Small company sueing Apple, microsoft, and google

http://gizmodo.com/5119074/tiny-company-sues-apple-microsoft-and-google-has-balls-the-size-of-texas
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...m=main_ars_account&utm_campaign=microblogging
apparently this company was the people who made thumbnails and is suing apple's osx and coverflow, Microsoft's vista, and Google cover flow for there patents. i put it in this thread since it has to do with software makers.

 

Whoa According to their patent they could sue all most all companies which uses thumbnail preview ....

 

I just read that...double:

There are a lot of companies that use thumbnail preview out there!

This is very interesting...


Cin

 

if they win this will be i rich company maybe i should get a job there so for when the money starts coming in

 

I reckon this will turn out one of a few ways
1. Out-of-court settlement because the big boys can't be bothered to fight it out (i.e. their lawyers are to expensive)
2. The patent is invalidated as it doesn't represent true innovation
3. A lengthy court case that will go on until this small company runs out of money.

I really can't see them winning this utterly ridiculous case,

 

hmm I don't think the 1st option will be a reality but who knows why ? as far as I remember many OS's and Appz are using thumbnail preview for a long time and suddenly these guys got a patent .

I would expect the 2nd or 3rd option a possibility

 

And, also in this case...The Attorneys representing..will be the $$ winners in the end!


Cin

 

Exactly, I guess I should have opted to get a law degree instead! Though not all of them are bad, I work with a few with law degrees.

I think the big companies will opt for a settlement and just brush this under the rug. There is no way this company can match the legal power all three companies have.

 

Yes, I foresee a nice settlement, the attorneys getting paid some good $$$, and everything moving forward.

It will be interesting to see, though!


Cin

 

Hmm, apparently the patent examiner on that one must have failed the "prior art" portion of his patent exam - unless that patent application was filed many, many years ago, I don't see how a patent on thumbnail images can stand; the relevant standards that I know of (ExIF, DCF, and TIFF) have incorporated thumbnails in their public specifications since at least the 1990s, so I'm hard-pressed to see how there would be anything patentable there.

 

This shows how ridicules patenting has become. According to this article the original application was submitted way back in 1998 with some modifications in 2001. So I wonder what were the guys at US patent and trade mark office doing for 10 years ? If anyone to be sued then it is the patent office ! I've seen so many redicules claims and law suites over the years due to some dumb patent claims.... I think Microsoft, google and the others should in return sue the patent office, that ought to teach them a lesson.

 

I agree with the out of court settlement theory...

I see this as nothing more than a nice little grab for cash by the small company - stir up some media attention, probably not enough to concern corporate giants like Google and MS, but enough to earn said small firm a tidy little sum of money...wonder who found this patent issue and then decided to act upon it a few years after the fact then?!

 

they could win if they didn't go for each company at once

 

These cases are getting ridiculous.

The best one recently is Monster Cables suing a miniture golf company that had Monster in it's name...solely because it had Monster in the name of it's company.

I think these companies probably start seeing their money slipping and are probably on the verge of bankruptcy...so they decide to start pulling at air to stay alive. Kind of like a hail mary pass...but this is just a theory.

 

I think its people nowadays - I mean, hell, burglars tresspassing on your property and injureing themselves sue you for compensation and wibn nowadays!!! (Great Britain)

The jury system is to blame here - they are far more easily influenced than a judge alone.

And once someone won with a ridiculous claim others try, lawyers "specialise"...

(By the way - I'm actually surprised companies dare selling products in the US...)

 

Software patents are intrinsically ridicule.
Sadly, there are legions of lawyers who live on that.
I wouldn't be surprised is someone sued some other company for writing programs with alphabet letters and numbers. Or for using variables.
Or for program indentation.

And why not patenting page numbering?
After all that is a nice feature, someone must have started to implement it in software, why not suing everybody else?
Who patented zooming? And scroll bars?

Bah, humbug!
(to keep up with the xmas spirit)

 

I agree. You speak the truth.

 

Hmmm, I image it as 2, 3, 1 in order of likelihood.

 

I think they are going to duel it out untill the small company doesn't have any money, because Apple, Microsoft, and Google are going to fight till the end and prove to the public that the patents are false, and therefore gain publicity in a positive way.

 

Which wouldn't be a bad thing at all, considering that the foolishness started with granting the patent in the first place - so far as I can tell, this "little company" is nothing more than a patent troll looking to shake-down other companies, i.e., not a company on which any compassion should be wasted.