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Apple is selling its contested Watch models again after import ban pause
The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are back on sale after an appeals court granted the company a temporary stay on an import ban. The watches may be banned again on January 10.
Apple denied request to pause Apple Watch sales ban amid patent dispute
The ITC has denied Apple's request to pause the Apple Watch ban until its appeal is done.
ITC rules against Apple in patent dispute, setting up potential ban
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has upheld a judge’s earlier ruling that the Apple Watch violated patents from medical technology company Masimo. The ITC’s order could theoretically lead to a ban, but Apple still has plenty of ways to avoid that.
ITC judge preliminarily rules Google infringed on five Sonos patents
Sonos has won an early victory in its ongoing legal battle with Google.
Jaguar Land Rover wants a US ban on VW SUVs for patent infringement
Jaguar Land Rover is trying to get a US import ban on SUVs from several Volkswagen-owned brands, including those made by Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini.
Gamevice's patent war against Nintendo rages on at the ITC
Even though Gamevice lost its years-long case against Nintendo last month, the company is brining a new complaint against the console manufacturer.
US opens investigation into Google amid Sonos patent suit
It's been about a month since Sonos sued Google for allegedly violating some of its patents behind syncing wireless speakers, and now the US government is getting involved. The US International Trade Commission today announced that it had voted to investigate whether Google and its parent company Alphabet have imported patent-infringing products into the country. To be clear, this doesn't mean the US government has decided that Google has violated Sonos' patents -- but whether or not those patents were violated should fall under the scope of this investigation.
US will investigate Fitbit and Garmin following Philips complaints
The new year isn't getting off to a great start for some wearable device makers. The US International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate Fitbit, Garmin, distributor Ingram Micro and two Chinese manufacturers (Inventec and Maintek) over Philips' patent violation claims. Allegedly, the Fitbit and Garmin devices are infringing on technology such as activity tracking, alarm reporting and motion sensing. Philips maintained that it had been negotiating with the companies for three years before talks fell apart and forced its hand.
Sonos sues Google for allegedly copying its speaker technology
Sonos may have to cozy up to partners like Amazon and Google to compete in the smart speaker world, but that doesn't mean it's happy with how it's being treated. The company has sued Google in federal court over allegations the search giant is violating five of its speaker patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers sync with each other. Google has been "blatantly and knowingly" duping tech Sonos chief Patrick Spence said in a statement, and supposedly refused to cooperate on a "mutually beneficial solution" despite years of discussions.
GlobalFoundries lawsuit threatens sales bans against Apple, NVIDIA
The competition between semiconductor giants is getting ugly, and it could have an unfortunate impact on many of the devices you buy. GlobalFoundries has sued the Taiwanese firm TSMC for allegedly violating 16 patents tied to its chip production business, including ones for semiconductor interconnects and the common FinFET design used in newer processors. The multiple lawsuits (plus complaints at the US International Trade Commission) claim 20 tech companies are infringing on its concepts, and they're definitely names you'll recognize. Apple, ASUS, Google, Lenovo, NVIDIA, OnePlus and Qualcomm are all accused of treading on GlobalFoundries' technology, although Moor Insights' Patrick Moorhead believed their inclusion was mainly meant as leverage against TSMC.
UC Santa Barbara sues Amazon and IKEA over LED lighting
UC Santa Barbara has had enough of retailers selling its patented LED light bulb technology without authorization. This week, the university filed a lawsuit charging Amazon, IKEA, Walmart, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond with infringing its patents. According to Nixon Peabody, the law firm representing UC Santa Barbara, this is the "first-of-its-kind direct patent enforcement campaign against an entire industry."
AMD prevails in patent fight with Vizio over TV graphics
AMD's legal blitz against TV makers over graphics patents has claimed a major casualty. The US International Trade Commission has issued a final determination that Vizio and chip supplier Sigma Designs violated an AMD patent for a parallel pipeline graphics system. The Commission has ordered Vizio and Sigma to "cease and desist" making products that violate the patent, and has banned them from importing any existing products. Vizio is no longer allowed to bring some of its TVs into the US, then, although it's not certain just how much damage this does to the company's bottom line.
Qualcomm hopes to ban Apple's iPhone X sales with new lawsuit
The legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm is even hotter than you might have thought -- so hot they were suing each other on the same day. While Apple was busy suing Qualcomm over Snapdragon chips on November 29th, Qualcomm was filing its own lawsuit claiming that phones ranging from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone X violate 16 patents, including power-saving methods, interfaces and even camera autofocus. There's a matching complaint with the US International Trade Commission that would ban imports (and thus sales) of the iPhone X and other models over five of the patents.
TiVo wins one of its patent fights with Comcast
TiVo has good news going into the holiday season: The International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that Comcast's X1 set-top boxes violate two of TiVo's patents related to setting recordings from a mobile device. As a result, there's now an import ban on "certain" X1 boxes that violate the patents, but older models won't be affected, Reuters reports. An import ban would mean that offending gadgets that've already been brought into the country can't be sold. This ban could be overturned by the Trump administration during the presidential review period. Bloomberg writes that that sort of thing happening is a pretty rare occurrence.
US trade commission looks into Qualcomm's patent fight with Apple
Qualcomm's patent beef with Apple just took an important step forward. The US International Trade Commission has decided to investigate Qualcomm's complaint that some iPhones violate six of its patents. If the chip maker has its way, the ITC would ban imports and sales of Apple's handsets. Not surprisingly, Qualcomm says it's "pleased" with the choice, and eagerly anticipates the "accelerated relief" it could get if the Commission finds in its favor.
Comcast might have to pay TiVo after losing a patent dispute
Comcast may be feeling a twinge of regret for hyping its X1 set-top boxes to the Moon and back. TiVo has won an International Trade Commission dispute accusing Comcast and its hardware partners (Arris and Technicolor) of violating patents through the X1 platform's approach to DVR recording and search. The case had originally covered six patents, but this still means Comcast could be on the hook for licensing fees if it wants to avoid a sales ban.
Qualcomm might try to block iPhone shipments over royalty dispute
The Qualcomm vs. Apple licensing squabble had already gotten messy with lawsuits flying in both directions, but a report by Bloomberg says things could go to the next level soon. That's because according to sources, Qualcomm plans to ask the ITC to block Apple from importing its phones from where they're built in Asia to the US, ahead of new devices that we're anticipating in the fall. We don't know if it could be successful, although Qualcomm holds a number of patents in the space and Apple stopped making payments while the dispute is ongoing.
iRobot starts a patent war over robot vacuums (update: ITC case)
It's getting nasty in the robot vacuum arena. iRobot has filed lawsuits against Bissell, Black & Decker, Bobsweep, iLife and Hoover for allegedly violating several patents for the concept of an autonomous room-cleaning robot. The company "will not stand by" as rivals "infringe on our intellectual property" by making similar competing machines, according to a statement. We've reached out to the companies targeted by the lawsuits and will let you know how they're responding, although it's safe to say they aren't likely to roll over.
AMD claims LG and Vizio are violating its graphics patents
AMD is one of the few remaining companies with a big stake in graphics hardware (it's powering the PS4 and Xbox One in addition to PCs), and it's determined to hold on to that stake however it can. In the wake of an earlier filing, the US International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate LG, MediaTek, Sigma Designs and Vizio for allegedly violating AMD's graphics patents. Allegedly, the visual processing in their devices (including phones, mobile CPUs and TVs) treads on AMD's concepts for unified graphics shaders and parallel graphics pipelines. AMD is hoping for a sales ban on any offending products.
Fitbit drops its attempt to ban Jawbone device sales
For once, the he-said-she-said legal fight between Fitbit and Jawbone appears to be simmering down. Jawbone tells us in a statement (below) that Fitbit has dropped its US International Trade Commission patent case, which sought to ban sales of Jawbone devices in the country. If you ask Jawbone, this ends "baseless" allegations that were meant solely as a "burden." This doesn't mean that the company will respond in kind (its accusations of trade secret theft will see trial in 2017), but it's one less battle to worry about. But why did Fitbit change its mind?
