Apple侵害Nokia,Sony與MPEG LA聯盟專利

相對於蘋果以觸控使用者介面的專利威脅其他手機廠的方式，現在可以反過來對抗蘋果的專利則為更早以前的使用者介面專利

美國Delaware地方法院陪審團在上週作出蘋果iPhone侵害MobileMedia Ideas的三件專利，這間MobileMedia Ideas是由Nokia, Sony與MPEG LA合組的專利授權公司（可參考：http://enpan.blogspot.tw/2012/12/patent-monetization-entity.html）

updated on Dec. 18, 2012

這幾件專利最後都經讓與給「MOBILEMEDIA IDEAS LLC」，簡介如下：

US 6,070,068是一件Sony於2000年（申請日在1997年）獲得的美國專利，揭露一個通訊裝置，在打電話時，可以不用太多操作過程而能簡易地撥號與連線，這就是一般常用透過通訊錄預設好的聯絡人進行通話的技術，過程可能會顯示在裝置的螢幕上，但是就是不用太多的操作步驟。實施例如螢幕上會顯示出來電（可能是未接來電、插撥、多方通話），使用者可以自行設定處理來電的程序，使用者簡單點選來電的訊息而完成後續動作，包括回撥、斷線、多方通話等。

被判iPhone直接侵權的部份為此案的Claims 23, 24，這兩項為附屬項，其依附對象為Claim 17，內容大致為顯示來電的處理項目（如接起、斷線、多方通話），經選擇其一項目後，根據使用者設定進行後續步驟，附屬項細節界定每個來電都有對應的處理項目，並且顯示出來。在現在看來十分直覺的技術，在十多年前顯然都是具有新穎性、進步性的技術！

17. A communicating method for controlling a connecting state of a call into a desired connecting state upon a predetermined operation by a user, comprising the steps of:

displaying processing items available to the user relative to the call on a display;

selecting and determining a desired processing item out of said processing items displayed on said display by the user operating an input unit; and

controlling the processing items being displayed on said display and controlling the call into a connecting state corresponding to the processing item selected and determined by the operation of said input unit by the user, wherein said step of controlling the processing items includes displaying said processing items on said display when a predetermined selection operation is made by the user.

23. The communicating method according to claim 17, wherein

said step of controlling the processing items includes listing said processing items available to the call on said display for each call.

24. The communicating method according to claim 23, wherein

when a processing for one call is determined by said step of selecting and a processing for another call is naturally determined, said step of controlling said processing items includes listing only processing items available to said one call on said display.

US 6,253,075為Nokia於2001年獲准的專利，申請日在1998年，同樣是處理手機來電的技術，這件專利則著重在拒絕來電的方法，也就是讓使用手機的人可以自動根據設定（黑名單）拒絕特定對象的來電，當收到來電時，若符合黑名單，則對基地台發出訊息中斷通訊。其中被判蘋果直接侵權的項目為Claims 5, 6, 10，其中獨立項如下：

5. A method of rejecting an incoming call to a mobile phone, said mobile phone having a transceiver circuit for transmitting and receiving transmissions to and from a remote transceiver, said mobile phone in communication with a first calling station via the remote transceiver on a communication channel in a wireless system, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving at the mobile phone, a transmission from the remote transceiver signifying that there is an incoming call;

determining at the mobile phone if said incoming call is to be rejected; and

transmitting from the mobile phone a rejection message to the remote transceiver in response to a determination being made, during said step of determining, that said incoming call is to be rejected, said rejection message comprising at least one information element indicating to the wireless system that the wireless system is to immediately release the incoming call on the communication channel between the mobile phone and remote transceiver.

10. In a mobile communications device, apparatus for selectably rejecting an incoming call, said apparatus comprising:

a transceiver operable to send and receive transmissions to and from a remote transceiver in a wireless system on a communication channel, said transceiver for receiving a transmission signifying that an incoming call is being attempted; and

a control processor coupled to said transceiver, said control processor for determining if said incoming call is to be rejected, and, in response to a positive determination, said control processor for outputting a rejection message to said transceiver for transmission to said remote transceiver, wherein said rejection message comprises at least one information element indicating to the wireless system that the wireless system is to immediately release the incoming call on the communication channel between the mobile communications device and remote transceiver.

US 6,427,078是Nokia於2002年獲准的專利，申請日為1997年，是一個具有照相機的手機，專利內容主要是描述一個數據卡（data card），其中整合了照相元件，

被判直接侵權的項目為Claim 73，其中描述的手機有內建照相單元、讓使用者輸入操作的使用者介面、顯示拍照影像的顯示器、微處理器。權利範圍反映就是照相手機。
73. A portable cellular mobile phone comprising:

a built in camera unit for obtaining image information;

a user interface for enabling a user to input signals to operate the camera unit;

a display for presenting image information obtained by the camera unit;

a microprocessor adapted to control the operations of the camera unit in response to input signals from the user interface, and to process image information received by the camera unit; and

means, coupled to said microprocessor, for transmitting image information processed by said microprocessor to another location using a radio frequency channel;

and wherein the camera unit comprises:

optics for obtaining image information;

an image sensor for obtaining image information; and means for processing and for storing at least a portion of the image information obtained by the camera unit for later recall and processing.

以上專利的介紹可見一些"基礎"的手機技術，常見於各種手機功能上，有網站提到Nokia 7650（有照相功能）是在專利完成後5年後才出現。我想，這些專利也不是沒有其他先前技術（審查委員引用的前案也是長長一大串），或許Apple也可以對這些專利提出無效主張，但顯然是Apple難以迴避的前案。根據FOSS Patents文章表示，相關訴訟在另一法院也對hTC與RIM提出告訴。

陪審團簡易判決內容，顯示iPhone直接侵害上述共有6項範圍：
MobileMedia Ideas v Apple Verdict (Redacted)

Ron
資料來源：FOSS Patents