Apple has been under attack for various patent infringement lawsuits. The NY Daily News reported that Yale professor and Unabomber victim, David Gelernter filed a lawsuit in 2001 which claims that Apple encroached on his 'flip through' design similar to Cover Flow, the 'hard drive search' function almost identical to Spotlight and 'automatic save function' comparable to Time Machine. On October 1, 2010, Gelertner was awarded $625.5 million in restitution. Apple Inc. challenged the payout and the judge has agreed to defer it until he hears arguments from both sides.
CNET reported on October 6, 2010, that Motorola has also accused Apple with 18 patent infringements. Motorola believes that Apple has used Motorola's wireless communication technologies such as "...antenna design, and key smartphone technologies including wireless email, proximity sensing, software application management, location-based services and multi-device synchronization" in Apple's iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone and Mac products.
What has Apple said about the lawsuits? Nothing, to date, they have refused to comment. What message does this relay to it's public? Will the public think Apple's silence mean they are guilty? Is Apple waiting for the legal outcomes before addressing the issues to its constituents? Is Apple trying fly under the radar and not draw attention these issues?
Do users care if Steve Jobs and Apple stole ideas and patents from others? Probably not, however, excellent public relations practice includes transparency or disclosure to its publics. As noted in my other posts, Apple doesn't disclose or admit much and its users still wait in line for the newest release.
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