Apple Amongst Others Sued Over Wi-Fi, HSPA Wireless Patents

[Joshua Tucker]

It seems that the technology news is plagued these days with Apple suing one company or Apple being sued by another company. Round and round it goes, where it will stop, none one knows. With this next case running up against Apple by Wi-LAN, it may not be the end for Apple's court troubles for a while.

According to AppleInsider, a company called Wi-LAN is suing Apple over two specific U.S. patents that regard wireless technology. Unfortunately, Apple is not the only company targeted by the company. The following are also part of the entire lawsuit and sued for breaking the two patents as well:

• Alcatel-Lucent
• Dell
• Hewlett Packard
• HTC
• Kyocera
• Novatel
• Sierra Wireless

Friday is when the court hearing will begin, for Apple at least. This is not the first time that Wi-LAN and Apple have been at the stand; last year, Apple was among a hosts defendants for infringing on patents that were in relation to Bluetooth technology. Wi-LAN is known for a history of patent infringement suits on technology companies - this lawsuit is no different.

The particular patents in question are:

• U.S. Patent No. RE 37,802, Multicode direct sequence spread spectrum: This patent covers technology related to cellular standards such as CDMA and HSPA
• U.S. Patent No. 5,282,222, Method and apparatus for multiple access between transceivers in wireless communications using OFDM spread spectrum: Components such as Wi-Fi and 4G long-term evolution technology is covered in this patent.

The complaint by Wi-LAN was filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Many patent infringement lawsuits have been filed and are continually filed here in hopes that the outcome for the plaintiff will be positive.

Source(s): AppleInsider

[Own3d]

Bastards. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

[myhargalan]

Wats next? Were gonna sue you cause your employees have the same hairstyles of our employees

[z3r01]

well apple is definitely infringing two of my patents..im gonna take them to court next week.

U.S. Patent No. 0,000,001 Using electricity as i invented electrons, protons and neutrons...in fact im gonna sue anything that contains matter...

and

U.S. Patent No. 5,856,875 Using colors to display things....i invented the rainbow....

[Joshua Tucker]

Wats next? Were gonna sue you cause your employees have the same hairstyles of our employees

It seems to be going that ways these days.

[SwatPac]

Another shady company coming out of nowhere? Awesome!

" If your not getting sued, your doing something wrong"

[DaLsim]

Wats next? Were gonna sue you cause your employees have the same hairstyles of our employees

Welcome to America? i sue u cuzz u have $$$ and i dont? now you can't sue me cuzz have ur $$$ and it's patented...

[unison999]

What goes around comes around.
Glad Apple gets a taste of their own medicine, I am sure this will not get anywhere but still love it.

[GmAz]

Wow, you all coolaide drinkers love to say "Go get em Apple, get whats yours, defend your patents" but when Apple gets sued, its someone trying to get a piece of Apple's pie.

Where are all the other wireless companies on the list? Wheres Motorola? Oh, maybe its because they are paying licensing fees to the company.

Eat it Apple.

[z3r01]

Wow, you all coolaide drinkers love to say "Go get em Apple, get whats yours, defend your patents" but when Apple gets sued, its someone trying to get a piece of Apple's pie.

Where are all the other wireless companies on the list? Wheres Motorola? Oh, maybe its because they are paying licensing fees to the company.

Eat it Apple.

hi welcome to an apple enthusiate forum :-)

[RICO_]

hi welcome to an apple enthusiate forum :-)

An Apple enthusiast website that reports on Microsoft news that is unrelated to Apple? Yeah.

[sziklassy]

Wow, you all coolaide drinkers love to say "Go get em Apple, get whats yours, defend your patents" but when Apple gets sued, its someone trying to get a piece of Apple's pie.

Where are all the other wireless companies on the list? Wheres Motorola? Oh, maybe its because they are paying licensing fees to the company.

Eat it Apple.

I agree. Apple started this rash of suits. They can have fun dealing with this can of worms they opened.

hi welcome to an apple enthusiate forum :-)

That is more than being an enthusiast. That is being completely blind and moronic. Every company out there has just as much right to protect what is theirs as Apple does.

[teej1410]

Bastards. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Screw the pie. I'll go for cake!

[zplit]

Wats next? Were gonna sue you cause your employees have the same hairstyles of our employees

Funny but in this days u may get sue for that too lol

[confucious]

The US patent system does seem strange. Everyone suing everyone else is certainly not good for competition but Apple are one of the worst offenders so shoudnt be surprised when someone sues them.

Patents work very well in the drugs industry but it is becoming almost farcical in the technology sector.

[sziklassy]

The US patent system does seem strange. Everyone suing everyone else is certainly not good for competition but Apple are one of the worst offenders so shoudnt be surprised when someone sues them.

Patents work very well in the drugs industry but it is becoming almost farcical in the technology sector.

I agree on everything you said, but it depends on what you mean by "well" in terms of the drug industry. If you mean they allow drug companies to become filthy rich and charge ridiculous amounts of money for drugs needed for saving lives, then yes, they do work quite well. Companies can also buy out patents for said drugs and stop their production dead in the water simply because their profit projections on the inferior drugs they already produce are currently higher. As they say in the industry, you make money off of drugs that treat symptoms, NOT provide a cure.

there is a difference though. With a drug, an idea cannot be patented. That is to say, I cannot patent the idea of the drug that will cure cancer without being able to produce the drug. With technology, it seems I can patent an idea long before I can actually provide a working example of said idea and be just fine.