Qualcomm and Duracell have announced the signing of a letter of intent to cooperate on the development of a new wireless charging standard. Qualcomm will be developing the underlying technology which it already possesses as WiPower, while Duracell will provide branding and marketing support.
The goal of the preliminary partnership is to form an industry standard behind Qualcomm’s WiPower specification which it touts as having enough flexibility for device manufacturers and consumers to use in terms of device integration and ease of use.
The WiPower standard utilizes a charging pad and short-range wireless transmission to compatible devices with built-in recievers. Touted advantages of WiPower include automatic shut down when charging is complete and flexible device alignment for design and installation into phones and other applications such as commercial and passenger vehicles, office and home furniture, and communal spaces such as airports or coffee shops.
But this is yet another case of Apple applying for a patent for something that has already been patented (by WiPower in 2008). Basically just trying to use their legal muscle to bully the existing owner of the intellectual property for this technology because they KNOW it’s gonna be a huge market eventually. I think Apple’s legal department must be getting bigger than their tech development at this point to be honest but more info available regarding trademarks, patents and other intellectual property matters available on http://trademarkshop.ca.