Haptic developer fires patent suits at Apple

Haptic outfit Immersion, once rumoured to be in talks with Apple, has fired off a lawsuit against Cupertino, AT&T and AT&T Mobility over alleged patent infringements. Immersion's sueballs have landed in the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and the US District Court in Delaware. The 2008 talks between Apple and …

[Franklin]

I stumbled across Immersion while Iwas doing a patent search for a haptic system not related to cell phones or video games.

They (or rather, he--the patents seem to originate from one person) file for zillions of patents, all nearly identical to one another, on "technologies" that seem blindingly obvious. One of them gets invalidated? Fifteen get invalidated? No problem, there's a thousand more behind them!

A patent for a haptic interface involving a video game controller containing a motor with a counterweight to create vibration. A patent for a haptic interface involving a video game controller containing two motors with counterweights to create vibration. A patent for a haptic interface involving a video game controller containing two motors with counterweights to create vibration, wherein said motors can be controlled separately. A patent for a haptic interface involving a video game controller containing two motors with counterweights to create vibration, wherein said motors can be controlled separately and are oriented differently. A patent for a haptic interface involving a video game controller containing two motors with counterweights to create vibration, wherein said motors are controlled by a single controller. You get the idea.

These guys are (this guy is?) the McDonald's of patent trolls, mass-producing zillions of low-quality patents on an assembly line basis to keep a constant flow of lawsuits in the pipeline. I keep waiting to see their logo changed to a giant stylized M with the slogan "Over 42 billion sued!"

[PJF]

"Over 42 billion sued!"

I keep waiting to see their logo changed to a giant stylized M with the slogan "Over 42 billion sued!"

Wouldn't it be a stylized "I" ?!

"I" 'm the bestest - me, myself. "I" made over $50m last year - yeah me, err "I"

They seem to be worse? (than the Umpossible that buy "a/the/some patent" troll, then head to E. Texass..) A quick glimpse of what they hold, if I fart, and lift either/or/both cheeks, I'm infringing...

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: "Over 42 billion sued!"

For a change, this suit wasn't filed in East Texas but in Delaware. Another good place for [redacted] companies to do business. SCO (remember them?) was a Delaware registered company.

It will take some time for the courts to decide if these patents are:-

1) Overly broad and thus can be invaidated

OR

2) that crapple and AT&T did not violate them

OR

3) Guilty - Hang the lot of them. Now!

[Jason Bloomberg]

Multiple patents for pretty much the same thing are indicative that the patent system is broken.

When "feedback by motor vibration" is too general to provide protection for the invention it leads to the other extreme of multiple patents to protect all feasible variants of that.

[Rol]

What does the US patent office actually do?

I know they issues patents, but do they actually read them?

From everything I have read, they seem to just be a registry office, that would happily take money from Sesame Street to issues them a patent on the letters L and O and the numbers 4 and 7.

Why hasn't this obvious scam shop been shut down, as it adds nothing but misery to the world.

It would be interesting to calculate just how much extra I have paid for goods and services as a consequence of USPTO's policy of asking the world to Please Turn Over as one of our clients is about to fuck you all in the ass, again.

[Anonymous Coward]

What does the US patent office actually do?

[..]

Why hasn't this obvious scam shop been shut down, as it adds nothing but misery to the world.

Because it makes money, and by that I mean TRULY STUPID AMOUNTS of money. Not just in admin charges, but also in consequential lawsuits. There is a nation worth of lawyers and judges hanging off this system that are exclusively fed by this office not doing what it alleges to do, and which helps the US pretend it never ignored patents itself to get its industry off the ground.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are they suing AT&T?

I can understand Apple, since they are making a phone that uses haptics so there's at least some link there.

WTF does AT&T make that infringes? The article (nor the story it links to) is silent about this other than stating that AT&T is being sued.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: Why are they suing AT&T?

The US Legal System allows anyone to sue anyone else often without reason.

So you (for example) have a car accident. Your lawyer is free (your deep pockets allowing) to sue each and everyong involved with building the car, all the components right down to the smallest nut and bolt use in a machine that was used to make the car and even the man/woman who cleans the toilets at the car factory. One big reason NEVER, EVER to sell anything to the USA even if you have product liability insurance.

[Franklin]

Re: Why are they suing AT&T?

Immersion has a patent on "sending control information for a haptic system over a network," IIRC.

[TRT]

Those are really broad embodiments...

for example the list of actuator types (rotational offset mass, linear sprung, polymorphic crystal or some other "smart" material) with somehow needlessly detailed stuff about how the API can be implemented (loaded in which byte order to specify amplitude, duration and frequency).

Much as Apple like to sue over broad patent infringements (swipe across a screen, have rounded corners etc), I have to say, I think these guys are firing warning shots over big company's bows. And the only profit to be made is in lawyerville.

[Trigonoceps occipitalis]

Re: Those are really broad embodiments...

There is a reason why patent agents get big bucks. My draft may, quite reasonably, say "Hit it with a hammer." This opens up the method of "Hit it with a mallet." As a result the process may be described "Give the part an impulse." Over-broad?

It beats having to fight:

Hit it with a shoe.

Hit it with a brick.

Hit it with a club.

Drop it on a hard surface.

etc.

I have a touching confidence that in the UK the judge could differentiate between reasonable differences in method and taking the Michael.