the right to combine the two. I personally like my TP2 with WinMo that I can do almost anything too. I also like that even though its experimental I can load Droid based roms on it.

But back on topic, how many copy machines, touch screen displays, credit card machines, etc utilize device functions based upon pressing graphics on the screen? Or other mobile phone vendors that use touch screens for that matter. Apple isn't suing them (yet) for using similar technology, instead they go after a big company with lots of money to tie things up in litigation for a couple of years and destroy their profits while hoping to drive prices higher for the rest of us.

Hopefully the judge is not an iPhone user or at least sees that the patent is too vague.

I think if Apple was truly an ingenious brand with smart engineers they would one up everyone with a better device or at the minimum end their exclusive agreements to truly compete on the open market like everyone else.

Just my thoughts.

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by keentech

Hopefully the judge is not an iPhone user

This case pretty much hinges on if the judge will be rocking an iphone or hd2,