Android has long been the target of many lawsuits from large patent holding companies, especially Apple. As a Google owned patent for the notification bar as we know it, filed for in 2009, nears a possible approval, the tables may finally be turned.
When it comes to features, Google’s Android is ahead of, or on par with, every mobile operating system available today. But there’s one area where Android’s severely lacking: patents. Google released an operating system without owning any patents on a lot of the key technologies used to make it function. If Android would have never taken off, this probably wouldn’t be a problem. Instead, as Android has become a success, it’s become the target for what is arguably the most powerful company in the technology industry, Apple.
Lawsuit after lawsuit from Apple has left Android and the manufacturers using the platform trying their best to fight back. If a patent on Android’s notification bar is approved any time soon, Apple may be the one fighting back next.
In 2009, Google filed a patent for Android’s notification bar. If you’ve used iOS 5 or know anything about Apple’s “Notification Center,” you know that it’s a direct, blatant rip off of Android’s notification bar. According to the filing, Google would own the patent for “a computer-implemented user notification method includes displaying, in a status area near a perimeter of a graphical interface, a notification of a recent alert event for a mobile device, receiving a user selection in the status area, and in response to the receipt of the user selection, displaying, in a central zone of the graphical interface, detail regarding a plurality of recent messaging events for the mobile device.”
Since Google doesn’t own the patent to the notification bar yet, they can’t do anything but sit back and watch Apple use it in all of their most popular devices. Even the latest version of the Mac’s operating system, OS X 10.8, uses Notification Center. If Google’s patent application for Android’s notification bar is approved, there’s little to reason to believe it wouldn’t be an easy victory for Google, should they decide to take Apple to court over it.
It will be interesting to see what Google does with the patent should they manage to secure it. Will they immediately take Apple to court, or would using it as leverage in other patent negotiations make more sense? This will definitely be worth keeping an eye on.
Via: PhandroidSource: Google Patents
Dustin Earley: Tech enthusiast; avid gamer; all around jolly guy. Tagged#google vs. apple#lawsuits#notification bar#patents .nrelate .nr_sponsored{ left:0px !important; }.nrelate .nr_sponsored{ left:0px !important; } 95 Comments Join the discussion!Sort by DateRating you learn something every day.. great article Dustin
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88Jeff Pan 02/17/12 7:19 PM Thumb upThumb down +18Haha true! Hope this is approved !
Replythe sooner the better
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THIS IS FRAGMENTATIONGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down -38Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
WELCOME TO FRAGMENTATION
Reply amy whinehouse *cheers* *burps*Guest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +5get a life
Reply android fragmentationGuest 13 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -9this is fragmentation
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91redraider133 02/17/12 4:25 PM Thumb upThumb down +37Nice to see. Maybe this will put apple in their place( if the patent is awarded) and they will stop all these petty lawsuits.
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69zerosix 02/17/12 5:23 PM Thumb upThumb down -2That would be awesome.
Stupid “slide-to-unlock” patent versus stupid “slide for notifications” patent. And we, customers, pay for all that sh*t.
94AsakuraZero 02/17/12 7:17 PM Thumb upThumb down +5apple patents are vague too wide on their explanation hope that google ones are not like that.
anyways this is an all out war now
Reply 91redraider133 11 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0I just wish all the lawsuits would stop. You don’t see Google going after other OS’s like MS and apple are. Seems like a waste of money to me but I guess they don’t want their lawyers just sitting around getting paid to do nothing.
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74ags29 02/17/12 4:25 PM Thumb upThumb down +24If Google is awarded this patent and they do not take Apple to court on it, then shame on them.
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33Steve Barry 02/17/12 4:44 PM Thumb upThumb down +29I’m not so sure on this one. Frankly, I think a reciprocity agreement would be more beneficial to Google in this case vs ridding Apple of their notification center. I think it would be better if Google brought out the “we have this on you, it’s now one of your core features. Let’s put the patent war to rest and move on” stance. Apple smokes Google and everyone else in the patent vault, so I don’t think it’s a war Google really wants to partake in.
Reply Harlan SandersGuest 02/17/12 4:57 PM Thumb upThumb down +15You’re likely right. Although with Google acquiring Motorola, Google will have so many patents over everyone in the cell phone market, it won’t even be funny. Motorola is expected to get an injunction against Apple any time now. Googorola will be nothing to be trifled with.
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154n1m4l 02/17/12 5:41 PM Thumb upThumb down +3Im not sure, but I think that its the particulars, not the quantity that make patents useful in war.
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89thekaz 02/17/12 5:03 PM Thumb upThumb down +10More beneficial, but with Steve Jobs’ famous declaration of wanting to destroy Android, I am not sure if that’s what Apple wants.. of course, with Jobs’ not around, perhaps other Apple executive will come to their senses and strike a deal.
Reply Eric R.Guest 02/17/12 6:49 PM Thumb upThumb down +2Google does not have the same goal as Apple. Google will want to strike a deal for fair usage revenue.
Reply 74ags29 02/17/12 8:26 PM Thumb upThumb down +1What you’re saying sounds nice and reasonable, but I just don’t believe Apple is interested in striking deals with Google that would be in any way beneficial to the Android manufacturers that they’re continually suing the shtt out of.
ReplyYes. Absolutely. Kind of like the Cold War standoff. If both have nukes, it makes it tough for either side to use one.
Reply elijahblakeGuest 02/17/12 11:00 PM Thumb upThumb down -13yeah shame on Google for suing Apple for something as common as a notification bar!!!! /SSSSSSSSS
Reply Noriega713Guest 02/17/12 4:26 PM Thumb upThumb down +14Good ol’ G1… anyways…Good for Google… I hope this will Byte (lol) Apple right where it hurts.
Replywas wondering how apple was able to blantantly rip off this from android. All my iphone buddies show me this on their phone like apple reinvented the wheel. I just sigh and say i was doing this on the g1 when you guys were making fun of my keyboard.
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90Dan13 02/17/12 5:54 PM Thumb upThumb down +21The same hold true for me. They are just sooo excited that Apple has “done it again.” I even overheard a conversation between some Apple fanboys talking about how Android stole it from Apple. *squeezes stress ball*
Reply TristanGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +5The more interesting thing I’ve heard is how Google somehow stole it from WebOS….before WebOS even existed!!!!
Reply TristanGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2not quite sure why I got downvoted…must be a miscommunication…I’m saying that that argument I’ve heard from Anti-google/android people is retarded and temporally impossible.
Reply Jimmy DuGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +7Kinda reminds me of the time when Apple took two years to implement copy/paste on iOS, then when it did… People were acting like it had never existed before!
Reply AbusedTortoiseGuest 8 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0With Apple’s luck they will sue Google in Germany over this and the court will declare Google made a time machine, went into the future, stole the notification center from Apple than came back to the year 2009 and filed the patent. Apple is too quick to say someone stole something from them and German courts are too quick to agree
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88Deeds 02/17/12 4:27 PM Thumb upThumb down +14Finally Google can give Apple a taste of its own medicine
ReplyMayne they can agree on a i let you use the notification bar, we use slide to lock feature unless Google changes the lock screen on all of the furore phones to just face unlock.
ReplyDamn sometimes Swype kills me lol doh!!!
Reply TristanGuest 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +3we don’t really need slide to unlock…in Germany the new ICS lock was found not to infringe and if the patent claims are to be taken literally we will be getting a lock screen that blows the competition away.
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8Alex Belko 02/17/12 4:33 PM Thumb upThumb down +4I hope the patent will be approved soon, even nokia copied the notifications bar in Belle
ReplyThe notification bar is one of the things that makes Android amazing. I’d love to see this solidify so Google can push back harder at Apple.
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86Hall Lo 02/17/12 4:34 PM Thumb upThumb down -2oops apple, OOPSS
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37Dee 02/17/12 4:36 PM Thumb upThumb down +18If i was google i would make a commercial about all the things apple stole from android. LOL that would be a surpreme slap to apple.
Reply VASRAGuest 02/17/12 4:38 PM Thumb upThumb down +11Everybody should just accept that the American UI patents are just silly.
They should *ALL* be invalidated.
There is absolutely no method involved and for most of them prior art exists in some form – sometimes dating back to the 60s.
It’s sad how little people know their history, especially in computing.
And how cleverly the patent lawyers exploit this ignorance.
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6mrwirez 02/17/12 5:14 PM Thumb upThumb down +1No Way Google let’s this pass. Apple will have no option, they either have to…
1-Pay a royalty fee for every device with Android type notifications
-Or-
2-Cut a deal with Google. As in permitting the Android lock screen to survive.
3-Revamp their entire notification system OS wide.
Goose meet Gander! ;)
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49dcds 02/18/12 12:53 AM Thumb upThumb down +9Sincerely, the notifications bar it’s way more valuable and useful than the simple slide to unlock.
Which comes as no surprise since Google it’s made of engineers, and Apple seems to be made more of lawyers these days…
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9pjax 21 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0lock screen isn’t important. and it’s easy to work around it
What I want is iOS’ overscroll effect. Android’s “edge lights” just doesn’t cut it for User Experience
Reply StreetGuest 02/17/12 6:57 PM Thumb upThumb down 0There was a good idea behind the thought of the patent system. It was to keep developers from just coping each over and over and cause them to innovate. To force them to think of different ways to do the same things. Companies now a days just abuse the system though. They copy each other and claim everything to be there own.
Reply ThorpelandGuest 02/17/12 4:40 PM Thumb upThumb down +2I was wondering how apple could sue Google for practically having “a device with a screen”… while apple could just rip off Androids notification bar and get away with it. I sure hope this passes and Crapple gets a taste of their own medicine.
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79greeny42 02/17/12 4:41 PM Thumb upThumb down +6And let the battle of meaningless one-upsmanship continue!
Reply slurms mckenzieGuest 02/17/12 4:47 PM Thumb upThumb down -6fuck yea layeth the smackdown on there ass
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86R.S 02/17/12 4:51 PM Thumb upThumb down 0IF Google is granted this patent (big if) and then successfully sues apple, it won’t surprise me when the courts over turn it like they did with the Motorola lawsuit.
Reply 90Dan13 02/17/12 6:00 PM Thumb upThumb down +3I’d be surprised if Google didn’t get this patent. If Apple can earn a patent on something as trivial as “slide to unlock,” then Google should be able to earn the rights to this.
Reply YoYoGuest 02/17/12 5:01 PM Thumb upThumb down 0Just wondering….why are all these lawsuit in Germany?
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77sylar 02/17/12 5:24 PM Thumb upThumb down 0Slightly different patent system I believe but I’m no expert on that.
Reply monkeysGuest 02/17/12 8:23 PM Thumb upThumb down -3Germany’s Patent Office is well respected, a ruling by them is pretty much accepted in all the other European courts.
ReplyGreat news, hope patent is approved, and Google uses it wisely.
Reply 6mrwirez 02/17/12 5:07 PM Thumb upThumb down +1God… I hate everything about Apple.
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94YMS123 02/17/12 5:14 PM Thumb upThumb down +8Patent denied : Apple invented it retroactively…. NOT! HEY APPLE IF YOU LIVE IN A GLASS HOUSE (or store) DON’T THROW STONES (especially when you never use Gorilla Glass….)
Reply 9pjax 20 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0they have been very excited about gorilla glass. they’ve put it on the front and back of iPhone 4
Reply 77sylar 02/17/12 5:21 PM Thumb upThumb down 0Whoo hoo time for Google to nail Apple to the wall over some patents.
Reply 77sylar 02/17/12 5:25 PM Thumb upThumb down 0Also time for Apple to meet its maker?
ReplyApple, take that!
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88Richard Yarrell 02/17/12 5:31 PM Thumb upThumb down -14Great choice to change up this will prevent future lawsuites..
Reply squiddy20Guest 02/17/12 11:34 PM Thumb upThumb down -1What’ are “lawsuites”? Don’t you know it’s spelled Lawsuits? Doesn’t your “bitch slapping” Galaxy Nexus auto-correct all the misspellings you make? When I (rarely) make mistakes on my “useless” Samsung Moment, it certainly gets auto-corrected.
Reply 6mrwirez 02/18/12 7:08 AM Thumb upThumb down -6WAAAAYY uncalled for… douche.
Reply AbusedTortoiseGuest 8 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -4Relax Douche Bag, the spelling police will arrive shortly, no need to make you citizen’s arrest.
ReplyI kinda want to see a settlement more than anything. As much as I am not a fan of iOS, it should come down to “I won’t sue you if you stop suing us” kinda thing, and “let’s have the consumers be the judge and jury for our products instead of hiding behind lawyers”.. The whole patent wars is annoying and it’s hurting us more than anything.
ReplyIf Google get this patent (in which i dont see why not), I hope Apple get whats coming to them and come up with sumthin new besides tryna make us redo procedures that we studied n tested…maybe yet infact they need to see and experienced how that feels like for once.
Reply YourMainDudeGuest 02/17/12 6:15 PM Thumb upThumb down +1Lol weird how a shyt load of apple fans comment on other Android Forums when its regarding who did what first but when they see this article and what’s to come….. (cricket)
Reply comandanteceeGuest 02/17/12 6:22 PM Thumb upThumb down +6It’s nice to see the ol’ trusty G1 again even if its just pictures.
ReplyPersonally as much as id like to see Google fight fire with fire using this patent as a big can of gas – if i am being honest, with the purpose Google now trying to one up apple and develop something even more amazing, i think it would be truly epic if Google just passed off iOS5 notification center as the next iteration of ICS’s notification system…inspiring them to create something that will top it for integration into jellybean, because, shouldn’t that be whats it about?
A good watch on the madness of patent and the concept of an idea is summed up in this video
http://vimeo.com/36881035
ReplyAwesome! I hope they get it!
Reply KevintheboxGuest 02/17/12 8:11 PM Thumb upThumb down +1Dustin articles are always fanboi based. I don’t care about apple. I want real android news. I mean, we know you guys get a lot of hits on these flame Apple articles, but quite frankly, no one here gives two sh.its about Apple. This fanboy/patent wars are sooo childish.
ReplyI kind of hope that Google would take the high road and not sink to Apple’s level, but the high road is virtually non-existent in the corporate world.
However, there is a part of me that just wants them to take Apple down a few pegs :)
The smart thing would probably be to use it as leverage in future patent disputes since the notification bar is a bit more crucial than the “slide-to-unlock” feature.
Reply 49dcds 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +3This isn’t some kind of maniqueist crusade. They need to defend themselves and catch value for their platform.
Hopefully they sign a MAD agreement and take their nukes home to end all this madness. A cross licensing deal wouldn’t be bad either… as long as the notifications panel has more weight in the exchange, because it does.
Reply AbusedTortoiseGuest 7 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0I agree with you. Google should put out a commercial saying, “Apple uses our product and patents because its GREAT for the customer to have access to, thats why we built it in the first place. We are here to make products that customers want and will enjoy, competition should drive ingenuity not litigation.”
Reply CactusCatGuest 02/17/12 10:35 PM Thumb upThumb down +4Yep, nary an Apple troll in sight on this article….
Reply haterontherocksGuest 02/17/12 10:45 PM Thumb upThumb down 0yeah apple take that. google is gonna patent things that apple have already that’s not patent.
Android for life
41cb2000a 02/18/12 12:00 AM Thumb upThumb down +1I wonder if Google will be more gracious than Apple…wouldn’t that be something…it would really make Apple look bad.
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96Nathan D. 02/18/12 12:02 AM Thumb upThumb down 0It would be awesome if Google can get this and make Apple be a sour Apple.
Reply EGuest 02/18/12 12:17 AM Thumb upThumb down 0Google ready to take off the gloves about freaking time
Reply jdGuest 02/18/12 1:06 AM Thumb upThumb down -1Sue the biatch back!
Reply SGuest 02/18/12 2:26 AM Thumb upThumb down +1Nokia was using notifications before Android as they do now in Symbian as well as WP7
Reply 6mrwirez 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down 0Symbian wasn’t using the pull down notification shade/window, and WinPhone uses live tiles.. they are not the same. Look at the sketch above.
Apple on the other hand blatantly ripped Google off on ios5.
ReplyAs they say, “what goes around comes around.” Apple is gonna feel the heat once this patent is approved.
ReplyBwahaha! I mentioned the notification bar ripoff on a couple of my posts. Turn about is fair play ehh Apple?? Hope you get what’s coming to you.
ReplyFINALLY, SOMETHING ANDROID HAS OVER APPLE!!!!! Let the tyrannical rule of Apple disappear and with it rise the best OS known to man, Android!
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91ArticulateFool 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +1I hope Google gets approved for this patent. They could really use the firepower.
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94pekosROB 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down -1How ironic. I just commented on yesterday about “where are all the articles regarding the rip off of notifications from Android?” and poof, here it is!
Great timing Dustin! http://androidandme.com/2012/02/news/google-files-for-patent-to-combat-apples-slide-to-unlock/#comment-273678
Y’all can send me the check in the mail for helping out. Or a free tee shirt or something. :-P Or y’all can just keep doing a great job!
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39Jon Garrett 1 day ago Thumb upThumb down +2When Steve Jobs said “year of the copycats” was this what he was referring to?
ReplyEverything has been said already, I just want to say, “Ohhhh G1, how i miss thee!”
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69CTown 21 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -1Awww… I thought Google wouldn’t resort to this!
Reply AbusedTortoiseGuest 7 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0Resort to what? They have done nothing more than file for a patent in 2009. Google hasn’t done anything
Reply Tony KornheiserGuest 13 hours ago Thumb upThumb down -2I think apple will destroy and SLAUGHTER google like the whites did with the black cotton workers,History repeats itself. Go apple!!!!!
ReplySo many unregistered posts on this thread. Put a name and email behind a dumbass comment like this – which is so far out in space i’m almost ashamed i replied to it.
Reply AbusedTortoiseGuest 7 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0Ha ha ha, that is the most distrubing post I have read on androidandme… congrats, you should win the award of, “i should never reproduce!”
Reply max PainGuest 12 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0Nice to see. Maybe this will put apple in their place( if the patent is awarded) and they will stop all these petty lawsuits.
Reply max PainGuest 12 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0FINALLY, SOMETHING ANDROID HAS OVER APPLE!!!!! Let the tyrannical rule of Apple disappear and with it rise the best OS known to man, Android!
Reply Oh hey its johnGuest 12 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0I hope apple refuses to pay royalty fees to google if google gets the patent. Will they then have to remove it from their devices? Oh man wouldnt i want to see every apple fanboy’s face then lol
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74Javier Bastardo 12 hours ago Thumb upThumb down +1I’m just hoping I don’t see Google/Android turning into the new Apple. I’m sure Apple’s deserves the pain, but, personally, I would just like to see this patent wars to be over.
ReplyPatents, the double edge sword for advancement of industries…
Reply zabinGuest 2 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0I can’t wait for this to happen and for Apple to shut in its pants……
Google rules
Reply zabinGuest 2 hours ago Thumb upThumb down 0Google is not tacking alone to court cuz Google is to
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