Google Found Guilty in SimpleAir Patent Case
Jan 21, 2014, 4:40 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Google has been found guilty of infringing on a patent held by SimpleAir. The verdict, reached by a federal jury on January 18, was announced today by SimpleAir. The patent in question pertains to push notification technology found in the Google Cloud Messaging and Android Cloud to Device Messaging services, which are encompassed within Android smartphones and tablets. The notifications covered apps such as Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. Google was found guilty on all five claims made by SimpleAir. Further, the patent itself was found to be valid by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The jury could not agree on damages, so a separate trial will be held to determine how much money Google owes SimpleAir. SimpleAir said it is seeking $125 million. The trial took place in Texas.
Comments
Patent Trolls Unite!!!!
But the shadiness of the texas illegal system notwithstanding, this is the perfect example of patent trolls...
"A system and method for data communication connecting on-line networks with on-line and off-line computers. The present system provides for broadcast of up to the minute notification centric information thereby providing an instant call to action for users who are provided with the ability to instantaneously retrieve further detailed information. The notification centric portions of information is wirelessly broadcast to wireless receiving devices which are attached to computing devices. Upon receipt of the information at the persona...
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Of course, consider it from the position of the small business - they probably went through a big brainstorming and development process to come up with this kind of "PA system" for computing devices. (unless they just ripped the idea off...
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