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Apple nicked my idea

Inventor sues over Iphone Web browsing
Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 08:41

SELF-PROCLAIMED innovator, Apple has been accused of nicking ideas from an inventor who claims he patented Iphone-like mobile Web surfing long before Steve Jobs.

Elliot Gottfurcht, filed suit against Jobs' Mob in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the Tyler Division. His company, EMG was awarded US Patent number 7,441,196 in October after filing its patent application in March 2006.

The patent covers the ability of a Web site to reformat itself to the size of the screen trying to access that site.

Gibson said in a press release announcing the lawsuit that his patent covers the display of Internet content reformatted from HTML to XML on mobile devices – the industry standard currently displayed by the Iphone.

To be fair to Apple, lots of companies have similar technology in the market, although EMG says the patent also covers "the technology for manipulating a region of the screen for zooming and scrolling."

We guess that Gibson is going for the high-profile Iphone first and will come to an arrangement with the other companies if he wins.

Of course Apple fanboys will dub Gibson a Patent Troll and insist that Steve Jobs thought of everything before everyone else. But they are a bit like Mr "Everything Comes From India" from the British comedy show Goodness Gracious Me... "The Atom Bomb? Apple invented that. That winning goal in the 1966 World Cup? That was Steve Jobs. µ
L'Inq
CNET

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Comments
Must have misread

Who is Gibson and what does he have to do with Elliot Gottfurcht ?
Is Elliot the holder of patent rights or not ?
What does this Gibson entity have to do in this business ?
Why is Gibson announcing the lawsuit ? Is he a lawyer ?

A bit confusing there, could you please clear that up ?

posted by : Pascal Monett, 25 November 2008 Complain about this comment
WHAT?

So this guy if he wins would own every phone browser out there. I love it when this happens. Some guy somewhere has a patent that is doing absolutely nothing. Waits a few years, and then goes on a patent killing spree. So let me get this strait, he patented the the means in which HTML gets converted to XML on a display? How can you do that when you don't own a browser or the device? yeah you can patent an idea, but if your not in control of how the browser handles the information or the phone itself, how can you say you own the way it would work? That's like saying I can patent the way and engine combusts fuel, while not having a patent on the engine or the fuel. I hope this guy loses.

posted by : Dj Phat, 25 November 2008 Complain about this comment
Hold-up, Guv. The Royal Navy invented the bailout!

EMG - as in Elliot my god!
I hope he gets Gotfuchted!
According to his patent,
"wherein the simplified navigation interface is not presented through a standard web browser."
Now who's going on Safari, innit?
Isn't he the real estate hound, still trying to collect from the Tower of Babel, and cuneiform characters for writing?
Now really, were we not adequately apprised of our present future by Chester Gould and Dick Tracy?
I acquiesce to The Beatles:

Here come old flattop he come grooving up slowly
Got to be a joker he just do what he please

He say "i know you, you know me"

He bag production he got walrus gumboot

He roller-coaster he got early warning
He got muddy water he one mojo filter
He say "one and one and one is three"
Got to be good-looking 'cause he's so hard to see

posted by : Job S. Plenty, 26 November 2008 Complain about this comment
Patent Troll

I'm no Apple fanboi but I'm still gonna call Patent Troll. Come on - his idea is basically to reformat a website so it's usable on a small screen. All this does is highlight the problems with the US patent system, the actual court case is inconsequential - he will never win.

posted by : Blackberry Fan, 26 November 2008 Complain about this comment
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