Florida man claims he invented iPhone in 1992, sues Apple for $10 billion

[Deleted]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...pple-for-10bn/

Man who claims he invented iPhone in 1992 sues Apple for $10bn

A man in Florida is suing Apple for $10 billion (£7.5 billion), claiming Apple stole his idea when it released the iPhone nine years ago.

Thomas S Ross filed a patent for an “electronic reading device” (ERD), a rectangular, hand-held gadget with a screen, in 1992.

His lawsuit says he was “the first to file a device so designed and aggregated as to have created a novel combination of media and communication tools… whose identity was, since then, hijacked and exploited by Apple's iPhones, iPods, iPads and others”.

Included in the lawsuit filing are drawings of Ross’s original patent. Ross claims Apple’s own reproductions “are substantially the same as his technical drawings of the ERD, and that Apple's three-dimensional derivative devices (iPhone, iPod, iPad), embody the non-functional aesthetic look and feel”.

You can decide for yourself whether Ross’s drawings look anything like your iPhone.



As well as the $10 billion-plus, Ross claims he is owed "a reasonable royalty" of 1.5pc of all of Apple's future sales.

Given that Apple made $235 billion in revenue last year, that would be another $3.5bn or so a year.

Ross's patent was never actually approved, given that he failed to pay the appropriate fees, and the application was declared abandoned in 1995. Nonetheless, he claims Apple resorted to "dumpster diving" when designing the iPhone and subsequent devices.

"Instead of creating its own ideas, Apple chose to adopt a culture of dumpster diving as an R&D strategy," Ross's lawsuit says.

It quotes Steve Jobs, who once said that "we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas", and claims that Apple has caused Ross "great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money".

Ross is demanding a jury hear a trial in the Florida Southern District Court.

[Celista]

Clear violation of IP laws, he deserves at least $20 billion if not $40 billion.

[nonameelf]

If it was just for reading then shouldn't he be suing Amazon over the Kindle instead of Apple?

[Bushtuckrman]

Lots of companies and successful people have to deal with this bullshit. From Donald Trump to successful media pundits. Drawing a picture =/= coming up with the technology and ability to produce a viable and marketable product. Its a fucking rectangle with a screen, like all mobile phones and PDA devices have been.

[The One Percent]

Good luck to him if his claims are legitimate.

[Bushtuckrman]

Clear violation of IP laws, he deserves at least $20 billion if not $40 billion.

That's it, you've convinced me. Give this man the CEO position he clearly was ripped off of his own genius.

[monkmastaeq]

I've always kind of felt like you should have a functioning prototype. Handheld phones were always going to happen, same with computers tablets and the like were inevitable.

[derpkitteh]

i think he shouldn't have asked for $10 billion, and maybe they would have taken him somewhat seriously.

[jrf773]

He might have had some sort of legal recourse, had the patent have been filed, and he filed a lawsuit in 2007 or 2008, when the Iphone was a new thing. Baring this, he is more than likely full of shit.

Even then, he is still full of shit.

[Triginhil]

I came up with the idea of a SSD hard drive back in 2002 when i was learning about computers but i never patented it cuz I was only 13 at the time. Is it still too late to submit a patent and ask for a share of all SSD sales from 2002 until present?

[Kalis]

I am confused, the iPhone does not have a keyboard, but his design did.

It looks more like a Palm Pilot than an iPhone.

[Triginhil]

I am confused, the iPhone does not have a keyboard, but his design did.

It looks more like a Palm Pilot than an iPhone.

Palm Pilots aren't where the money is at though, Apple is, that's why he chose them for the lawsuit

[monkmastaeq]

I'm not sure I really agree that tablets were inevitable. They still seem like they have rather limited use compared to laptops and smartphones, being more inconvenient to use than the former and more inconvenient to take with you than the latter. As a device, it seems like you couldn't make up your mind whether you wanted ease of use or portability more, so in the true spirit of compromise you decided to pick the worst of both worlds.

think star trek though, tablets were in use there

[Shadow Fox]

Good luck to him if his claims are legitimate.

Think US law would have to require him to have valid and catalogued patent proof that it was his idea, not Apple's?
And then he would also need to have proof that Apple took / stole said patent?

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I came up with the idea of a SSD hard drive back in 2002 when i was learning about computers but i never patented it cuz I was only 13 at the time. Is it still too late to submit a patent and ask for a share of all SSD sales from 2002 until present?

Didn't the N64 use Cartridges that were based on Solid State Technology?

[Manhands]

Good luck, Florida man.

Patent wasn't actually approved. It's a hand-held device with a screen, not exactly visionary or unique. Apple's legal team is probably chuckling.

[Triginhil]

Technically it started with Atari back in the 80's at that base, but a friend and I in school had learned how traditional hard drives worked and came up with a dumb idea of making a massive USB storage like hard drive. We had no idea of the science behind it but it was just a concept idea we thought about then disregarded since it sounded dumb. Now look at where the tech is at lol

[Hooked]

There needs to be a statute of limitations on frivolous lawsuits.

[Deleted]

You can decide for yourself whether Ross’s drawings look anything like your iPhone.

If we go after the predicate of Appel vs Samsung it have rounded corners so Appel have done a blatant ripp-off Personaly I think this lawsuits is stupid and it will only feed the scumbag lawyers.

[Deleted]

guess he is regretting not paying the patent fees. if he actually had a patent he could probably at least get a decent settlement/sell the patent.

[Hooked]

I don't think that would actually accomplish anything since you'd still need a judge to decide whether it's frivolous or not, in which case they're deciding whether it has sufficient merit to go forward with or not as they do anyway.

A patent only lasts 7 years, and all he has is a crude drawing.