back to article Taiwanese uni sues Apple over FaceTime and QuickTime

A major Taiwanese university has sued Apple for a second time in a year, this time for infringing one of its patents related to video compression technology in FaceTime, QuickTime and other fruity software. The US Patent 7,561,078 refers to “an encoding system for a data set, particularly for a video data set”, as follows: …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Irony alert

    Levels exceeding maximum permitted tolerance.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Linux

      Re: Irony alert

      Seems that this couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of folks.

      Wait till they get sued for their ugly fake stitched leather effect - I'm sure someone in Taiwan already has a patent on that one.

      1. Neoc
        Coat

        Re: Irony alert

        So that'd make it "patent leather", right?

        Coat, now, yes.

  2. Steve Todd

    They may struggle with that one

    The application is dated 2007. H.264 (which QuickTime now uses and donated parts of its structure to the standard) dates back to 1998. Can you say "prior art"?

    1. sam bo
      FAIL

      Re: They may struggle with that one

      "Can you say "prior art"?

      since when has prior art counted in patent cases - can you say "rounded corners".

      1. Steve Todd
        Stop

        Re: They may struggle with that one

        1) learn the difference between a design patent (called a registered design in the EU) and a normal patent.

        2) Prior Art is regularly used to dismiss patent claims, even in East Texas.

        1. Daemon Byte

          Re: They may struggle with that one

          Because video is video and that's it? I'm not saying that prior art doesn't exist but just saying video existed before doesn't cut it. WAV files existed before mp3 or wma but does that mean the latter 2 are just copies and not worthy of protection? If quicktime and facetime started to use the patented technique in their videos after the patent was granted then they deserve this. If they used the technique before then I agree with you. Does anyone know the methods used by quicktime and when they started doing it?

          1. Steve Todd
            Stop

            Re: They may struggle with that one

            Because the h.264 standard, which is what QuickTime uses, predates the patent. H.264 is a block based protocol that uses various methods to encode frames that would seem to cover what this patent claims.

            1. sabroni Silver badge

              Re: They may struggle with that one

              Have none of you been watching Apple vs Samsung? Why would prior art be an issue?

  3. lglethal Silver badge
    Go

    Why do companies get to shop around?

    Can someone explain to me, why companies (or a university in this case) get to shop around to choose the most patent litigation friendly court they can find?

    Surely they should have to bring the case in either their own district or the district where the company they are attacking is headquartered? Ok some leeway could be given to have the court case in the area where the design, development, or manufacturing occurs, but just choosing a court which is seen as friendly but which has no specific connection with either firm seems ridiculous.

    If I was someone living in East texas, I would be very annoyed that so much court time and court resources are being used up by firms that are not located in the area and which arent paying tax in the area! Not to mention the fact you're made to look like tits by the judges in the area but thats another point entirely...

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Meh

      Re: Why do companies get to shop around?

      Then again, if you were living in east Texas, there's all those lawyers splurging on expenses in your hotels, strip bars, etc and busily funding a load of work for people in your court system with their legal fees. All paid for by companies who aren't based or subject to tax there.

      It's like taxing them, only more subtle and I suspect that one of the reasons for east Texas being patent litigant friendly is that they do very nicely out of it.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    i'm kind of hopeful that once the chinese / taiwanese accept

    the US patent and copyright system that they empty their coffers of the 4 trillion us dollars they hold and pay for every single ripped off design they ever made. as for the US for coming out with such an absurd system - you get what you deserve. it's a win / win.

  5. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Happy

    Prior Art

    The description of the method sounds very much like the way that we believe the brain processes visual objects. Observing the patent system at work is like watching a couple of two year-old boys fighting over a sweet that just fell into the cat's water bowl.

    1. stuff and nonesense

      Re: Prior Art

      Both facetime and quicktime use H.264. The first draft of the standards came out in 2003. This long predates the taiwanese patent claim.

      Incidentally, are they going to sue Sony for Blu Ray?

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