[soh20]

Apple reportedly fired warning shots at handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing iPhone related intellectual property infringed.

Citing industry checks Oppenheimer's Yair Reiner writes that:

"Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple's way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.

"Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged."

Reiner says these warnings began over a year ago in January 2009 when Apple COO Tim Cook warned that "we will not stand for having our IP ripped off and we'll use whatever weapons we have at our disposal. I don't know that I can be more clear than that."

After that warning the major handset manufacturers stayed clear of multi-touch. The Palm Pre was an exception but it doesn't currently represent a strategic threat to Apple. However in late 2009 the Motorola Droid and the HTC Eris arrived.

"Top-tier handset makers continued to avoid implementing multi-touch, but Apple could safely assume that they were hanging back to gauge Apple's response to Motorola and HTC. If there wasn't one, the OEMs would likely read the silence as a green light, especially after Google also moved to enable multi-touch on its Nexus One phone.

It was likely in order to counter that perception that Apple began reaching out to handset OEMs in January and explaining in no uncertain terms that it was now ready to do battle–and not just on multi-touch. It was ready to press its case along a number of axes that had made the iPhone experience unique, from the interpretation of touch gestures, to object-oriented OS design, to the nuts and bolts of how hardware elements were built and configured."

Apple likely picked HTC to file suit against as a perfect proxy for Apple's real target, Google and Android. Reiner believes that even before the lawsuit, handset makers were having second thoughts about Android, especially after the launch of the Nexus One. Now their faith in Android as a counter to the iPhone has been shaken, says Reiner.

Interestingly this all may work out in favour of Microsoft who is getting ready to launch their much improved mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series.

"Our checks," writes Reiner, "indicate that Microsoft has been quick to sniff out this burgeoning opportunity and has begun to aggressively promote the strength of its own IP portfolio, as well as its willingness to join battle with customers that come under IP attack."

Read More




[via iclarified]

[x-bot]

[magicalpig]

I feel sometime in the future, we'll witness a big lawsuit filed by an association of rival phone manufacturers against Apple for bullying people like they do. Does it remind you of another big name in the computer world? Hmmmm....

[DaLsim]

This is the American way, sue each other for richess.
while the poor and jobless, dieing of hunger.
(A.I...)

[vampjake]

hmmm... monopoly's will always fall eventually, ussually when they get a big head.... Apple may be coming very close to that

[Caeze420]

I think Jobbs is just trying to do whatever he can to be as rich as Gates

[reznor9]

There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep what is yours for as long as possible... thats why patents are made. So generics and knock-offs cant get rich off your idea. Seriously how would you like to create something great, make a lot of money on it and then have everyone and their mother trying to imitate it and sell it cheaper? Now you have to sell yours cheaper or make yours even better... usually you have to do both to stay afloat... then the cycle repeats and they steal everything you did to make it better and put it into their knockoff... its frustrating... I can tell you from experience that it feels like crap.

[kaninglamig]

I think Apple is not filing a lawsuit to Motorola and HTC is because they are waiting for others to implement MultiTouch in their devices so Apple can knock them off in just one blow. the more the victim the more the money. nice job Jobs.

This post has been edited by kaninglamig: 19 March 2010 - 09:21 AM