Apple Inc., along with other major companies, have been sued by patent troll ICC over the illegal use of some its patents.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), along with other tech companies like LG, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, and Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has been slapped with a lawsuit over patent infringement. A patent troll named Intercarrier Communications (ICC), is going after them. Patent trolls are shell companies that buy vague and outdated patents, they then sue these companies to extort money.
The patent was originally filed in 2003 by Samuel K. Giles and Christopher E. Smith, and it was issued to them in 2006. The document in question uses the term “remote watch,” to describe actions that can be used to activate basic functions for your vehicle as mentioned above.
The companies are being sued for the use of patented technology in their respective smartwatches to control functions of vehicles such as starting the engine, locking and unlocking the doors.
There have been arguments that call for the suing of only the car companies, as the companies incorporate the apps with their cars, but don’t specifically stop users from using them.
However, none of the major smartphone developers have a specific watch that controls cars, nor have they introduced any release of any apps which enable them to drive the cars, which quite frankly is still impossible these days. This shows how ridiculous the case brought against the plaintiffs is.
The patent talks about a physical button on a watch which can be pressed to control the functionality of the car. It doesn’t mention the use of a touchpad or a touchscreen, which modern smartwatches now have. Reinforcing the idea that the patent in question is outdated from current tech trends. Key fobs could be classified as being closer to the definition of the patent than the smartwatches as they operate exactly as described.
Although the patent was issued in 2006, Allen Wong from RegoApps recently shed light on the matter on the Tesla Motors Club Forum. He was summoned to a court hearing in Texas for his app, Remote S, which will allows users to control their car through Siri on both the iPhone and the Apple Watch. The app was subjected to release later this year but that has been put on hold due to legal complications.
The ICC has claimed a total of $2 million for damages, out of which $1million have to be paid up front as legal fees annually for using the patent. Moreover, this case will be held in the East Texas jurisdiction court, where jurors are claimed to be uneducated with only 20% of them having a college degree. This impacts the case in a negative as these people have no technical knowledge in this regard. The court has ruled in favor of the ICC around 78–88% compared to the national average of 59–68% and passed out huge rewards for the corporation. Thus this is the perfect place for this patent troll to take the case.
If the verdict goes in favor of ICC, it will serve as a blow to the motivation of the developers as they will be put off to by the idea to create something innovative. Patent trolls cause big issues in the tech world now. In most instances, the courts almost always rule in favor of the defendants, in this case Apple and the other automotive companies. However, since this case has been registered in Texas, a popular target for patent trolls, it’s not confirmed whether this case holds any significance. More will be known when the trial starts.
Source: bidnessetc.com
