Apple fights off iTunes patent spat appeal

Apple is trying to kill off an attempt by Smartflash to reverse a patent panel's ruling and thereby force Cupertino to hand it $533m in a Federal Circuit dispute. Smartflash owns three patents at issue, and had initially won $533m in damages from Apple, on the basis that it infringed these patents in its iTunes product. …

[Chris G]

An abstract idea

That is not patentable!

Apple should be careful what they wish for.

[Ragarath]

Re: An abstract idea

Came to say the same thing, have an upvote.

[Alumoi]

Wanna bet?

I bet you $533m that after Apple manages to invalidate those patents it will patent its own method of "data storage and access systems ... for downloading and paying for data such as audio and video data, text, software, games and other types of data." on a computer and the patent will be granted?

[JCDenton]

Fuck patent trolls

[southen bastard]

flat rectangle with rounded corners, now that's not abstract

[gnasher729]

"flat rectangle with rounded corners, now that's not abstract"

"Flat rectangle with rounded corners" is an excellent phrase to recognise clueless twats. "Flat rectangle with rounded corners" was _one_ of many parts of a design patent. Which is not a patent. And you can copy every single part of a design patent, just not all of them at once. Everyone is free to have phones that are flat rectangles with rounded corners.

Samsung took a design patent for the iPhone 3GS, and copied _every single thing_ of it. When they copied the iPad, the copy was so close that a Samsung lawyer in court could not tell the judge which of two tablets was an iPad, and which was a Samsung tablet!

BTW. Samsung has design patents for their phones, and all their design patents include "flat rectangle with rounded corners". And they will sue anyone copying their design patents.

[BongoJoe]

Clueless Twats?

Prior art suggests otherwise. Look at any Ancient Roman fort; they were rectangular with rounded corners so that attackers couldn't knock the corners off to gain access...