News - Apple granted patent for disappearing scroll bar and more

[Noxvayl]

I think the US Patent Office needs to be done away with, they are clearly unfit to provide patents because it seems like people can get patents equivalent to what velcro straps are compared to shoe laces.

Of course Apple are ridiculous with their litigation but that doesn't make providing those stupid patents in the first place ok, cut the crap at the source and then Apple won't have so many patents to use for litigation and we can move on from this mess.

... Cowon don't work on 64bit OS's, ...

My Cowon D2 worked on Windows Vista 64bit and is currently working on Windows 7 64bit, that includes the software they provide which is unnecessary.

[mike306dt]

What an epicly gay move. My only piece of Apple hardware must go!

[watercooled]

That patent website linked in the images is actually pretty shocking to read, not that I expected anything better from an official/fanboy website of course. At least some judges are starting to see sense.

[Biscuit]

Just to lighten the mood of the thread a little have a read of this:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/18/u...not-ipad-copy/

I posted,

'if i met that judge i would buy him a beer' and it has over 30 likes already A lot of people dont like apple!

[Brewster0101]

The person reviewing the patent application really should look at whats changed since the application was made .

He/She is too busy counting all the dollars in their bank account since Apple filled it up...

Do US Patents stand any ground outside the US ? I see in the UK the courts have sense, possibly other countries outside the US will have the same sense and make the stupid American Courts look like complete turd... Although we all know the US legal system is a complete joke at best.

[McPhee]

wonder what windows and metro thinks about this....

I expect Microsoft are loving every moment of this. Protection against litigation is part of Windows licensing - Apple can't sue manufacturers over Windows devices, they have to sue Microsoft. As yet, Apple have been focusing on Android, specifically OEMs with weak patent portfolios who can ill afford to defend themselves (the exception to this is Nokia, but Nokia sued first). They've left Microsoft, HP, RIM and others alone. From a MS standpoint, the hotter Apple make the Android water, the more appealing Windows-based platforms will seem.

[3dcandy]

I'd still love Samsung to just pull the rug on Apple and refuse to supply them...not going to happen but they'd have no cpu's for a while...

[watercooled]

Not entirely related, but does anyone have a clue what the heck the following patent regarding OpenCL is about? It seems ridiculously vague and AFAICT seems to describe parallel computing in general...
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patentl...ased-dock.html

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Supposedly,Apple help develop OpenCL.

[Biscuit]

Isnt open CL supposed to be... you know, open?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Isnt open CL supposed to be... you know, open?

Obviously,its Open to CLarification.

[watercooled]

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

""Picasso had a saying - 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.""

The same guy said both of those lines; have a guess who...

[McPhee]

I never get why people post those two quotes together like they're significant - they don't contradict each other. Apple protect their own ideas and technologies and shamelessly steal ideas and technologies where companies make no effort to protect them. The quotes say it. Their actions say it. The reason why things are the way they are is because Apple are the first tech company to fully exploit the patent process. They patent everything that they can come up with. If everyone had done that from the off then Apple wouldn't have been able to steal ideas (though patent law would likely have changed by now given it will inevitably stifle competition and innovation within the industry).

[watercooled]

"...come up with their own technology, not steal ours"
"...we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."

Not sure why you come to the conclusion they don't contradict.
Besides, they do still infringe on other companies patents.

I've not seen them quoted together before myself, I just read them on separate pages and laughed out loud, hypocrisy at its finest!

However, It's not like they only patent their own ideas, they frequently rip off existing technology/common sense/shapes/colours/etc, stick a patent on it because of the corrupt patent system then go about suing other companies who use it, even those who were using it before the patent existed!

So, you're blaming other companies for not being patent trolls, for why Apple is now a massive patent troll? Maybe other companies just had an ounce of decency about them, or at least thought they could profit without having to resort to corruption/bullying/legal nonsense on a massive scale?

[TooNice]

Do US Patents stand any ground outside the US ?

Not that I know of. As I understand patents are only recognised in the jurisdiction (country) it was approved in.

And therein lies my problem with Apple's actions - these aren't Apple innovations ... it's merely that while everyone else seems to have been content to just accept them as general, Apple runs to their friends in the USPTO and gets them patented. To me that's tantamount to stealing.

If that is how it works, then it is a HUGE flaw in the patent system. Is it not possible for a company to appeal to the patent office by showing a product that pre-dates the patent and have it revoked?

[Biscuit]

I never get why people post those two quotes together like they're significant - they don't contradict each other. Apple protect their own ideas and technologies and shamelessly steal ideas and technologies where companies make no effort to protect them. The quotes say it. Their actions say it. The reason why things are the way they are is because Apple are the first tech company to fully exploit the patent process. They patent everything that they can come up with. If everyone had done that from the off then Apple wouldn't have been able to steal ideas (though patent law would likely have changed by now given it will inevitably stifle competition and innovation within the industry).

It's almost like you think it's acceptable