Ready for ANOTHER patent war? Apple 'invents' wireless charging

[(Spork)]

Apple is trying to patent wireless charging, claiming its magnetic resonance tech is new and that it can do it better than anyone else. This would be cool if its assertions were true.

Apple's application, numbered 20120303980, makes much of its ability to charge a device over the air at a distance of up to a metre, rather than requiring close proximity. The Alliance For Wireless Power, which also touts long-range juicing, will no doubt be comparing Apple's designs to its blueprints.

The alliance - of which chip biz Qualcomm and Apple rival Samsung are members - reckons distance charging is its unique selling point, allowing gadgets to top up battery power from inside a pocket or as one walks around an office. It's an argument so compelling that the competing Consortium for Wireless Power promptly extended its standard to encompass the same idea.

Apple's patent application was filed in November 2010, before the alliance was established, but well after tech startup WiPower applied for its patent on the very concept of wireless charging in 2008. WiPower was acquired by Qualcomm and its patents are the bedrock of the alliance's standard, along with some intellectual property from Samsung.

Meanwhile, the patents behind the Consortium for Wireless Power's technology are up for grabs: Alticor, which only developed the technology so that its subsidiary Amway could flog wireless water filters, is open to offers for eCoupled, the company that owns the protected designs. Perhaps Apple should be giving them a call.

And don't forget the Nokia Lumia 920, like a few other handsets already out there, already do wireless charging.

Regardless of who ends up with eCoupled, the world ought to brace itself for another epic patent battle - although not quite yet: the public is still very unsure it wants wireless charging and the technology isn't built into enough coffee shops, airport lounges and car dashboards to gain a critical mass of popularity, but it should give the lawyers plenty of business by the time the current disputes fizzle out

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/03/apple_charging_patent/

[Detection]

Shame Tesla is not alive :p

[Farstrider]

What more can one say about companies like Apple and their ilk! :huh: :rolleyes:

[mrdeezus]

Apple doesn't innovate, they steal. Most consumers hav no idea.

[Detection]

There should be rules about what can and can not be patented by huge companies, I understand small time inventors needing patents or they would never survive, but Apple continuously doing this to everything they possibly can is just ruining it for us the consumer, limiting technology that other companies can use, especially wireless charging which we've needed for a long time is just plain trolling

[tsupersonic]

Someone page Palm err HP. This is gonna get ugly

[MDboyz]

Patent for others = new invention

Patent for Apple = re-invention

[xpablo]

One day in the future, Apple will be owned by Samsung.

[Wakers]

The patenting laws are a joke. You can't patent and entire technology, that's just daft - you should especially not be able to file patents on something that has already been patented.

I'm sure next week Apple will try to patent the smartphone.

[ATLien_0]

Wonder how this will play out with the Nokia Lumia phones

[ILikeTobacco]

Are people really this dumb? Learn how patents work before making these troll threads. Patents are about a unique way of doing it. Each way that is invented gets its own patent. Deal with it. You can't patent charging from a distance. You can only patent how you make it possible to charge from a distance. Stop being ignorant trolls.

Wonder how this will play out with the Nokia Lumia phones

It won't effect anything since they wouldn't be using the same technology.

[Detection]

I'm sure next week Apple will try to patent the smartphone.

I'm surprised they haven't tried to get Apple the fruit banned

[Charisma Veteran]

I'm surprised they haven't tried to get Apple the fruit banned

And poor Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter...

[Astra.Xtreme]

Really? Another one of these ill-informed hate threads? Apple isn't trying to patent wireless charging... Use your heads, people. Or at least read the patent...

They are patenting a method of near field charging that will allow charging from longer distances than current technology. I'll say it again, this is one method, not all methods. RTFP...

If/when Samsung copies this function verbatim, then yeah you can bet there will be lawsuits. If they can design something unique for once, then nothing legal will be involved. This patent is very specific to how it functions, so any design engineer with half a brain could easily design a functional alternative.

[HawkMan]

Nice apple, everyone else uses the Qi standard, so of course apple decides to make their own standard that won't work with the standard...

[Scorbing]

Next they'll come out and say they invented the light bulb.

[Snake89]

Next they'll come out and say they invented the light bulb.

Nah, Apple well say they've invented the phone.

[Detection]

Next they'll come out and say they invented the light bulb.

Maybe they will try to patent patenting

[+primortal Subscriber²]

Nice apple, everyone else uses the Qi standard, so of course apple decides to make their own standard that won't work with the standard...

Apple cannot charge licensing fees for 3rd party accessories if they worked with the standard wireless technologies :D

[Pupik]

Next they'll come out and say they invented the light bulb.

No. They'll patent the shape of the light bulb.

Next thing you'll see, is that companies will be forced to sell square light bulbs.

[Coolicer]

Nice apple, everyone else uses the Qi standard, so of course apple decides to make their own standard that won't work with the standard...

Yeah and what's worse is that in a while you'll see Apple Wireless charging (I'm calling it the iCharge) will be everywhere. And everyone

will be able to charge their latest generation iPads/iPhones in public places, while any other device using any other wireless charging standard,

will not be able to. And Apple will score bonus points for having the technology implemented everyone while other brands will get negative attention

for being subpar to the Apple standard.

Well, that the way the world and public opinion works I guess.

[Teebor]

Yeah and what's worse is that in a while you'll see Apple Wireless charging (I'm calling it the iCharge) will be everywhere. And everyone

will be able to charge their latest generation iPads/iPhones in public places, while any other device using any other wireless charging standard,

will not be able to. And Apple will score bonus points for having the technology implemented everyone while other brands will get negative attention

for being subpar to the Apple standard.

Well, that the way the world and public opinion works I guess.

Don't forget that when you upgrade your device to a newer model your existing wireless charging station will no longer work so you will have to replace it. But if you also have an older iPad/iPod then you will have to have two charging stations or replace all your idevices at the same time

[HawkMan]

Yeah and what's worse is that in a while you'll see Apple Wireless charging (I'm calling it the iCharge) will be everywhere. And everyone

will be able to charge their latest generation iPads/iPhones in public places, while any other device using any other wireless charging standard,

will not be able to. And Apple will score bonus points for having the technology implemented everyone while other brands will get negative attention

for being subpar to the Apple standard.

Well, that the way the world and public opinion works I guess.

Kind of like DLNA, which was everywhere and worked great and was a standard made to be expandable into the future. Along comes Apple with AirPlay and to this day there are IT journalists who think airplay is the only technology out there for network sharing of media and wondering why noone else has made a competing standard. oh hey btw, we have this older standard which isn't just older but better... doesn't help that Samsung insist on renaming it and adding proprietary standards to it of course, but at least allShare is at it's base and most functions compatible with DLNA

[Scorbing]

Maybe they will try to patent patenting

LOL...LOL...LOL...Good one.

[thealexweb]

This is like Apple patenting the right angle triangle for high-end laptops despite Dell releasing a similar albeit bulkier design in 2005 :/