Judge Says All Handhelds May Infringe on Patent

Ed Hardy · 08-21-2003, 11:19 PM

A federal judge has ruled that a E-Pass Technologies has a patent that covers essentially all handhelds. Therefore, the company will resume patent-infringement lawsuits against Palm, Microsoft, HP, and seems ready to file them against every company that makes a handheld.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/Al...inge_on_Patent

gfunkmagic · 08-22-2003, 12:58 AM

UGH!!!! I absolutely hate these kinds of lawsuits! This is another example of both the US patent System and the US legal system run amok IMO!

pixelator · 08-22-2003, 01:07 AM

Just another example of technology law being mishandled by a judge that doesn't fully comprehend what they're ruling on.

We see this more plainly because we're familiar with the subject and how the device that E-Pass patented bears very little resemblance to modern PDA devices. The Palm and WindowsCE based devices, and more recent mobile Linux offerings owe far more to the Apple Newton, which according to this article predates the E-Pass patent by one year.

This is indeed another example of lawyers seeing dollar signs and, more unfortunately, a federal judge who fails to grasp even the most obvious fundamental differences among these devices. Can you imagine how such ignorance must affect cases that rely on medical or other scientific evidence? And people wonder how the USA can legally execute people innocent of the crime charged...

PublicResponse · 08-22-2003, 05:06 AM

The decision was not that the E-pass patent "covers essentially all handhelds" as the article states in the first paragraph. Rather, the decision merely says that the claims of E-pass cannot be summarily dismissed on the basis of standard credit card dimensions. Instead, essentially the ordinary definition of "card" should be used in any new trial (I don't agree with this). Fortunately, I believe that this construction of the language is still not equivalent to any PDA currently on the market. There is no PDA on the market that can be properly characterized as a card. In fact, current PDAs are constructed to be able to accept cards such as secure digital cards and compact flash cards. The PDA is not the card. The claims of E-pass appear opportunistic and disingenuous. Their invention is exciting and useful; however, it is not equivalent to any current Pocket PC or Palm PDA. I believe and hope that PDAs and "electronic multi-function cards" will be distinguished. E-pass should focus their efforts on developing, promoting, and protecting their actual invention: an electronic _card_ to replace a bulky collection of credit cards and the like. I would hate to see PDA companies leave the market or to see prices rise because of greed and lawsuits. I wonder if E-pass has considered who their market is (hint: PDA users are definitely in there).

barjinder · 08-22-2003, 05:13 AM

Hi
This is great news. Protection of intellectual property is a must for the survival of our economy. A great tribute to the fairness and even handedness of the USA s judicial system whereby davids of this world are protected from the Gloiths.

barj

Beavis · 08-22-2003, 06:15 AM

What is a "Gloith"?

Timothy Rapson · 08-22-2003, 08:18 AM

It looks to me like this would not only patent a "new" device that is essentially a Apple Newton (which predates this "invention" as noted above) but also calculators and perhaps even laptops or scraps of paper which one might use to store credit card numbers.

This is as stupid as the graffitti lawsuit. Some ideas are so broad as to deny patending. This patent should either never been granted, or is should have been clearly narrowed to protect only the interest involved in a single product.

somas1 · 08-22-2003, 08:50 AM

"According to E-Pass, Microsoft had attempted to buy the rights to the patent for $10 million, but E-Pass refused."

I wonder who Microsoft was going to use this patent against

If you can't beat them with a better product, litigate.

barjinder · 08-22-2003, 09:18 AM

Hi
Here the crux of the matter is the copying of the Method as specified in the patent document this was accepted by the courts and Palm and others continued with the implementation of these in their design and development without due acknowledgement and agreement with the other party. They have alas become receipients of Grief.

imported_Duncan · 08-22-2003, 09:28 AM

Oh yes - the path to success - start a fight that will unite several of the world's largest companies against you...! For crying out loud is it any surprise that the US legal and patent systems are seen as the laughing stock of the world?