After just a week, a federal jury from the Eastern District of Texas returned a guilty verdict against Google. It has determined that it had infringed on SimpleAir’s patent and used it for Android’s push notification services.
Push notification is definitely nothing new but has probably become so common that it only seems natural to have it. This system allows online services to instantly inform users about new events or items instead of relying on apps to check for new items fixed intervals. Unfortunately, based on the jury’s verdict, Google’s implementation on Android infringes on five claims of SimpleAir’s ‘914 patent.
SimpleAir didn’t actually develop this patent itself. It is a company that merely owns patents and then licenses them to others, taking them to court should they refuse. SimpleAir has also tried to sue Apple for a number of patents, but the Cupertino-based company settled the matter outside of court. Unfortunately for Google, its decision to fight back didn’t end so favorably. The USPTO has also confirmed the validity of SimpleAir’s patent February last year, making Google’s options for appeal rather small.
The patent verdict will most likely affect Google Cloud Messaging and Android Cloud to Device Messaging. These are the services used by apps like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and many others to push out instant notifications. Since the initial jury failed to reach a unanimous decision regarding the amount of damages, which SimpleAir wants to be $125 million, a second jury will try to do so in an upcoming limited trial.
SOURCE: SimpleAir
rotten US patent system…… a wheel like patent
Simpleair’s ridiculous suit against Google was a cheap shot, they should of settled like spoke did off court because now all the patent’s with “common sense” technology are going to site android also, I guarantee the jurydidnot own 1 single smartphone & didn’t have the slightest idea what this was really about & the reason Google decided to fight the case instead of out court… Everyone would of benefited from this even apples stupid asass, but they were to stupid to fight this bus & smart enough to see the jury was hand picked to be old men that don’t even know what this function is used for & what it’s benefits are. Courts are dirty now with pay offs & such IMO. why they didn’t sue when android first came or is beyond me. But their royalty fees shouldn’t be that much when you consider 125 million for nearly 10 years of use? Still a bit more I guess for their “Damage’s”, I guess Google will come up with their own way to & hopefully better way to have push like access. Or just pay them their fee until that time comes, android won’t be the same without it & the court system needs a sperate patent court with juries that know what’s at stake.