Apple is a company that moves a lot of money, but we can always use the saying that "it won't win for lawyers." There are many lawsuits that Tim Cook and company receive, the most recent, not counting the one that we will comment below, were related to misuse of iPhone connections, which resulted in greater data consumption and, ultimately, an increase in the bill. Now Apple faces a lawsuit filed by Valencell, alleging that Apple has infringed patents, used deceptive business practices and breach of contract.
According to Valencell, the apple company was very interested in its technology to detect the pulse, named performTek, in 2013. Valencell then thought that Apple would use this technology in the Apple Watch. The two met in 2013 and 2014 to discuss the incorporation of PerformTek into the Cupertino smartwatch. How could it be otherwise, Valencell showed Apple what he was working on.
To be more exact, Valencell showed Apple a prototype of a watch that used the aforementioned PerformTek technology. Later, he shipped several products so that those in Cupertino could take a closer look at the operation of this watch. Valencell alleges that Apple lied assuring him that there was an agreement in which Apple would license the Apple Watch with this technology, when in fact he had no intention of doing so.
Once they had examined everything necessary, everything according to Valencell, Apple would have considered what would be most beneficial to them and decided that they would obtain more benefits by infringing the plaintiff's patents even if, as has happened, they were sued. Valencell says that Apple has infringed four of his patents, all of them related to the heart rate sensor. In addition to Apple, Valencell has also sued Fitbit for something similar.
I don't know why, this reminds me a lot of what happened between Apple and Xerox in the early years of the company that Jobs and Wozniak founded. Jobs asked to be taught how to operate the mouse and soon after they included it in their computers. It also reminds me of a large film studio, of which I do not remember the name, that went to ask a small developer how a program that simulated the movement of water with great precision worked, a program that he ended up copying and using in his own projects. I am not going to say that Apple is an angel, far from it, but what I am going to say is that we must be more careful with whom we teach our work. By trusting the wrong person you can lose a lot, as long as Valencell tells the truth. Apple, as usual, has yet to comment on this.
I get the impression that Apple is a white-collar thief