More Videos
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- Apple Comes to AT&T's Rescue
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- Dell Has Some Explaining to Do
- Dell May Start to Show Some Promise
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- Apple's Global Retail Invasion
- Intel Settles; AMD Settles the Score
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Why Amazon Rules Retail
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- JAL Slides to Record Low on Bankruptcy Jitters
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- Paul: Audit the Fed
- Hewlett-Packard Profit Rises, Matches Guidance
- Holiday Travel Outlook
- The Social Media Gaming Threat
- Can Murdoch Help Bing Challenge Google and Shift the Content Equation?
- HP's Mark Hurd
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- 9 Stocks That Play Rising Water Costs: Strategists
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Gold Prices Can Double in 3 Years: Portfolio Manager
- Nov. 23: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Help Wanted—Please Run $4 Billion University
- Apple Comes to AT&T's Rescue
- Obama says Boosting US Jobs is Top Priority
- More Consumers Giving 'Black Friday' the Cold Shoulder
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- Hewlett-Packard Earnings Rise, Match Guidance
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- Cramer: What Monday’s Housing Number Really Means
- Why the Dollar Will Likely Stay Weak for Some Time
- Bear, Lehman Execs Weren't Wiped Out by Crisis: Study
- How Real Estate Investors Skew Housing's Reality
RSS FEED
Tech Check
Text Size 
Them's fightin' words, or at least they sure sounded like them, from Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook who appears to be taking square aim at Palm and the company's new touch screen Pre.
 |
CNBC.com Tim Cook |
On the conference call with Wall Street analysts this evening, Cook was responding to a question from RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky who asked about iPhone competitors and how many of them navigated "carefully around your multi-touch (intellectual property.) But the Palm Pre almost directly emulates what you have already patented," he said.
While Cook didn't want to name any specific companies, it was clear in the context of the question asked that he was likely referring to Palm and the company's new Pre handset that generated enormous headlines following its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, and was responsible for a huge run-up in Palm shares [PALM
Loading...
()
] since. Shares were trading at just over $3 then, and closed today at $7.84. Should be interesting to see how Palm shares weather this not-so-veiled threat.
"We like competition, as long as they don't rip off our IP," said Cook. When Abramsky followed with a direct reference to Palm and its Pre, Cook said, "I don't want to talk about any particular company. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off. And we will use whatever weapons we have at our disposal."
More on Apple
- Apple's Conference Call: The Live Blog
- One Take On The SEC Inquiry Into Apple Worth Reading
- Apple On Deck; Tumult vs. Triumph?
When contacted for further information, Apple [AAPL
Loading...
()
] said Cook's comments speak for themselves, and that he was careful not to name specific companies.
However, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said, "That was definitely a shot across the bow of Palm. It's clear that Apple's gonna go after Palm."
I spoke with Lynn Fox, Palm spokeswoman, who tells me, "Apple was not the first to do 'mult-touch.' Multi touch has a long history dating back to the 1980s. We have patents too."
"Palm has been building its own intellectual property portfolio for 15 years, and we will defend it vigorously, if necessary," Fox added.
The Apple/Palm relationship borders on contentious since former Apple executive and iPod guru Jonathan Rubinstein joined Palm as executive chairman in June 2007.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes