Maybe someone can EL5 this to me, but having looked at their patents from the other side of the pond, I just don’t get it.
It looks like the patent is a bunch of legal jargon that basically just says something to the tune of “save a key on in memory on a device, then use that key to validate purchases.” And is was granted in the late 2000’s.
How is this not a patent troll? Isn’t this stuff that existed before the patent was granted and an obvious solution that many engineers would easily come to?
What am I missing?
What am I missing?
The patent in question, if it’s valid, would have expired several years ago. The fact that it’s everyday technology today is pretty normal considering how fast technology advances. Ordinary toilet rolls were also a patented invention and there’s nothing in the law that says a patent has to a complicated solution to a problem.
iTunes was the first shipping product that ever actually did what’s described in the patent… and the person who ran the iTunes department that “invented” this feature was previously a subcontractor working for the guy who holds the patent - he was literally paid to implement what the patent described and then Apple poached him and he continued the work at his new job without any patent license.
I don’t support patents and never will, but if there was ever a case for clear infringement then this is it. It’s already been to court and apple was found guilty of patent infringement… only to have an appeals court overturn the decision in pretty questionable circumstances.
The dude couldn’t implement his patent (downloading media with drm that’s unlocked by a key downloaded from a server). He hired others to do it. His business went defunct. Apple hired one of the former employees to work on something similar because of their expertise. Is that patent infringement?
If someone hires a former Facebook employee to work on their social network, is that patent infringement?
If the patent was obvious to begin with, and there is existing prior art, is that patent infringement?
The patent was filed in 1999 but wasn’t granted until late-2000s. I dunno what US patent law states but I would have thought it’s back dated to when it was applied.
But I think this all part of the battle because the US patent office has refused to release internal emails that could shed light on all this.
Something fishy is going on and he’s already won some cases.
I dunno what US patent law states but I would have thought it’s back dated to when it was applied.
The US didn’t do things that way until Nov 2000. Patents filed for before then were given a term based on their publication date. So sometimes applicants deliberately tied up their applications with filings and amendments to delay their publication date and give them a bit more time when the patent ca be enforced.
“His friend Simon Morris, the ex-global chief creative officer at Amazon and the man behind Amazon Prime Video”
I wonder why he doesn’t sue Prime Video for selling videos with DRM? After all, he “invented” selling digital goods with DRM, right?
The courts generally don’t like it when you run two identical lawsuits at the same time - it’s a massive waste of limited tax payer funded resources. They would’ve likely postponed a hypothetical amazon case indefinitely until after the lawsuit against Apple had concluded (which hasn’t happened yet, it’s still in the appeals process).
After his case with Apple is over, if he wins that case, then he can privately talk to Amazon and try to reach a settlement that doesn’t involve any court cases.
I though the American system made the loser pay government costs. At least with criminal charges for people who do small crimes and they’re made in debt or whatever.
Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Liquid Audio Inc was a US software company based in Redwood City, California. Formed in 1996, Liquid Audio developed a major standard, multiple software clients, and a client/server media distribution system for streaming and downloading audio on the Internet. Along with RealNetworks’ RealAudio (on the RealPlayer), Liquid Audio was one of the two emerging online audio standards in the 1990s. The company’s founders – Gerry Kearby, Robert Flynn, and Phil Wiser – focused on professional audio quality and copyright security to differentiate the offer. The company was a pioneer in enabling copy-restricted media distribution, working closely with record companies and publishing rights agencies such as ASCAP, BMI, The Harry Fox Agency, in the United States, and various other agencies around the world.
Does anyone have the link to the patent?
Edit: here are the US patents
U.S. Patent Nos. 7,334,720 ('720 Patent); 8,033,458 ('458 Patent); 8,061,598 ('598 Patent); 8,118,221 ('221 Patent); 8,336,772 ('772 Patent); and 7,942,317 ('317 Patent)
You can look up Smartflash v. Apple to find plenty of coverage. There’s a lot more to this story than just a patent fight.
Racz made his fortune inventing a method of mixing hot and cold water - he created a global company selling taps all over the world and eventually sold it (the patent expired a long time ago, and AFAIK it’s now the standard technology used by all tap companies). Perfect example of patents actually working as intended. His next invention and business was supposed to be in the music industry, and he partnered with a company called Gemplus to fill in gaps in his expertise - especially software R&D.
The head of R&D at Gemplus left the company and started working for Apple. Where he built all of the same stuff that he had been working on with Racz. We’re talking really fundamental technology here - such as DRM to keep the record labels happy which was obviously required otherwise the whole business wouldn’t work at all. Racz had lined up partnerships with major record labels and some of the biggest pop stars in the world and it all collapsed when iTunes came along with all the same stuff.
