Apple, Others Hit With Lawsuit On Ethernet Patents 304
bth nods an AppleInsider story on a patent troll who has gotten hold of fundamental Ethernet patents and is wielding them broadly. Three guesses which US Appeals Court the lawsuit was filed in. "A Texas company has targeted a number of technology companies, including Apple, in a new lawsuit regarding a handful of computer networking patents issued in the 1990s. ... 3Com Corporation was granted four patents from 1994 to 1998 pertaining to network adapters. Two deal with the automatic initiation of data transmission, and one addresses 'host indication optimization.' ... The company's Web site states that U.S. Ethernet Innovations was founded 'to continue 3Com Corporation's successful licensing program related to a portfolio of foundational patents in Ethernet technology.' A press release from the company states that it is the 'owner of the fundamental Ethernet technology developed and sold by 3Com Corporation in the 1990s,' suggesting it purchased the patents. ... In addition to Apple, the lawsuit names Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, Sony, and Toshiba as defendants."
New Networking Technology (Score:5, Funny)
Token ring, here we come
hardly relevant now... (Score:5, Funny)
Everyone uses the _internet_, now. Who cares about ethernet?!
Damn! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:2, Funny)
Man, I hope there isn't a submarine patent on information flowing through a series of tubes...
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:5, Funny)
No, we'll just create a successor to token ring. I think we should call it Tolkien ring and it should support 10,000,000,000 [hob]bits per second.
Re:Trial by jury... (Score:5, Funny)
A jury in East Texas will be composed of at least 10 people who believe that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that Jesus rode to work on a brontosaurus.
The other two will disagree, but they'd sooner strip naked and dance a jig in the town square than open their mouths to disagree.
Be very afraid.
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:1, Funny)
Thats exactly what I told all my friends since the network cords i purchased only a year ago became clogged with residual "Ethernet packages" and so had to be discarded immediately before they started to rot and attract "data worms". I have since done away with Ethernet all together and am finding I can get alot more done with only Internet (much faster, no data worms).
Re:Damn! (Score:3, Funny)
Trial by Luddite? (Score:5, Funny)
Darl McBride's new job? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:5, Funny)
Was that a stealth pun?
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:5, Funny)
I was hoping it would fly under the radar.
Re:Damn! (Score:2, Funny)
If coaxial cables are a pain in the ass, you're putting them in the wrong place...
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:5, Funny)
But staying connected for too long turns you into a wraith!
(Oh wait, that's just like the internet.)
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:3, Funny)
Reality check: Token ring would only be successful if swine flew.
Re:Trial by jury... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Damn! (Score:5, Funny)
pain-in-the-ass coaxial cables.
Those cables weren't that thick...
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Trial by jury... (Score:3, Funny)
How many Apple fans are out there these days?
All Apple fans are out there. Way out.
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:4, Funny)
Token rings have this big problem. I remember hooking up a token ring network
once where I worked. Well the cable came disconnected and the token fell out
and rolled behind a desk and was never found! We had to wait 2 weeks for a
replacement to show up. What a bummer!
Re:New Networking Technology (Score:2, Funny)
Damn it, JANET!
Re:hardly relevant now... (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone uses the _internet_, now. Who cares about ethernet?!
Anyone trying to catch the Ether Bunny cares!
Re:Damn! (Score:2, Funny)
I'm not sure I want to know what kind of networks you built