Apple Inc. Wins Second Screen Patent Battle
Apple Inc. is going from strength to strength. In 2013, the company successfully filed over 600 patents. In a new bid to increase their powers of convergence and advertising, the company filed a patent pertaining to a second screen scheme.
Another patent by Apple.
Under the patent they filed, they hoped to win the rights to provide associated content such as advertisements, additional information, and more for a secondary device that a user is using. For example, if you are using a secondary device such as an iPhone or an iPad, you would be able to receive ads and information about what you were viewing in your primary screen, which would be a big-screen TV.
Patent Filed and Approved
Patent attorneys working for Apple Inc. have successfully filed a second screen patent now. US patent number 8,763,060 was filed by Apple Inc.’s patent attorneys in May of 2011. On Tuesday, this patent along with 51 other Apple Inc. patents were approved by the authorities. These patents completely explain a process of synchronizing content on a second screen with those of another primary screen.
Apple proposes the use of a time-offset method in order to pull this feat off. The traditional way of achieving something like this would be to send content through the media player that was responsible for feeding the primary screen being used by a viewer.
As per the patent approval and patent attorneys filing, ‘That media player, the filing states, can deliver “movies, television shows, webisodes, straight to digital storage medium productions, online videos, etc.,” while the secondary screen provides the user with info about “actors, audio sound tracks, images of clothing and other goods.”’
The patent filing goes on to argue that “When product placement is done well, such placements can enhance the viewer’s experience. For example, when the script calls for a character to drink a canned beverage, the character may drink a beverage from a can with a distinct, recognizable color scheme or logo.”
However, in doing so, Apple Inc.’s patent attorneys clarify that the free will of the viewer will not be infringed upon. Viewers will have the option to play, stop, pause, and rewind and forward the content so users will not be forced to view and respond to advertisements on the second screen in order to continue viewing something on their primary screen. However, knowing how efficient Apple Inc.’s patent attorneys and systems are, chances are high that such a requirement has just filed away for a patent at a later date.
Apple seems to have the patent game mastered – if that is possible.
Patent Battles
Apple Inc. has been in the news for a variety of its innovations including the much-anticipated Apple iPhone 6 that is slated to begin production soon in this year. This phone will have a much bigger screen and better features than ever before. Meanwhile, patent attorneys have been sorting out patent battles with companies like Samsung Electronics.
In their latest patent battle, patent attorneys on both sides of the trenches received a raw deal when the authorities found that both companies had violated patents held by the other. The result was that neither group of patent attorneys won the day and both companies had to pay off a certain amount to each other in the form of fines.
Samsung Electronics too has been filing patents left, right and center. In fact, if reports are to be believed, Samsung Electronics has filed three times more patents than Apple Inc. in 2013 alone. Most of their patents have been in the field of mobile telephony. Their patent attorneys might be relegated to simply defending their own patents as compared to defending their company in a patent infringement lawsuit like they have been doing for a number of years now.
Companies such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. rank convergence very high in their list of aims and priorities. Filing patents with the help of patent attorneys can help them achieve this goal eventually.
