Huawei leads Asian domination of UN patent applications in 2018

GENEVA -- Chinese telecoms giant Huawei led the pack with Asia accounting for more than half of the international patent applications at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) last year, WIPO said on Tuesday.

Huawei, which has been under pressure since the United States demanded its allies bar Chinese vendors from participating in building 5G networks due to national security concerns, made 5,405 patent applications to the UN body, up from 4,024 in 2017.

"It’s an all-time record by anyone," WIPO director general Francis Gurry told a news conference.

WIPO oversees international treaties governing patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Its annual report on the applications it receives - a subset of all intellectual property filings globally - gives an early snapshot of the trends.

Asia-based filings accounted for 50.5 percent of the total applications received, Gurry said.

"Historically, this is really quite extraordinary," he said. "Historically, this is a momentous occasion, this is something that is really a very, very significant result."

The second-biggest user of the WIPO international patent system in 2018 was Mitsubishi Electric with 2,812 filings, followed by Intel with 2,499.

Although inventors in the United States filed more applications than in any other country, China looks set to take the top place this year or next, after a meteoric rise over the past quarter century.

Having filed only one patent application in the WIPO system in 1993, its applications overtook Japan's in 2017 and grew by a further 9.1 percent to 53,345 in 2018, while the number of US-based filings slipped 0.9 percent to 56,142.

Asia accounted for six of the top eight companies, with China's ZTE Corp and BOE Technology Group and South Korea's Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics also among the leaders.

China also jumped up the academic rankings, with four of its universities making the top ten list for the first time.

While the University of California remained well ahead among educational institutions, with 501 patent applications in 2018, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology was second, Shenzhen University and South China University of Technology leapt into third and fourth spot, just ahead of Harvard.

Gurry said Chinese universities benefited from an extremely strong emphasis on innovation and the commercialization of basic research, as well as access to the world's second largest national pool of research and development spending.

He said China had introduced an equivalent of the US Bayh-Dole Act, ensuring that patents taken out on government-sponsored research were being used, which may have had an influence on Chinese universities' attitude towards commercializing their research.

The WIPO report represents applications for patents, trademarks and designs that their owners feel are valuable enough to protect and promote in overseas markets. Another WIPO report, released in December includes millions of applications for IP protection that are never filed overseas.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China court bans iPhone sales in patent dispute: Qualcomm

WASHINGTON -- A Chinese court ordered a ban in the country on iPhone sales in a patent dispute, US chipmaking giant Qualcomm said Monday.

A Qualcomm statement said the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court had granted its request for 2 preliminary injunctions against 4 subsidiaries of Apple, ordering them to immediately to stop selling the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.

The move marked the latest in a long-running dispute over patents and royalties between the 2 California tech giants playing out in courts and administrative bodies worldwide.

"Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us. These court orders are further confirmation of the strength of Qualcomm's vast patent portfolio," said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm executive vice president and general counsel in Monday's statement.

The China case is based on patents which enable consumers to adjust and reformat the size and appearance of photographs, and to manage applications using a touchscreen, Qualcomm said.

An Apple statement to AFP called Qualcomm's effort a "desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world."

Apple added that Qualcomm "is asserting 3 patents they had never raised before, including one which has already been invalidated."

Apple said that "all iPhone models remain available for our customers in China," adding that "we will pursue all our legal options through the courts."

The Wall Street Journal said the order was issued November 30, and that iPhones remained on sale in the country. The court case does not affect the newest models, including the iPhone Xs and Xr.

The court action also comes amid a backdrop of increased trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and the arrest in Canada of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei at the request of US authorities.

Beijing has reacted angrily to the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, who faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran.

APPLE'S CHINA STRATEGY

China has been an important market for Apple in recent years since China Mobile agreed to begin distributing the smartphones in 2014, and a number of Apple stores are open in China.

Apple's most recent quarterly report showed it brought in some $11 billion -- around 18 percent of its total revenues -- from "Greater China," a region which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has made regular visits to China, and has touted the company's inroads in the Chinese market as well as its manufacturing there.

Qualcomm, the leading supplier of chips for mobile devices, has been in a prolonged legal battle with Apple in recent years.

Apple has claimed that Qualcomm is abusing its market power over certain mobile chipsets in order to demand unfair royalties, joining a string of antitrust actions against the chipmaker.

Qualcomm has countersued Apple and earlier this year escalated its legal fight, claiming the iPhone maker stole trade secrets and shared them with mobile chip rival Intel.

According to Qualcomm's US lawsuit, Apple's goal was to buy mobile chips from Intel instead of depending on Qualcomm.

Qualcomm is facing antitrust probes in South Korea, the European Union and the United States over its dominant position.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Jury orders Samsung to pay Apple $533 million in iPhone case

SAN JOSE, United States - A federal court jury on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years.

Jurors tacked on an additional $5 million in damages for a pair of patented functions. The award appeared to be a bit of a victory for Apple, which had argued in court that design was essential to the iPhone.

The case was sent back to the district court following a Supreme Court decision to revisit an earlier $400 million damage award. The jury essentially split the difference between Apple's request for $1 billion and Samsung’s argument for $28 million.

To arrive at a damages award of more than a half-billion dollars, jurors would likely have needed to buy into Apple's reasoning that design was so integral to the iPhone that it was essentially the "article of manufacture."

The lower figure sought by the South Korean consumer electronics titan would have involved treating the design features as components.

The jury had been asked to determine whether design features at issue in the case are worth all profit made from Samsung smartphones that copied them or whether those features are worth just a fraction because they are components.

"Samsung isn't saying it isn't required to pay profits," Samsung attorney John Quinn said during closing arguments on Friday.

"It is just saying it isn't required to pay profits on the whole phone."

Apple argued in court that the iPhone was a "bet-the-company" project at Apple and that design is as much the "article of manufacture" as the device itself.

The three design patents in the case apply to the shape of the iPhone's black screen with rounded edges and a bezel, and the rows of colorful icons displayed.

Samsung no longer sells the smartphone models at issue in the case.

Two utility patents also involved apply to "bounce-back" and "tap-to-zoom" functions.

The case dates back seven years. An original trial finding that Samsung violated Apple patents was followed by lengthy appellate dueling over whether design features such as rounded edges are worth all the money made from a phone.

TECHNOLOGY VS STYLE

Samsung challenged the legal precedent that requires the forfeiture of all profits from a product even if only a single design patent has been infringed.

The US Supreme Court in 2016 overturned the penalty imposed on the South Korean consumer electronics giant.

Justices ruled that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case back to a lower court.

The key question of the value of design patents rallied Samsung supporters in the tech sector, and Apple backers in the creative and design communities.

Samsung won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claiming a strict ruling on design infringement could lead to a surge in litigation.

Apple was supported by big names in fashion and manufacturing. Design professionals, researchers and academics, citing precedents like Coca-Cola's iconic soda bottle.

The case is one element of a $548 million penalty -- knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award -- Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone patents.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple-Samsung iPhone design copying case goes to jury

SAN JOSE - Jurors return to a Silicon Valley courtroom Monday to put a price on patented iPhone design features copied by Samsung in a legal case dating back 7 years.

Apple is seeking slightly more than a billion dollars in damages, while Samsung wants a figure closer to $28 million.

The jury has been asked to determine whether design features at issue in the case are worth all profit made from Samsung smartphones that copied them or whether those features are worth just a fraction because they are components.

"Samsung isn't saying it isn't required to pay profits," Samsung attorney John Quinn said during closing arguments on Friday.

"It is just saying it isn't required to pay profits on the whole phone."

The 3 design patents in the case apply to the shape of the iPhone's black screen with rounded edges and a bezel, and the rows of colorful icons displayed.

Samsung no longer sells the smartphone models at issue in the case.

Two utility patents also involved apply to "bounce-back" and "tap-to-zoom" functions.

"This is a case that is focused on design, and the application of design to smartphones," Apple attorney Joseph Mueller said in closing arguments.

When one company copies a rival's design, that "is not a level playing field, and that is just not right," he contended.

Apple argued in court that the iPhone was a "bet-the-company" project at Apple and that design is as much the "article of manufacture" as the device itself.

Apple attorney Bill Lee equated the notion to a carmaker copying the look of the Volkswagen Beetle and coming to market with a competing model.

Determining whether the design features qualify as the "article of manufacture" will be key to whether jurors award the profit from all the Samsung phones involved, according to legal standards presented by the court.

The case dates back 7 years. An original trial finding that Samsung violated Apple patents was followed by lengthy appellate dueling over whether design features such as rounded edges are worth all the money made from a phone.

TECHNOLOGY VS STYLE

Samsung, which had been ordered to pay $400 million, challenged the legal precedent that requires the forfeiture of all profits from a product even if only a single design patent has been infringed.

The US Supreme Court in 2016 overturned the $400 million patent infringement penalty imposed on the South Korean consumer electronics giant.

Justices ruled that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case back to a lower court.

The ruling found that the penalty -- one element of a major patent infringement case -- was inappropriate because it represented "Samsung's entire profit from the sale of its infringing smartphones" for copying the iPhone's "rectangular front face with rounded edges and a grid of colorful icons on a black screen."

The key question of the value of design patents rallied Samsung supporters in the tech sector, and Apple backers in the creative and design communities.

Samsung won the backing of major Silicon Valley and other IT sector giants, including Google, Facebook, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, claiming a strict ruling on design infringement could lead to a surge in litigation.

Apple was supported by big names in fashion and manufacturing. Design professionals, researchers and academics, citing precedents like Coca-Cola's iconic soda bottle.

The Supreme Court stopped short of delving into details of how the lower court should determine how much phone design components are worth when it comes to patent infringement violations.

Presiding US District Court Judge Lucy Koh gave jurors in her San Jose courtroom a four-factor test to determine an "article of manufacture," but it is up to the panel to decide how the evidence fits that framework.

The case is one element of a $548 million penalty -- knocked down from an original $1 billion jury award -- Samsung was ordered to pay for copying iPhone patents.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nokia, Apple bury hatchet in patent dispute

HELSINKI - Nokia and Apple said Tuesday they were burying the hatchet in a bitter patent dispute with a cooperation agreement and an undisclosed cash payment by the US tech giant to the Finnish group.

By settling their ongoing intellectual property dispute, the two companies would "move the relationship... from being adversaries in court to business partners," Nokia's chief legal officer Maria Varsellona said.

Following years of clashes, Nokia and Apple originally signed a licensing agreement in 2011.

But last December, the Finnish group, once the world's top mobile phone maker, complained that Apple was using Nokia technology in many products without paying for it.

And it filed lawsuits in Germany and in the United States.

Concretely, the dispute concerned 32 patents for innovations related to displays, user interface, software, antennae, chipsets and video coding.

The deal reached on Tuesday would put the two companies' relationship back on an even keel, with Nokia providing "certain network infrastructure products and services to Apple," the statement said.

Apple would "resume carrying Nokia digital health products (formerly under the Withings brand) in Apple retail and online stores, and Apple and Nokia are exploring future collaboration in digital health initiatives," it continued.

"Regular summits between top Nokia and Apple executives will ensure that the relationship works effectively and to the benefit of both parties and their customers."

Apple's chief operating officer Jeff Williams said the US giant was "pleased with this resolution of our dispute and we look forward to expanding our business relationship with Nokia."

The two sides did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

But Nokia would receive "additional revenues during the term of the agreement," the Finnish group said.

The up-front cash payment would allow Nokia to "provide a comprehensive update of its capital structure optimization program," a restructuring plan launched in late 2015, which may now be lighter thanks to the payment by Apple.

Nokia's shares were showing a gain of more than seven percent stake on the Helsinki Stock Exchange at around 1000 GMT (6 a.m. in Manila), while the overall market was up by just 0.8 percent.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nokia vs Apple: US to probe patent complaint

WASHINGTON - The US International Trade Commission said on Tuesday it would investigate a complaint by Nokia Technologies alleging that Apple Inc. has imported smart phones, tablet computers and other electronics that infringe upon its patents.

The USITC said in a statement it had not yet made any decision on the merits of the case by the Finland-based Nokia Corp. unit, which is seeking a cease and desist order and a limited exclusion order in the case.

source: news.abs-cbn.com