Apple sued over iPhone screen rendering tech
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 14th 2009 6:27AM
posted February 14th 2009 6:27AM
You've probably never heard of Picsel Technologies, but the Scottish company claims that its technologies are in over 250m handsets worldwide from manufacturers like Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Samsung and Sony Ericsson -- and, if a lawsuit it filed today is to be believed, Apple. Picsel says the iPhone infringes on a patented method of accelerated screen updating, and as usual, the answer is probably going to be for Uncle Steve to open his $25 billion piggy bank and dole out some cash. On the other hand, Apple legal might take a little batting practice before they start hunting the big game, but honestly, that's just us wishing for a little Friday night drama.
yeah! go Scotland (not in an anti-Apple way)
last i heard Scotland mentioned on Engadget was something to do with Glasgow University getting funding for something to do with digital camera technology (?)
@Who could "i" be?
er, the Wolfson chip!
1 billion!!! you must be thinking of a bigger Scotland
@ Who could i be
There isn't even 1 billlion people in America.
Scotland is part of the UK so Apple would need to cut off supply to the UK and even then patent law is international, the sound chips Apple have been using in iPhones and iPods are from Scotland.
You are an iDiot you don't even understand what "market" means you talk crap, Apple should sue everyone for copying them but if they steal anyone lese tech they should just pull out of that country ?!?! You need treatment for your iTard-ation.
By the sound of your accent, you ought to be a scottish punk from somewhere in Scotland where men wear skirts and some funky white long sucks and women wear pants with some funny hair style
Am I Korrect with my Scottish accent? :-)
That "K" is intentional...btw
I'm Scottish too and we're harder than you are.
This is a fact. Don't dispute it or I'll chib ye.
Let's start to ban America using other countries culture, the Vikings want their God back.
@ iEye
"oh well that's what Apple gets for NOT buying American.."
You do realise that Apple makes all it's products in China right ? You buy chinese when you buy Apple you dolt.
"oh oh! I can't wait to see what happens to world markets when THAT starts to happen... fi you think things are bad now just wait until..."
Ever heard of the american trade deficit ? Yes that amount that now sits at over a trillion dollars is because America imports ALOT more than it exports, don't think the world markets would worry if everyone in America started just buying American, your capitalist dream would soon dry up with no new markets to expand into.
Really iEye until you actually manage to get educated to at least high school level just accept all you opinions and ideas are unfounded rubbish.
This isnt exactly a response, BUT....
If you have window mobile, just google search for Picsel Browser. Its the smoothest browsing experience ive ever had on my phone. Picsel is a real company and theres a good chance theres some credibility to this lawsuit.
I just wish picsel would release new apps instead of suing other people
Shows how silly these patents are. Intellectual property is important, I'm not arguing that. But these silly patents like rendering tech and multi-touch should be prohibited. Patenting obvious things that people create independently is anti-competitive.
Shut up 'who could i be'.
Maybe you could be fingerless - and in turn, quiet on the internet.
@Ray- Picsel Viewer is continually updated and used on Japanese phones. It's just that you rarely see them on this side of the Pacific.
The very nature of patent trolling, if they do have the rights to this technology (which I doubt they do - or if they do if they do legally) so they simply stood by and watched all these companies implement their tech and let it get this far? Well I suppose if they thought such a big payday was awaiting them they would.
Why not just say:
"Apple are never wrong, these plucky scots are lying"
Apple are some of the biggest patent thieves around.
Besides creative let apple implement their click wheel technology then sued when apple made millions.
Please re-read the article. They currently SELL/LICENSE their technology to the other cellphone manufacturers. This is definitely not patent trolling.
Apple is going to learn that it is not wise to throw stones when you live in a glass house
Picsel aren't patent trolls. They're a real company with real products.
Gnormie,
Before you accuse someone from Scotland of patent trolling, just remember - Scottish people invented the television; surely the first step in making any screen that draws pictures. We also invented the phone; so a Scottish guy owned the patent to that to. A Scottish person also invented the MACintosh (jacket). If anything, Apple infringes on all our patents. Is it really so far fetched to believe that a country that brought us inventions like these could not have invented screen rendering tech?
Other great Scottish inventions include:
Thermos flasks, iron bridges, road tar, absolute zero, clones, banking and Canada.
If the climate wasn't so pish, then we'd rule the world.
I'm saying that if Apple are using their technology, why haven't we heard from them til now? The iPhone has already been through a couple of iterations and has been out for a long time. And before you accuse me of fanboyism take the time to read my previous posts - anyone who knows of my previous comments would know I'm not in any way enamored with Apple but I'm rational enough to realize when a companies timing is off, lawsuits take time to construct but not this much time.
@Bellzebub
The Scots invented absolute zero?
yes there is the notion of patent trolling. but there is also the notion of getting a patent on an idea v the tech to create it.
if this company just got a patent on the idea of active refreshing etc. the courts are not likely to side with them even if they were developing a method to do it. because it stifles innovation if you let someone own an idea. it's like you can't copyright 'giant cosmic rock is on path to hit Earth and kill everyone" because it is an idea. but you can copyright the characters, the events, the dialogue that make up the way you tell that idea as a story.
now if this company can prove that they had the method and Apple et al stole their way of doing the idea, that's different. in that case, I hope they win. However I also hope that all damages are scaled according to how long a particular company was being bad and these guys just sat on their thumbs and did nothing. because the only reason for that move would be to see how bad the damages could get in terms of numbers and that reeks of 'we'll let it slide so long as they don't actually make money. but if they do we are going to reem them big time' which isn't cricket.
@Bellzebub
Almost all of those inventions were not made in Scotland. I'm about 1/3 Scottish, and if the Scots take credit for my invention when I cure cancer, I swear to God and all that is holy that I am taking the cure back and incinerating it. When you come and live in the US of A you may have Scottish heritage, but that doesn't mean your country can claim your work!
Telephone:
In 1882, Alexander Bell became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He characterized his status as: "I am not one of those hyphenated Americans who claim allegiance to two countries." -AMERICAN.
Television:
Too many inventors to accurately find all contributors, mostly in U.S.
Absolute Zero:
I think it's only fair that we give the points to God, with that whole seven days thing he had going on back in the day.
Road Tar:
The streets of Baghdad were the first to be paved with tar from the 8th century AD, so unless Scots really hate bringing their inventions to their own country (which it appears that they do) the points do not go to them.
Those were the only ones I bothered to look up, but you get the point, ya ijit.
Fact: Scotts, English, and most of Europe were around waaaaay longer than the U.S., and we invented more important things over here in two-hundred year than you could in two thousand. Whazzah!?!?
In older news, a Scot invented the day, night, earth, and everything in all creation in six days; was smitten by God who took over from there... yeah, right. Oh, and Bellzebub? You're next.
As has been said, Picsel is an active company who makes use of their tech. As for the lawsuit latency, it likely took some time for discovery in this case. Proving that the iPhone uses a certain screen rendering tech probably isn't as straightforward as demonstrating that the iPhone has Visual Voicemail (which Apple also had to settle and start licensing).
I really don't see this one as patent trolling and would expect Apple to settle again.
Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not one to side in Apple in many if any situation, however the latency in this case is too much. More then 1 and a half years? Even if they did have difficulty identifying the tech and even if they took their time sorting out the litigation and even if they were too busy for a couple of months to check the iPhone, 1 and a half years is too long.
And although I realize Picsel is an active company and doesn't have a history of this - anyone who looks at this should realize that the time delay is a little off even if there were numerous mitigating circumstances.
@Who: God is a figment of your imagination. He/She/It can't patent anything.
@LAGal
" 'we'll let it slide so long as they don't actually make money. but if they do we are going to reem them big time' which isn't cricket."
Actually, that makes perfect sense. There's no point in suing a company that steals your patented technology unless they make money from it. Why would you sue a company that goes bankrupt? Good luck getting that money. It's expensive to take a suit to court so waiting for a time where it'd be profitable enough, assuming your case is strong enough to win, is just about the smartest thing you can do.
I could might have chosen my words better.
Actualy Picsel may have a chance here. Anybody who's used their Picsel Viewer would tell you that it's "just like the iPhone!" and was released many moons ago before the iPhone was aver announced.
@ who could "i" be (iEye)
Its in the HARDWARE software updates can't rebuild your hardware, but then as an iTard how would you know that.
They are not patent trolling they have licensed the tech to many big phone companies Apple just forgot to pay for it.
Bet you can't even point to Scotland on a map.
Apple rip other companies off all the time, don't you remember Konfabulator ?
I used picsel viewer on my Zodiac (palm w/ 3d acc) years ago. I thought the exact same. You could even use it to browse websites. I think they have a very legit claim.
http://i29.tinypic.com/24pi1lg.jpg
It almost looks like an iPhone hack you could find on Cydia....
Once more the rip off merchants at Apple are taken to task.
The list is distinguished indeed.
- Xerox - the user interface
- The Beatles - the name Apple
- The Beatkes - the name Apple when they went against the original agreement into the music biz
- PicSel - for ripping off the screen
It about time somebody put these people out of business forever. I hope this works.
I heard Granny Smith Was pretty raging too.
You do realise Apple gave Xerox compensation for their tour of Xerox park.
You do also realise that Xerox never intended to release any of their tech any time soon and didn't see the value in it.
You do realise Apple added a lot of UI elements we take for granted today that weren't in Xerox's original work, like drop down menus and overlapping Windows?
You do realise all of this right?
@matthew it's not "Xerox park," it's PARC - Palo Alto Research Center
Apple deserves this if the opposing company can even take it to court.
After all, going after a mini-golf company because they use the name "Apple" is asinine in its own right. It's time for a taste of their own patent-trolling medicine...
that was Monster
Gah, how about linking to the said lawsuit, or providing some real details. For all we know, Apple are using their own in-house system for the screen updating software, and Picsel are looking to cash in on their success.
But no, let's just presume Apple are in the wrong without any evidence because it's cooler this way!
You knowns karma is real. For example if you kill somebody then you must likely will be killed, and if you are a megacorporation that act as d*ck b*stard and try to patent everything in pro of monopolist measure, then sooner or later you will be sued by another company.
haha... finally. about time someone seek renumeration from Apple.
I would be interested in seeing a list of all the cases Apple has been involved in, how many they started and how many were against them. I suspect you will find the Apple Started It list to be much smaller and often based on more solid claims than the ones against them. Especially if late where it seems like every week someone is coming out to claim that Apple stole their idea. not the method it turns out, but just the idea.
picsel browser probably was the best browser for Palm, like decades ago, with probably first full page zoom technology.
There is no question that Picsel is a innovative tech company. Apple fanboys need to stop demonize the competitors.
Save the drama for the next time you read "Rendezvous With Rama".
A.C.C. keepin' it real in the 'verse!
This story makes me feel all warm and tingly inside.
Don't get too cute and cozy just yet..... get out in the cold :-)
Wow, "Who could "i" be?" is a royal prick :)
That is all :)
Serious question about patent law: Is there any limitation on how long companies can wait until they go after a company for using their tech? Say iPhone was an absolute success up until now and they sold 400 million units or something, and Picsel knew from launch Apple was using their technology, or perhaps to be a bit more legally appropriate, suspected, but had "far too many things going on in the company to look into it when the iPhone launched". What's stopping them form waiting a couple years to try and get a big payout for already sold units?
Good. Considering how sue happy Apple is I hope they fuck them over.
Exactly.
Good luck with that. And you're right, Apple really shouldn't try to protect its property, intellectual or otherwise. You clearly have a better grasp on why people have patents than they do.
Learn from the Romans. You don't mess with Scotland.