Samsung v. Apple Patent Litigation

Samsung and Apple have been at war for quite some time. At first it started out over just a few patents in the United States with Apple suing Samsung over infringement in their smartphones. This then led Samsung to sue Apple for their violation of patents. All told there was over 50 lawsuits around the globe including more than 10 countries and their patent offices. The main idea behind these patent wars was that smartphones were developing at such a high rate of speed so to keep up they might accidentally borrow from each other since it was high profitable to do so at the time to continue growing their market share in smart phones. Apple started it's suit after the iPhone came out in 2007 and claimed that Samsung had used their GUI graphical user interface as their own intellectual property when there was a patent filed before the release of the phone. However, it was seen later that these images had been tampered with to make the dimensions seem smaller and Samsung accused Apple of submitting misleading evidence to the court. Eventually, Samsung countersued because of evidence showing Apple taking their patented technology. All told, Apple won in the United States while Samsung won in South Korea and the UK. 

The Process from Sippy Cup to Thermal Cup with Insulator Sleeve

Insulating Sleeve and Insulator Sleeve for a Beverage Container

As a 3 unit student, I will be delving into the obviousness and anticipation of each respective patent. Let's start first with the anticipation for the insulator sleeve for a beverage container. Since the insulator sleeve was patented after the insulating sleeve, it can be rightfully followed that someone got inspiration for their invention from the original insulating sleeve. Now, this could have been fully anticipated and I believe it was because in the description and background of the Insulating Sleeve we see that it mentions coffee as something that was the inspiration. Coincidentally, the insulator sleeve for a beverage container also mentions coffee specifically as the beverage that it would likely be used on. For obviousness, we will be looking at the insulating sleeve. To be obvious, it needs to be something so apparent to a master in the field. The insulating sleeve is not obvious because it poses potential to create a market to be sold and improve the livelihoods of people by preventing burns and hypothermia. The claim explains how the sleeve works and how it would be attached to the cup or circular device. Overall, I believe that the insulator sleeve for a beverage was completely anticipated but the insulating sleeve is non-obvious because it provides a benefit to society that wasn't apparent before. 

Anticipation and Obviousness in Cup Sleeves

When looking at all of these patents, it is hard to not come to the conclusion that many of these patents could have been covered by one or that they might even infringe on each other. However, they do not infringe upon each other otherwise the patent would not have passed the inspector. In my opinion, many of these had to be anticipated by someone prior. For example, US Patent 6343735 B1 which is the insulating sleeve was created in the year 2000 but covers nearly all of the later patents. An insulating sleeve should insulate from both hot and cold beverages. However, we see that just a year ago this patent was approved regarding a specific hot and cold beverage sleeve. Also, the protective sleeve takes the insulating sleeve and replicates it only switching the verbs in my opinion. An insulating sleeve should also be a protective sleeve if it functions properly. The obviousness in that is quite clear to me however, to others it might not be an obvious extension. Overall, these patents seem too eerily similar to me to pass an inspector who is certified in this yet they all became patents to be filed and kept for 20 years. 

Cup Insulation Discussion of Patents

All of these patents are highly interrelated in function and design. The eldest of the patents is the thermal coffee cup. This coffee cup was patented in 1948 with just one claim. The claim is quite short in comparison to the others because it is a basic first version of the thermal cup which details the design of the cup and how it maintains heat. Next, we have the patent for the sleeve construction for improved paperboard cup insulation. This invention details the need for a sleeve around the container of the beverage and how it will work with the grooves in the sleeve to tightly grip the cup as to not fall off while also insinuating how it is to be constructed. The third oldest priority date goes to the insulating sleeve. Insulating sleeves are used specifically for hot beverages as explained in the patent and includes detailed art about how the sleeve grabs onto the sidewall of the cup and protects the user from the heat of the drink. Next on the list is the insulator sleeve for a beverage container which seems oddly similar to the first except that it takes the first inventions and adds on more layers. Technical designs show the dynamics of the sleeve itself and gets down to the dimensions of it all. Our next up is the beverage cup sleeving system and method. Basically, this patent is all about how the sleeving should be done and exactly the system and methodology behind it. The protective sleeve is next where it goes into detail about a protective sleeve around a beverage which might not necessarily be to protect against hot beverages or not. Second to last, we have the temperature indicating sleeve and related container which is about a sleeve that indicates the temperature so it takes the original hot sleeve and improves upon that by adding the indicator. Finally, we have the Hot and Cold Cup Sleeve which can be seen as yet another one upping of the old fashioned sleeve where this not only protects from hot but also the cold, it was recently filed in 2014 which seems remarkable that it was not done sooner. 

US 8046721

US 8046721

This patent is about the feature of unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image. The primary effect of this is the slide to unlock patent where Apple patented the ability to slide your finger along the bottom of the screen to unlock your phone and grant access to all of its capabilities. All of the diagrams detail extensively how the apparatus works. From left to right, you would slide your finger to unlock the phone. But the screen will notice your touch and thus correlate it correctly with the unlocking motion. Each device is then connected to another until you reach the computing power where it takes in all the information and allows the user to unlock their phone via touch. There are far too detailed explanations of each drawing which takes up most of the patent space - drawings and explanation of the drawing. Claim #1 gets into the method of unlocking a hand held electronic device. This encompasses an example of how one needs continuous contact with the device to slide their finger completely across the screen in order to successfully unlock the device. 

10 different predictions that were WRONG

10 different predictions that were WRONG

1. The New York Times said that "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." This is a prime example of an incorrect prediction because we now have put men on the moon and are trying to send a manned mission to Mars.
2. The Quarterly Review said that " What can be more palpably absurd than the prospect held out of locomotives traveling twice as fast as stagecoaches?" This was at the start of the Industrial Revolution so it makes sense that they were confused but now it is nearly impossible to find a stagecoach.
3. Steve Ballmer said "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share." Look at the market today, the iPhone is in the lead by quite a margin and is offered by nearly every carrier despite it's lack of durability.
4. C.P. Scott said " Television? The word is half Latin and half Greek. No good can come of it." Funny quote but clearly some good has come of it because Americans are hooked to it. From television to movies, people love getting their fix of altered reality. 
5. John Langford said "Democracy will be dead by 1950." To this day there are many democracies and dictators are slowly on their way out of power because of the systemic issue of the lower classes rising up demanding rights like their neighbors. 
6. A Boston newspaper said "Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires as may be done with dots and dashes of Morse code, and that, were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value." Essentially, the paper couldn't image human voice being carried through wires though now we have telephones, radio, and television.
7. Robert Millikan said "No "scientific bad boy" ever will be able to blow up the world by releasing atomic energy." Now we see that atomic bombs were deployed during the second World War in Japan. Atomic bombs are real threats because of the massive human casualties.
8. Guglielmo Marconi, a pioneer of radio, stated "The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible, because it will make war ridiculous." However, it made war even more dangerous with people able to plan out their attacks from far away and make it a logistics nightmare. 
9. A naval officer stated that "I do not myself think that any civilized nation will torpedo unarmed and defenceless merchant ships." However, this happened during World War II as well as not just torpedo but the atom bomb was deployed on Japanese civilians.
10. Albert Michelson said "The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered" in 1903. Now we have made many advances in physical science like the discovery that space is expanding between galaxies etc. 

10 Predictions that were WRONG

Chinese Economy

10 Inventions

10 Predictions that were WRONG and why they are interesting (from class)

1. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." – Western Union internal memo, 1876"  - this prediction is of great interest to me because of how the telephone has revolutionized our world. Nowadays we are all connected through social interaction which primarily stems from cellular phones.

2. "Reagan doesn't have that presidential look." – United Artists executive after rejecting Reagan as lead in the 1964 film The Best Man - this one made me laugh because some people see Ronald Reagan as the epitome of the presidential look and vibe. Thus, pretty funny how he was turned down to play role as president when he actually became president. 

3. "Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." – Dr. Dionysius Lardner, 1830 - nowadays high speed travel is more than possible with people surviving at speeds of 120 mph or higher. Lardner here didn't think to account for airtight cabins with pressurization to allow passengers to breathe. 

4. "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 - this prediction is amusing because as the chair of IBM a computer company that sells millions of computers today once mentioned that only 5 would be used worldwide. Amazing what scaling has done. 

5. "X-rays will prove to be a hoax." – Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883 This one is pretty good because how could X-rays be a hoax if they can actually see into the bones and discover what is wrong inside without having to break skin. X-rays are now a part of modern science and necessary for many procedures. 

6. "Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognize it as a conspicuous failure." – -Henry Morton, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, on Edison's light bulb, 1880. The light bulb, in my opinion, is one of the most important technological advances in history. Morton thought it was a failure but if he were alive today I think he would be amazed at its transformation of human life. 

7. "The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad." – -The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903. How ironic. The horse is was long gone a mere 50 years after this quote and investing in Ford would have been an amazing investment. Now traffic is so intense at peak hours there is no movement.

8. "Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." – -Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946. Today the average American watches about an hour or more each day so clearly, not many people have gotten too tired of "staring at a plywood box every night.". 

9. "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." – -Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), in a talk given to a 1977 World Future Society meeting in Boston. I am doing this assignment on my own personal computer which goes to show the revolution of the personal computer. 

10. "If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one." – -W.C. Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954. This is sad but true that smoking has extremely negative effects on those who smoke as well as those around can also get lung cancer. Many have died due to excessive smoking since it is an addictive drug. 

These are my 10 predictions that were wrong and why they are interesting regarding the fact that they were proven wrong and each has it's own social impact. Thanks. 

Links to Videos Week 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJtI3j0Z8k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYr03RLv_Wk 

Updated top 10 inventions

Internet: }The internet spawned a revolution and a multitude of technological advances by increasing the productivity and efficiency of workers worldwide. Furthermore, the internet is something used for entertainment and creativity which still spawns innovation and sites that revolutionize our world.

Light bulb: }The light bulb allowed for an inherent change in the way that work is done. Now, we can work any time of the day so long as there is electricity and the proper outlets. By extending the amount of time we can work, people are more productive and have enhanced the quality of life for everyone by allowing for nighttime activities.

Telephones: }Telephones have allowed for more inter-connectivity between people, businesses, and nations. Speed between trade and interactions increased exponentially.

Sewage: }Sewage and bathrooms are something that we have become all too accustomed to. However, there are still many countries that only have outhouses far away from their homes because of how diseases can be spread through fecal matter. The amount of fecal matter that is pumped out of cities is jaw dropping and how efficient the system is in flushing it out.

Airplanes: }Increased the speed of travel and business worldwide by connected airports and shipping lines. Airplanes have created a more interconnected world and thus shipping has gone from months to mere days or hours to get a package from the other side of the world.

Antibiotics/Vaccinations: }Antibiotics and vaccinations have been highly important in changing the quality of life for people around the globe. With vaccinations, diseases that used to spread like wildfire around the world are now nearly extinct. This has allowed for the human race to extend our length of life thus making us more productive and be safe from something as dangerous as a cut.

Email: }Email has allowed for people to keep conversations with others no matter their location so long as they have internet connectivity. Businesses have adapted to use it as a circulatory agent within and outside of the firm.

Automobiles: }Cars have changed the way we get from place to place more locally though allowing speedy highways to be built and increase worker productivity through faster transportation. People can work where they want and commute which has created suburbs surrounding major cities.

Refrigeration: }Personally, I am not too sure I would survive well without refrigeration and freezing. Refrigeration is highly fundamental today to preserve food for long duration of time. Instead of picking a fruit and eating it the same day, one can now freeze it to be eaten in a year or refrigerate it for a week or so allowing for more trade and the ability to preserve foreign foods.

Printing Press: }The printing press has enabled society as a whole to make a great leap forwards by increasing literacy. Literacy is one of the basics to allow for a well-educated public which could then go onto innovate the rest of this series. 

Chinese Economy

Another area of interest of mine is in the Chinese economy. I am currently in Economics 162 which is a study of the Chinese economy and how it went through the developments under Mao’s communism with many changes to erupt into today’s mega economy. What is interesting about China is that their patent laws aren't as strict as they are in the United States from what I can tell from my professor in that class. He mentioned a time when he saw what looked like a Porsche from 100 feet away but then when he got closer it was obviously a replica of the real deal. Many lawsuits are being held in China over patent infringement but it is hard to seek repayment because the Chinese can make so much money off of it in such short time that it is worth it for them to blatantly copy designs from well-known companies. Patents are essential in today’s society but right now China is still growing strong so I am curious as to see when China will start cracking down on that criminal activity and start their own entrepreneurial ventures.  Also, since you have to file a patent in each country you operate in, is it common for companies to not include China because of this lack of protection? Overall, China’s economy is very interesting to me because of how they transitioned from a planned economy into a more market type economy today yet still are slow to adopt traditional patent laws.