Patent Pending - The Smartphone Dispute

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 50
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In the last few years the smartphone has become the latest ''must-have'' gadget. Industry experts predict that smartphones will make up 45% of the UK mobile phone market in the next three years. With such rapid growth companies are working flat out to get a foothold in the market, and each new release promises (like the new Vivaz) to be the long-awaited ''iPhone killer.''

Yet, for all the competition and advertising campaigns, legal proceedings in the US are indicating that the biggest threat to Apple''s supremacy might just be itself.

Smartphone technology is incredibly complex. The machines that we use to make phone calls these days have more processing power than Apollo 11 that first took man to the moon. With so much innovation, it''s not surprising that people are running over each other''s patents.

Having said that the largest battle over smartphone technology is firmly entrenched within the mobile phone industry. Nokia, the Finnish manufacturer of phones and the largest smartphone operator in the world, has launched a series of lawsuits against Apple claiming infringements of patents on all sorts ...
... of devices.

Apple, of course, launched a countersuit stating that Nokia had infringed thirteen of the technology that it patented in the creation of the iPhone. It''s difficult to know how the courts are going to resolve the issue, or when that will be.

Whilst Apple fend off legal claims from Nokia, another lawsuit has been filed against them and competitors RIM (the company that makes the Blackberry) claiming that the two companies have used technology patented by Kodak for viewing pictures on their handsets.

The suit filed by Kodak is perhaps more serious than that filed by Nokia as Kodak has already won a similar claim against Samsung for infringements made during the production of camera-enabled phones. A similar victory for Kodak against Apple and RIM won''t necessarily mean that either withdraws products, simply that they will both owe Kodak enormous sums of money which may raise the price of future products.

New technology always creates some legal turmoil, but there is nothing to suggest that Kodak will be the last giant from another industry to take umbrage with the smartphone. If you''re looking for a new handset at the moment, there''s absolutely no reason not to invest in an iPhone or a Blackberry, but it may well be worth considering some of the other options as well. Bonny Kominek is an expert in communications technology. Vodafone UK have some great new mobile phone deals and a selection of new phones including the Sony Ericsson Vivaz.