General Patent attacks Apple…again

Patent lawsuits are more common these days than…uh, pre-approved credit card mailers. (Sorry. Looked around my desk and couldn’t find anything else. And people say writing is easy. As if.)

Apple is again being slapped by a “some thing that does some stuff” patent suit, this time by Minerva Industries, a company just granted a patent for a “mobile entertainment and communication device” that has “a cellular or satellite telephone capable of wireless communication with the internet.”

Ah. Huh. Minerva is also suing AT&T and 31 other tech/cell companies, claiming all of them sell/produce devices that infringe on their patent. Their patent that covers entertainment gadgets that connect to cell networks. Experts believe the patent is too broad and will be shot down in court…but c’mon: Doesn’t anyone check this stuff beforehand?

That’s it. I’m filing a patent for “any device that accepts any input, produces any output, or requires power to function,” and then I’m going to sue every tech company, engineer, and electronics student in the country until I’m rich enough to buy Hawaii. And if you’ve got a problem with that…well, take it to the USPTO. They obviously know what they’re doing.

[via Macworld UK]

Category: AT&T, News

Posted by Dan Pourhadi on Jan 30 2008, 6:03 PM ET

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