Palm, Apple posture over iPhone IP

Apple made it clear on its earnings call it won't tolerate any pilfering of its iPhone intellectual property. It was less direct, however, on who that is directed at.

But Palm, with its recently introduced Palm Pre, apparently is willing to play the game of corporate posturing, as well.

A Palm representative, according to an interview with AllThingsD, noted the company is comfortable with its innovation and has no problem defending its developments.

Said the Palm rep:

If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves.

Anyone want to keep watch on court filings at the Santa Clara County courthouse?

[The_happy_switcher]

Palm will get crushed by Apple's superior IP.

[Perry_Clease]

Leo will beg to differ :)

[wigmo]

Palm is still in business?

[chrisfrary]

Well considering Palm has had a "touch screen" much longer and probably more patents in this case I highly doubt Apple could win any litigation stemming from the Iphone and Pre.

[Markus2008]

It's not about the touch screen, it's about the interface...

[CyStarkman]

Palm would want to have to some cashed up allies.<br /><br />I doubt anything will come of it... yet. Apple would need to do a tear down of a Pre and see how Palm is doing its touch stuff and whatever else they reckon. So they will have to wait until market, or they find a way to steal one. Regardless, they wouldn't want to be taking action unless they really know its a breach. There is more than one way to touch a screen.<br /><br />Mind you, once Palm is fully stretched, rolling out, pushing the cash reserves on that, well that is the time to attack.<br /><br />I'd call Apple lame to attack, better to out innovate Palm, if they can keep up the pump

[random truth]

In case you don't know the iphones touchscreen is physically different than most touchscreens. Here is an article about it.<br />http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone2.htm<br /><br />That is what is copyrighted by apple. Since palm does not have any patents on new touchscreen tech then I can be fairly certain that this is where they are infringing.

[celticbrewer]

I'm sure in palm's hiding (ie wigmo's comment), that they didn't build a brand new product line that's going to make or break the company without considering IP issues. I'm sure they have all their ducks in a row and had already anticipated that Apple or someone else would pull this kind of nonsense.

[changehero]

How do you think Palm got its start, the old Newton technology they acquired. Apple's legal standing is very solid and Microsoft they want the Pre to begin cutting into Apple, however, with MS 5k in layoffs and Apple's 1.61 BILLION in first quarter profits, please, Apple has over 20 Billion in the bank in Cash, if there is a violation they will go after you.

[jypeterson]

Back up a bit here...Yeah, Palm has had touch screen technology for years, but what kind? They used pressure technology to read inputs, not capacitance which Apple employed as its tech of choice. Two different kinds of tech completely, and it doesn't matter if Palm has been using this in the past at all when it comes to Apple. <br /><br />Where it gets interesting is that Palm's choice of gestures to navigate Pre's interface. Remember, Apple patented the interface of the iPhone including certain gestures (as described and illustrated in their patent applications) as well as copyrighting the term "Multi-touch". Apple clearly discloses in their patents the pinch, double-tap zoom, swipe, and others directly as the center of many iphone related patents. <br /><br />It's not only the technological side of things but the way the data is interfaced that Apple has patented and what has made the iPhone so difficult to copy. No other phone company has even come close in emulating these features because Apple is known to protect its territory. <br /><br />Palm had better have done its homework on this one -- it may very well be its last product to market...

[AppleSuxLeo]

You are a moron. I`m glad you are not providing legal counsel. Did you know there is "more than one way to skin a cat". <br />Do you remember Jobs blabbing about Visual Voice Mail ? Well guess what ? Verizon has Visual Voice Mail...and it was developed by Alcatel-Lucent , NOT Apple.<br />The iPhone UI looks dated and laughable compared to the ease with which the Pre multi-tasks. The iPhone now actually looks like a "Dumb-Phone"<br />BONO is more recognizable around the world than Steve Jobs and he is one of the biggest backers through Elevation Partners. BONO-phone wins.

[seven7dust]

the real moron here is you leo<br />Visual voice mail was not patented by Apple and they never said so too !<br />they were the ones who first implemented it, so they took credit for it !<br /><br />if the Iphone Ui is so dated why is everyone trying to Copy it<br />BTW the Pre isn't even out yet !<br /><br />The palm UI borrows heavily from Apple, <br />the only thing they did themselves is the cards interface/notifications<br />Probably should be credited to Rubenstein and other ex-Apple employees <br />who r presently working at Palm {it's so Apple like}<br /><br />I'm sure Apple will refresh the IPhone soon with Multi-tasking etc<br />and the Palm phones will start to look lame again

[AppleSuxLeo]

Palm is using multitouch...actually "Super Duper" ten-finger multitouch developed by Cyprus Semiconductor. Read it and weep iPhone/Apple lovers :<br />One such implementation in Cypress demonstration is tracking different routes in-between locations within a GPS application. With one finger on the origin, and the thumb on the destination, a third finger can be used to touch different roads and highways to see real-time estimates of travel time. It will also be able to recognize the usual pinch-and-spread, rotate and zooming gestures, as seen on current devices.<br />http://precommunity.com/?p=350<br />I know how Apple likes to make up superlatives , so I made up the "Super-Duper" part ;)

[random truth]

Iphone can recognize 11 inputs. But then that brings up the question who wants to do that?

[AppleSuxLeo]

The bottom line is Apple is scared to death of this phone , and not just the multitouch. The whole Pre UI is brilliant and makes Apple`s UI look dated. The Pre multitasks effortlessly. OSX too fat to be used on a phone. Makes Jobs` claim about OSX on the iPhone look like a mistake now.<br />Also , the Pre has the fastest , most advanced CPU ever put into a phone , wireless charging , BT 2.1 , replaceable battery , much better feel in the hand as well as being fully capable of being used one-handed (ambidextrously)And if you read the comments on YouTube regarding the Pre , even iPhone users are saying the Pre is better.

[seven7dust]

yes the Pre might be better in features<br />but till it comes out, no one can really tell whether it's better or not !<br /><br />as of now the IPhone is still the best phone around<br />the App store with 15,000 apps <br />and the software thats years ahead of the competition<br />cannot be beaten by other phones so called superior features<br /><br />and Replaceable battery is a joke, the G1 has the same problem<br />the replaceable battery actually = lesser battery life<br />why? because it takes up more space for same capacity !<br />the G1's battery life is supposedly 1/3rd that of the IPhone according to Engadget !<br />and in all my years of cell phone usage <br />I've not seen a single person who actually carries a spare battery !

[scott2400]

Wonder if there's any truth to the rumor - that Leo is a disgruntled former Apple employee who's desperately trying to get a gig with Palm...

[jameskatt]

There are NO court papers at the Santa Clara Courthouse.<br /><br />There is NO argument between Apple and Palm.<br /><br />Apple is NOT suing Palm - unless Palm steals Apple's IP, which Palm has not, therefore Apple is NOT suing Palm.

[jameskatt]

Apple is NOT scared to death of the Pre.<br /><br />Apple is NOT scared to death about iPod competitors. Bring them on - so long as they don't steal Apple's IP.<br /><br />In the several years of iPod competitors, NONE has been an iPod killer.<br /><br />Similarly, in the years to come, iPhone competitors will come and go. And the iPhone will be the one remaining standing.<br /><br />There is a lot of room for smartphone competitors. The cell phone industry sells 1 billion phones a year and growing. Thus, for Apple to sell 17 million iPhones in 2 years is a drop in the bucket. There obviously is an enormous amount of room for everyone.<br /><br />The problem for Palm is that they are trying to play catch up to Apple, Nokia, Microsoft, and Android. Being fifth in line makes it difficult to compete. Thus Palm may still be dying.

[AppleSuxLeo]

News headline:<br />BONO-Phone sends Apple scrambling.

[getoutatown]

it seems it would be so much more cost effective if microsoft would just buy palm outright then do a deal with yahoo. imo if this could happen, palm would blow away apple and rimm

[AppleSuxLeo]

True , but MSFT would have to keep their paws off it or they would just screw it up. If they could keep Palm a separate entity and just provide cash ;)

[vmlenigma]

Palm lost it when it put Windblows Mobile on their devices and after that it was DOWN BABY DOWN