Apple and the Dogs of Patent War

Patents and patent law have played big roles in Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) business this past week.

For one thing, Apple's chief patent counsel, Richard "Chip" Lutton Jr., will be leaving his post, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.Meanwhile, Apple's patent disputes with Android device makers HTC and Samsung continue; a consortium led by the company is getting its hands on several Nortel (NYSE: NT) patents; and Apple has had a setback in its legal battle to claim copyright over the term "App Store."
In other reaches of the Apple universe, the iPhone continues to be a money-spinner for Cupertino, with a report that it has given Apple 50 percent of the profits made by the smartphone industry, despite having less than 20 percent of the market and losing ground to Android.Analysts continue to debate the possibility of Apple launching one -- or perhaps two -- new iPhones in September.

On the apps front, Cupertino appears unassailable. Apple users are not only buying lots more apps, but they're paying more per app, and the company claims more than 15 billion apps have been downloaded from the iTunes App Store. That could ensure Apple remains dominant in the tablet market, although the best-selling tablets at Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) are Android devices. Cupertino did not respond to requests for comment on several of these issues by press time.
AAPL closed at $353.75 on Tuesday.

Apple and the Patent-Go-Round

Apple's chief patent counsel, Richard "Chip" Lutton, is leaving the company after 10 years and will be replaced by B.J. Watrous, a former deputy general counsel with HP (NYSE: HPQ), Reuters reported.
The departure comes at a time when Apple is tied up in patent litigation with Android device manufacturers HTC, Samsung and Motorola (NYSE: MOT).It's not clear why Lutton is leaving, or how his departure might impact Apple.Meanwhile, a consortium led by Apple has obtained court approval to snap up several patents put on the block by ailing Canadian telecommunications vendor Nortel. These include several smartphone-related patents, many related to LTE, which is becoming a widely adopted 4G wireless technology worldwide.Separately, a federal judge has denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction preventing Amazon from using the term "App Store," but it disagreed with Amazon's claim that the term is purely generic, paving the way for litigation to continue.

Minting Money With the iPhone

Apple snarfed up about 50 percent of the net earnings of the entire handset industry in the first quarter of 2011, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley has reported. The iPhone 4 continued to be the leading smartphone at both AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon in June, Walkley said.Meanwhile, there's lots of speculation over when Apple will release a new iPhone, and what will be unveiled when it does.
Some analysts contend Apple's building two iPhones to be released in September, while others believe it will unveil only one.

The Power of the App

Apple's iOS, which runs on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, will continue to be the leading mobile operating system, Cannacord Genuity's Walkley stated.That is likely driven by the plethora of apps available for iOS devices.Apple users are reportedly buying 61 percent more apps and paying 14 percent more per app, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors.Last week, Apple announced that customers have made more that 15 billion app downloads from the iTunes App Store.

iPad on the iThrone?

The best-selling tablets on Amazon.com are Android devices, although the online retail giant also carries iPads."All tablets have been selling very well this year as customers continue to show strong interest in this new category," Amazon spokesperson Anya Waring told MacNewsWorld. "The Toshiba Thrive 10.1-inch Android Tablet currently occupies the No. 1 position," she added.Another possible competitor to the iPad family might come from Amazon itself, which is reported to have plans to bring out its own device.
"A Retrevo survey found that Amazon's very high up on the list that people would buy a tablet from, so they have very good brand recognition, Apple notwithstanding," Andrew Eisner, director of community and content at Retrevo, told MacNewsWorld. However, that threat may not be so lethal.

"The question device manufacturers have to answer is, 'Why are you doing this?'" Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research, told MacNewsWorld. "

A lot of people have the technology, but Apple offers a lifestyle." That, Morgan suggested, is why iOS devices are so successful.