[ad_1]
In China, Apple has not been very fortunate in preventing imitation artists of local gadgets from imitating the iconic appearance of the iPhone in their own handsets. In fact, one of the few wins of Apple in this area is their recent success by forcing the famous manufacturer of iPhone clones, Meizu, to the production of shutters.
All is not good news for Apple in China. Another Chinese company, Herron Network Information Co., has just made an appearance and is suing Apple, as well as the Chinese Patent Office, for Apple's iPhone patents, which they are trying to characterize as being not only too broad but "invalid".
According to Meizu, Apple was very vague regarding the patenting of the iPhone in China: they said that the iPhone's iPhone-related patents simply described a rectangular device with rounded edges with a round button placed under a vertically oriented screen.
Herron says that this description is far too broad to be considered a patent: they say it does not stifle local competition (ie Meizu), but more respectable brands like LG and HTC.
Obviously, if Herron manages to get the Chinese Patent Office to throw out Apple's iPhone patents on the basis of their appearance, it will be a blow to imitation manufacturers. It's not that I suspect they'll stop pretending to be an iPhone in both directions, of course … a win here would put them on the right side of the law, to change things.
[ad_2]
Source link
