Submitted via IRC for AnonymousCoward
Brydge sues Kickstarter for selling iPad keyboard it claims is a clone
iPad keyboard maker Brydge is suing over a very similar-looking competitor called Libra. The lawsuit targets an alleged creator of the device, but it also goes after Kickstarter for hosting a crowdfunding campaign in support of the Libra keyboard.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in New York, accuses the company it believes is Libra's creator, OGadget, of violating a patent owned by Brydge. That patent covers the key features that make a Brydge keyboard work: primarily, a U-shaped hinge that's able to rotate the keyboard open and closed like a laptop when it's attached to something like an iPad.
[...]"To see something as brazen as this launch on Kickstarter ... honestly, it's a bit of a kick in the face to our staff tirelessly building the reputation we've built," Nick Smith, CEO and co-founder of Brydge, tells The Verge.
Brydge wants the court to block all sales of the Libra keyboard, which would include removing the crowdfunding campaign from Kickstarter. It's seeking punitive damages for the alleged patent violation, too.
[...]In its lawsuit, Brydge includes a series of photos showing side-by-side similarities between the two devices, from their hinges to their overall design. While Smith says Brydge also has design patents protecting its keyboards, this lawsuit only focuses on the functional elements that make the keyboard attachments work, with a heavy focus on the hinge.
The Libra keyboard does have one major difference, though: it has a built-in trackpad, whereas Brydge doesn't include a trackpad on any of its iPad products. To make the two devices look more alike, the lawsuit includes photos of an unreleased prototype Brydge keyboard with a trackpad on it.
Smith says Brydge is weeks away from beginning to manufacture its own iPad keyboard with a built-in trackpad. Brydge hopes to start sales in January or February, though production will be limited to no more than 4,000 units at first. Smith says the initial launch will be branded as a "beta," in large part because he wants to make sure customers understand that the trackpad's features are limited because only basic mouse features are available in iPadOS.
"We don't want to be putting ourselves out there as great, but the iPad experience isn't amazing," Smith says of the mouse features that were added to iPadOS last month. The "beta" launch will let interested customers use the product "knowing iPadOS will improve."
[...]Kickstarter will remove projects over patent violations, according to a copyright help page that a spokesperson sent to The Verge. The company relies on court findings of infringement, though, and Brydge may not have that until long after the Libra campaign wraps up. Suing Kickstarter directly seems to be meant to make a takedown happen faster. Kickstarter's spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 14 2019, @06:15PM
I don't know what the site rules are on this sort of thing but I think the tracking bullshit should be removed from links
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday October 14 2019, @06:22PM (9 children)
Patent on a hinge? Really?
(Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Monday October 14 2019, @07:14PM
Oh, c'mon - a U shaped hinge applied to a tablet computer for the purposes of attaching a keyboard...
Skill in the art ain't what it used to be, you know.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday October 14 2019, @07:44PM (7 children)
Do you not have any idea what patents are about? A patent on a novel, physical, mechanical device is what patents were created for.
Just look at the Kregg products. Look at the paperclip. Look at the mousetrap. Any idiot can look at something they never thought of, and smack their foreheads. It doesn't make the invention any less novel.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday October 14 2019, @09:12PM (4 children)
So you're saying you've never seen a hinge between a keyboard and a screen before? I sure have. Several different designs.
As simple as the paperclip seems in retrospect, nobody had seen one before it was invented. There was a point where nobody had seen a hinge either, but that happened centuries ago. A hinge between a tablet and a docking station happened pretty much as soon as tablets and docking stations came into existence.
Patents aren't supposed to be for variations on a well known theme.
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday October 14 2019, @09:49PM (1 child)
Every single one of those hinges are patented. The question isn't about the concept of a u-shaped hinge. It's a specific u-shaped hinge design. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. The issue is left for the courts to decide.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Monday October 14 2019, @10:33PM
The issue is left to the courts because USPTO decided it's easier to rubber stamp and pawn tghe real work off to the much more expensive courts. Anyone can indeed sue anyone for anything, and others may lower their opinion of the plaintiff as a result.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @08:40PM (1 child)
Then you don't really understand patents, do you?
The vast vast majority [sbir.gov] of patents are "improvement" patents.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday October 15 2019, @10:33PM
I said variation, not improvement. And it's supposed to be non-obvious to an average practitioner of the art.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Tuesday October 15 2019, @12:10AM (1 child)
So like a U-shaped hinge to make glass doors? http://www.teamstar.com.my/catalogue/226-4092-thickbox/glass-hinges.jpg [teamstar.com.my]
I suppose if you added a tab rotated the round part 90 degrees that would make it worth a patent (though I suspect there's plenty of prior art for that idea). Now, I could see a specific design patent -- you know, based on looks alone -- but a functional patent? What don't we know about hinges already?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday October 15 2019, @12:23AM
More hinges:
Wrought iron Georgian hinges: https://www.ukaa.com/4-large-antique-wrought-iron-georgian-hinges-3843 [ukaa.com]
And some modern common looking ones:
https://www.hafele.co.uk/INTERSHOP/static/WFS/Haefele-HUK-Site/-/Haefele/en_GB/images/huge/shower-door-hinge-wall-to-glass-hinge-90-hinge-with-plate_981.02.222_x/01748000_0.jpg [hafele.co.uk]
https://embed.widencdn.net/img/cgi/qezx5bvuhe/1240px/3100U_hero_1.png [widencdn.net]
https://www.hafele.com/INTERSHOP/static/WFS/Haefele-HAC-Site/-/Haefele/en_US/images/huge/simplex-inset-glass-door-hinge-110-opening-angle_361.42.319_x/01238457_0.jpg [hafele.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 14 2019, @06:25PM (4 children)
The advertising for it admits up front that it isn't as good as the Brydge. It's major selling point was the track pad, that Brydge didn't offer. It has a U-hinge? Hmmmmm - how many ways can you design a hinge meant to hold an iPad to a keyboard? This sounds like more of the same-old same-o that Apple has trotted out over the years. "Their product resembles our product because no one ever thought of rounded corners until we did!!" Desks have had rounded corners for longer than Apple has existed. Given time to think, I could probably find U-hinges somewhere that existed before Brydge came along.
I'm glad I don't fight in the IP wars. The idiocy has to get under people's skin.
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday October 14 2019, @07:47PM (3 children)
Apple's issue wasn't with the concept of rounded corners. It was the fact that Samsung's phone looked almost indistinguishable from an Apple phone. Samsung did everything they could to make their phone look as much like an iPhone as possible. I'm not trying to white-knight Apple (I hate Apple), but there is a line where trademark and design patents intersect.
If Chevy tried to release a car that looks identical to the latest Lamborghini, you can be certain there would be lawsuits.
(Score: 5, Touché) by captain normal on Monday October 14 2019, @08:38PM (2 children)
"...car that looks identical to the latest Lamborghini,..."
https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/models/urus [lamborghini.com]
https://www.autoblog.com/buy/2020-Chevrolet-Impala-Premier__4dr_Sedan/ [autoblog.com]
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday October 14 2019, @09:47PM
Funny.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:39AM
Saw one of those Urus on the street and thought for sure it was the latest attempt by Chrysler, GM, or one of the big box car builders to make yet another SUV. To my surprise, it had the Lamborghini logo on the front and my respect for Lamborghini immediately dropped significantly.
I suppose they need to make a car for people with zero sense of style (and every other parameter that put Lamborghini where it was), but huge cash reserves burning a hole in their pocket.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 14 2019, @07:26PM
Hold up! We already do that cool thing, we just haven't included the mouse. You're obviously stealing our ideas!
6 months later.
Look at this cool new upgraded keyboard/trackpad combo!
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 14 2019, @10:13PM
This manager is just pissed off that someone else is doing his job.