Apple, others sued for patent infringement

Apple is among 15 companies that have been slapped with a lawsuit by Actus. The company claims the defendants infringed on four of its patents.

The lawsuit, filed on May 26 in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, describes a method of using electronic tokens for e-commerce that Actus says the companies infringed on with their own systems. For example, the lawsuit claims that the Apple Store, iTunes, and the App Store all infringe on the Actus patents.

Actus claims four counts of infringement for e-commerce patents that were issued between February 2007 and May 2008.

Companies involved in the lawsuit include Amazon.com, Amdocs, American Express, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Cabela's, Citigroup, eBay, FirstView, Marketing Technology Concepts, NetSpend, OfficeMax, U.S. Bancorp, and ViVOtech.

Actus is seeking a permanent injunction against all of the companies preventing them from using the e-commerce technology, as well as monetary payments for damages.

[NickH]

See, I think if you sue 15 companies who have all independently come up with the same thing covered by your patent, it really does point to the fact that is was maybe fairly obvious in the first place.

[The_happy_switcher]

No, they are suing because they are alleging that those companies are making, selling and/or using their technology. The road to an issued patent usually entails overcoming obviousness rejections during the prosecution of the patent. Rest assured the defendants will probably ask for a reexamination of the patent--the cheapest and very effective way to challenge a patent lawsuit.

[Beezoo]

. . . and of course the suit was filed in the very same corrupt East Texas court where all frivolous patent infringement suits seem to originate. Yawn.

[myles taylor]

They're hoping these companies will settle. They don't really want to take on the legal teams of Apple, Amazon, B&N, Ebay, Best Buy, etc.

I find it interesting that Apple was the only one in the title. I guess they are the biggest target, given that iTunes has the biggest market and probably the biggest attention grabber so it will generate more clicks.

[Goodbye Helicopter]

no, apple is the biggest click-through driver for cnet.

[themrwhite]

Exactly

[shycelticwitch]

Apple is the "mention" because it is the company that stands to lose the most. "snark". LOL This would be like a gnat on a watermelon as far as Apple is concerned. A quick swat and it will be gone.

@Goodbye... nothing intelligent to say?

@themrwhite... agreeing with FUD?

[wigmo]

I have a patent on frivolous lawsuits. I'll be seeing Actus in court.

[nouser]

A) We have way too many lawyers.

B) This makes clear to all that our patent system is so badly broken.

C) What ever happened to going after those filing frivolous lawsuits.

[Michichael]

Weird, no comments are showing up. Anyway - big surprise. Nother random company trying to rip off the successes of others.

[Pete Bardo]

Interesting story, Jim, but absolutely no detail about the patents and no link for further information. At least it was a quick read.

[FellowConspirator]

The patents issued 6 and 7 years after the iTunes store went into production? Presumably the invention must predate the development and release. It really took 7 years to process the patent?

How about a link to the patents in question?

[lusciatti]

This will probably be the first and last time we hear anything about this. Should go away without any further notice by any of us!

[Understarsidream]

So tokens = dollars? I don't think so. Our patent system is so broken.

[The_happy_switcher]

These are the patents in the lawsuit. Nos. 7,328,189; 7,249,099; 7,177,838; and 7,376,621 . THe 838 patent claims a priority date of Jan 26, 2000. I don't know when iTunes first came out.

[scannall--2008]

As usual, if you can't innovate then litigate. Another fine example of why 'Loser pays.' is important. And with tech and medicine being so far above the average Joe, it's past time for professional jurors. People with knowledge of the science behind the issues of these lawsuits.

Did I mention that I have a patent on the air you breath!

Stop breathing now or I'll sue!

[MacSavers]

Electronic Tokens, as they have explained it here, have been in use since before the year 2000. For this company to claim a patent on technology already in wide spread use is deplorable. That's like me going and saying I invented the wheel and I want a patent on it so I can sue people.

If this ever finds the light of day in court and isn't thrown out, I'll be physically sick about our patent and judicial system.

[pentest]

Well MS patented an array of pointers and mapping a shorter name to a longer name(ie another pointer), just more evidence to use to completely revamp the patent process.

[The_happy_switcher]

The USPTO has a huge backlog of pending cases and they are underfunded and undermanned. Shoddy patents will continue to get through. Besides, they have an incentive to allow patents because they collect issue fees and maintenance fees for up to 11 years for those patents.

[sharmajunior]

What was this company waiting for all this time. I guess it got hit by the recession just now.