According to multiple news reports, Microsoft has just agreed to license multiple smartphone-related patents (74 in all, according to the Wall Street Journal), including those involving technology created by Palm.

In fact, the Palm technology is being licensed to Microsoft not by Palm or HP but by Access Co., Ltd., the Japanese company that owns the rights to PalmOS after having acquired Palm spin-off company PalmSource in 2005. (Access’ independence from Palm is notably clear in its having recently developed and marketed Graffiti handwriting technology for Android phones, as we reported in July.)

Microsoft’s new licenses from Access, together with others obtained as part of the same deal from Acacia Research Corporation, may help Microsoft avoid or fight some of the ongoing smartphone-related patent suits being crossfiled all over the world. It is not clear, though, what implications this move by Microsoft may have for Palm itself. It is possible that, under the terms of the licenses and/or because of the original Palm/Palmsource relationship, Microsoft might be less likely or able to bring smartphone patent claims against Palm, and vice versa. It’s certainly a safe bet, though, that Palm retains its own rights to use PalmSource-derived technology now owned by Access, regardless of the Microsoft deal. (PalmSource’s patents can be seen on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office here.)

Sources: Wall Street Journal; InformationWeek (Thanks to Brian for the tip!)

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Update: some digging by our own Jonathan Ezor and tha2nddunn in the comments reveals that this patent is actually just a continuation of a patent originally filed way back in 2001 under patent # 7054659, which means it predates the Foleo and, well, plenty of other gadgets. So while it’s likely not a harbinger of things to come, it’s at least yet another example of Palm’s massive patent portfolio.

—

If there’s one thing that we always want to have made simpler, it’s hooking up our computers to our phones. While Mobile Hotspot is plenty easy, there’s still more than a few steps to set it up and make the magic happen, not to mention all you’re doing there is sharing your cellular connection, but not any actual data. That’s where Palm’s freshly-filed patent for “Compact removable voice handset for an integrated portable computer system/mobile phone” comes in. It takes the ill-fated Folio concept to a whole new level by turning the pre-netbook into a dock for the phone that acts as an input device, larger screen, and other magical things. The patent notes that while the connection is decidedly physical, the phone and computer could also communicate wirelessly.

It’s also worth noting that this patent does not envision a smartphone-type device, instead a fairly basic phone that for making calls, while the netbookish half of the combination is used for heavy productivity lifting. It’s exciting to see that the Folio (a great concept, with flawed execution like so many mid-2000’s Palm products) isn’t completely dead in the minds at Palm. All-in-all, an interesting patent is we must say so ourselves – what application do you all see for this kind of system?

Via: Engadget, Unwired View; Source: USPTO

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

There’s no question that Palm has had a long and storied past in the PDA and smartphone market, and they have quite the patent portfolio to back that up.  Tech blog Technologizer has put together something of a slide show that showcases some of Palm’s hardware patents that never quite made it into production.  The 11 patents examined range from being before their time such a patent that covers video conferencing with a front facing camera awarded in 2002, to downright bizarre patent covering a candy bar style phone with a fold-out screen that was awarded back in 2001. 

[via PalmInfocenter]

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Through all of the recent talk and rumor surrounding what might come next for Palm, one constant theme has been the value of the company’s intellectual property, holdings that are by themselves worth between $8 to $9 per share according to MDB Capital Group.

There has been talk that perhaps the market has been undervaluing Palm’s massive patent holdings, but if the company’s IP portfolio is as potent as some of these analysts think is, a recent article posted on ars technica poses an interesting question: why hasn’t Palm done everything in its power to leverage that IP though lawsuits and licensing agreements to keep cash flowing into its coffers? The answer could, of course, be a simple matter of business practice, in which case Palm has been carelessly leaving money sitting on the table for quite a while now.  The answer could also be that the company’s massive war chest of patents has less relevance than we’d like to think. 

Thanks to govotsos for the tip!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

As they say with patent lawsuits, you throw everything you’ve got at all the defendants you can find and see what sticks. Today we’ve got defunct chip maker MicroUnity (stopped making chips more than a decade ago) leveling a patent lawsuit against twenty-two companies [pdf] involved in the mobile tech industry. MicroUnity is targeting Acer, Apple, AT&T, Cellco, Exedea, Google, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sprint, and Texas Instruments in the suit. The allegation is that all of these companies (and some of their subsidiaries) are involved in the production, sale, and/or marketing of MicroUnity patent-infringing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon or Texas Instruments’ OMAP-3 and OMAP-4 processors.

In our case, the Palm Pre and Pre Plus use the TI OMAP 3430 processor and is sold and marketed by Sprint (as well as Verizon, Bell, O2, and Telcel, but they apparently don’t matter). We would say that there’s likely little to worry about as far as Palm and Sprint are concerned – Texas Instruments is the one infringing on patents here, Palm only bought the chips.

Even though MicroUnity stopped making chips more than ten years ago, they still have a hefty patent portfolio that they’ve leveraged in the past. In 2005 Intel settled a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by MicroUnity to the tune of $300 million. At the time, MicroUnity had a grand total of eight employees. We won’t call them patent trolls, but we will at least point out that MicroUnity also has pending lawsuits against a number of other tech companies, including Intel (again), AMD, Sony, and Dell.

[via: EETimes]

Thanks to Lemstil for the tip!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Thanks to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s rule that patents are made public 18 months after filing, we can now see Palm’s September 16, 2008 application for a patent for “Orientation Based Control of Mobile Device,” which shows some interesting near-future possibilities for both features and lawsuits.

While admittedly written in somewhat difficult-to-follow language (as patents generally are), the application describes ways to control non-navigation features of a smartphone or other mobile device based on its orientation, but also potentially on the context (location, date and time, nearby devices, etc.). Some of the examples given in the application include a universal remote control program which figures out the nearest device and controls it when pointed at it; a theme park program that displays a map when the smartphone is placed face up on a flat surface; downloading a file automatically when the phone is pointed at a sign at a conference, and so on.

For those who may be interested in what else Palm could have brewing on the patent front, Palm’s current U.S. patent applications can be viewed here and its issued patents here.

via gorumors, Thanks Arnad!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Over at sister-site The iPhone Blog, Rene Ritchie notes that a patent fight between Nokia and Apple has just reached a new level. Nokia started it, but it looks like Apple intends to finish it:

[Apple filed] a counter-suit which says Nokia is copying the iPhone interface. Says Bruce Sewell, Apple SVP and General Counsel: Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours”

Ouch. Over at Nokia Experts, Matthew Miller notes that Nokia’s been in the phone game much longer and probably has quite the stockpile of patents to sling back at Apple.

Another company with a long history in smartphones and presumably a large stockpile of patents: Palm. We’ve noted before that there has been some saber-rattling from both Palm and Apple when it comes to patents. Thankfully, nothing has come of it (yet), but if it does, we can only assume that it would reach a level of ugliness on par with this Nokia/Apple dispute. Count us in as hoping it doesn’t come to that.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Say you’re in a meeting. You don’t want to have to answer any calls, but at the same time, you want the important people to be able to get through – you don’t care that Mary down the hall made brownies (awesome though they may be), but you do want your boss to be able to ring through and let you know the contract was approved. So, what do you do? If you’re Palm, you implement call priority filtering, and then patent it. Essentially, the way it works is that for certain contacts you give them a call priority rating (one for the boss, wife, and kids; two for your mother; three for your mother-in-law; and four for Mary down the hall). Then, when you have an important calendar appointment, you enter a call priority rating and only phone calls from that rating or higher will get through, lower rated callers will go straight to voicemail.

Will we see this on the Pre? Well, that’s anybody’s guess, but if there’s any truth to Roger McNamee’s ramblings about the Pre being able to tell if you’ll be late for that meeting you don’t want interrupted, then maybe it could happen.

Thanks to denik in our Pre Forums for the awesome tip!
 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

A couple days ago, on Palm’s official blog, I read a post signed by Mary E. Doyle, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Palm. Frankly the post caught me off guard just because it felt more like reading a press release or a letter that is addressed to someone else – interesting information, but the tone wasn’t what I was used to for a blog post from Palm.

The information was interesting.

Related posts:

1. Palm Pre Patent “Battle” – Bring On the Paparazzi Palm and Apple are loving all this talk about the…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Palm and Apple are loving all this talk about the Multitouch patents. Without a doubt, this is some of the best press that Palm could ask for right now.

Related posts:

1. Make Sure You See the Palm Pre On Jan 8, 2009, Jon Rubinstein, Executive Chairman at Palm,…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>