
Patent troll SimpleAir settled a patent dispute between Apple and a number of technology companies with a licensing agreement ensuring the trolls will continue to abuse patents for financial gain whenever possible.
SimpleAir released a statement today claiming it had settled its patent dispute with Apple and entered into a confidential agreement to license its patents to Apple. The patents in question relate to mobile notifications, and have been at the heart of the suit first levied against Apple and 10 other companies by SimpleAir in September, 2009.
According to court filings dated April 21, 2012 SimpleAir reached settlement agreements with all the parties involved for patents 6,021,433, 7,035,914, 6,735,614, and 6,167,426. The first two patents are both entitled "System and Method for Transmission of Data," and the following two are entitled "Contact Alerts for Unconnected Users." SimpleAir’s complaint claimed Apple and the other companies were infringing on "generation, processing, and/or delivery of content, notifications, and updates to or for mobile computing devices," found in the patents.
SimpleAir literally is a patent troll. The company is known as a “non practicing entity” or NPE. This title means that SimpleAir has no other business outside of hoarding and licensing patents. The company, based in Texas, is currently engaged in a separate suit with Microsoft Motorola, Samsung, and a number of others involving the same patents. The case is ongoing, but if the Apple ruling is any indication SimpleAir might be in for more SimpleProfits.
Source: CNET
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