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Creative pushes for US bans on several smartphone makers
Creative has a long history of wielding its patents against other tech companies (just ask Apple), but its latest effort might top them all. The US International Trade Commission is investigating Creative's complaints that seven smartphone makers (BlackBerry, HTC, LG, Lenovo/Motorola, Samsung, Sony and ZTE) violate its patents. Allegedly, all of the companies are imitating Creative's hierarchical menu system for media playback, much as the iPod supposedly duped Zen players a decade ago. If successful, the ITC dispute would ban the sale of at least some of these companies' devices... and given the sheer scope of the complaint, you'd probably notice the absences on store shelves.
Judge says NVIDIA violated Samsung's patents
NVIDIA's attempt at suing its mobile chip rivals into oblivion isn't really going according to plan. On top of losses in its own cases, the graphics pioneer is now facing the threat of a sales ban: a US International Trade Commission judge has ruled that NVIDIA is infringing on three Samsung patents. This isn't a final decision, but the Tegra maker now has to hope that the full ITC has a change of heart when it reviews the case a few months from now. Its main consolation is that one of the patents expires in 2016 -- any ban on products using that patent would only last for a few months at best.
US trade agency isn't allowed to block overseas internet data
If you've followed the smartphone patent wars, you know that the US International Trade Commission is a force to be reckoned with -- copy someone's product and you could face a sales ban. Its authority apparently doesn't extend into the digital realm, however. An appeals court has ruled that the ITC can't block internet transmissions from other countries when it hands down a ruling. The court argued that there's a "fundamental difference" between data and material goods, and that the ITC's authority only covers physical objects.
ITC finds that Samsung and Qualcomm didn't violate NVIDIA patents
NVIDIA's first patent lawsuit campaign isn't exactly going according to plan. The US International Trade Commission has ruled that Samsung and Qualcomm aren't infringing on NVIDIA's graphics patents. The judge rejected two of the patent claims outright and deemed a third patent invalid. There's still a chance that the ITC will rethink its decision following a review in February, but this steals a lot of the thunder out of NVIDIA's legal war -- Samsung and Qualcomm aren't facing a looming government sales ban that could force them to settle the civil dispute. NVIDIA says it's still "confident" that it'll emerge triumphant, but that may be putting on a brave face... especially when Samsung's counterattack is still underway.
Microsoft prevails over an 8-year-old attempt to block its phone sales
Remember the heady days of August 2007, when the iPhone had barely reached store shelves and the Nokia N95 was all the rage? The US International Trade Commission sure does. After reviewing an 8-year-long case, the ITC has ruled that Nokia's phones (now Microsoft's) don't infringe on InterDigital patents covering 3G cellular technology. The decision eliminates the possibility of an import ban that would have prevented Microsoft from selling many of its phones in the US, including modern day Lumias. Things very nearly didn't go the company's way -- a judge had ruled in April that Microsoft was using InterDigital's patents, which would have forced the folks in Redmond to pay up.
Samsung asks the US government to block NVIDIA's chips
The patent war between NVIDIA and Samsung isn't going to wind down any time soon. Samsung has backed up its countering lawsuit against NVIDIA with a US International Trade Commission complaint asking the agency to block imports of NVIDIA's GeForce graphics chips and Tegra mobile processors. While it's not clear just which parts are under scrutiny, the dispute names a slew of third-party device makers who'd have to stop selling hardware in the US. Most of them are video card designers, such as Biostar and EVGA, but the action would also affect Tegra-based gadgets like OUYA's mini console and the Wikipad gaming tablet.
White House refuses to veto import ban on Samsung products
In early August, Apple was on the receiving end of some good news as the Obama administration vetoed an ITC import ban on older models of the iPhone and iPad. While Apple was lucky enough to avoid an import ban on its products, the same can't be said for Samsung. In a statement issued today, the White House explained that they will not overturn an import ban affecting Samsung products, which were found to be infringing upon patented Apple technologies. Samsung was hoping to have the import ban vetoed on public policy grounds. "After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow [the import ban]", said US Trade Representative Michael Froman in a statement issued today. The import ban only affects a select number of Samsung devices. The White House statement notes that products that incorporate workarounds that do not infringe upon Apple patents will not be affected by the import ban. Bloomberg reports: The import ban is on a limited number of products. The ITC said newer models by Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung had worked around two Apple patents, which covered a multitouch feature and one for a sensor for headphone jacks. Froman added, "Thus, I do not believe that concerns with regard to enforcement related to the scope of the order, in this case, provide a policy basis for disapproving it." It's worth pointing out that the patented technologies Samsung asserted against Apple with respect to its import ban related to standard-essential patents.
US upholds ITC's import ban on older Samsung devices
Samsung isn't getting much of a chance to revel in its recent legal victories, it seems. While the President vetoed an ITC ban on imports of older Apple devices, he's not extending that same courtesy to Samsung -- his administration just upheld a parallel ban on certain Samsung phones. The Korean firm can ask for a delay in an appeals court, but it can't avoid the trade restrictions altogether. Not that the ban deals a serious blow, mind you. Affected devices like the Galaxy S II, Continuum and Transform have mostly left the market; at this stage, Apple's ITC victory is primarily symbolic.
HTC must alter chip in One smartphone to avoid Nokia patents
Poor HTC. As if it didn't already have enough to deal with, the troubled manufacturer now has to meddle with the original design of the One and other smartphones in order to avoid infringing on a couple of Nokia patents. According to the Wall Street Journal, HTC is currently working with Qualcomm to find a different method of improving reception and transmission within its radio components, following a successful patent suit by Nokia in the US a week ago. If these tweaks don't happen, and if the ITC upholds Nokia's victory when it considers the matter in January, a number of models could potentially be subject to import bans. This has happened before, however, when HTC unwittingly infringed on a Nokia microphone patent and quickly managed to find a workaround, so by now it has become adept at this sort of fire-fighting and says it already has a plan to avoid "business disruption."
Jury awards Microsoft $15 million in Motorola patent case
Microsoft has been awarded $15 million in damages by a jury following a patent infringement lawsuit first filed by Motorola in 2010. Motorola spokesman William Moss said in a statement (via the Seattle Times) that the company was "disappointed" but is looking forward "to an appeal of the novel legal issues raised in this case." Motorola Mobility claimed Microsoft had infringed upon five different patents in the original lawsuit, though four were eventually dismissed over the years. The fifth patent, which deals with peer-to-peer communication between two wireless devices, then became the focus of the case over the last few years. The last year saw the most developments in the case, with ITC Judge David Shaw ruling in favor of Motorola in April of last year. Shaw then pushed for an Xbox import ban in the US the following month, only to have the ITC remand his decision and push it back to an administrative law judge for a second look. The suit then went through the process again, though Shaw ruled in Microsoft's favor the second time around.
Samsung infringed two Apple patents, says US ITC
As mentioned earlier, it's a triple witching day for Apple's legal and intellectual property teams, with multiple decisions expected. The US ITC ruling on Apple's patent case against Samsung, where Apple had claimed infringement of multiple patents, has arrived: the commission found that the Korean electronics giant did indeed infringe on two patents, while no violation was found on four others. The infringement remedy is an import ban covering the affected devices. The infringed patents in this case are the '949 patent ("Touch screen device, method and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics") and the '501 patent ("Audio I/O headset plug and plug detection circuitry"). FOSS Patents, as usual, has a solid rundown of the ruling, pointing out the difference between these patents (which are not part of any industry standard, and are not covered under FRAND licensing conventions) and the ones Samsung asserted against Apple, resulting in an overturned import ban. While the commission's import ban order is set to take effect at the end of the statutory 60-day review period, the original case dealt with older Samsung devices that are probably not high on the import quota list today. The question, however, is whether Samsung's newer devices are still using the same designs that infringed the Apple patents, or whether they've been worked around successfully since then. If they haven't, that could mean a chunk of trouble for Samsung.
ITC bans imports of some Samsung devices pending presidential review (update: Samsung statement)
Despite that billion dollar verdict, the legal battle between Samsung and Apple continues, and the most recent happening comes from the ITC. Following up on an ITC administrative law judge's ruling late last year finding that Samsung had infringed a few of Apple's patented designs and tech, the Commission made its final determination today and issued a limited exclusion order for some Samsung devices. In its decision, the Commission found no violations of any of Apple's design patents, and only found that Samsung infringed a pair of patents -- patent number 7,479,949 for touchscreen technology, and patent number 7,912,501 for audio jack I/O circuitry. In doing so, the Commission stated that devices with workarounds to the asserted patents that were found not to infringe by the ALJ are not subject to the exclusion order. As a result, offending Samsung devices are scheduled to be banned from importation after a 60-day presidential review period. During those two months, the devices can still be sold, but unless Obama steps up for Samsung in the same way he did for Apple in a separate ITC case, we won't be seeing them stateside again. While we don't have an exact list of the affected devices, we do know that the devices at issue are older models like the Continuum, the Transform and the Galaxy S II. So, consumers won't feel much of an impact from the ban, but we bet Apple's legal team will have a much more enjoyable weekend as a result of this latest win. Update: Samsung has issued a statement on the matter, which can be found after the break.
Today is a big day of legal wrangling for Apple
The LA Times has a good breakdown of what's happening today. Today, Apple has three coincidental rulings set to happen. The first is with the ITC, the same group who handed Apple a loss to Samsung, which was then vetoed by the president (something that hasn't happened in decades). In this case, the ITC will be ruling on four more patents which Apple claims Samsung violated. The Korean government said it will also be watching -- for favoritism. Then there's a hearing related to the US$1 billion judgment against Samsung for infringement. That settlement amount was later reduced to $450 million, but today, a Washington, D.C. court is considering a request by Apple to ban some of the older Samsung devices said to be in violation. So, in addition to punitive fees, Apple wants to ban these devices from being sold here. Sound familiar? It was denied before, so this is an appeal. Finally there's the nasty e-book pricing situation. This unfortunate case led to a defeat for Apple in court. Today's New York hearing is to determine "remedies" for the price-fixing scheme. Thus far, the courts (in particular, Judge Denise Cote) have been pretty brutal to Apple, seemingly on a vendetta to put Apple in its place. We'll be watching intently to see how deep a hole the government wishes to dig for Apple in this situation. These three cases, individually might not be a big deal. All of them together could bolster -- or weaken -- Apple's legal bravado.
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revives Apple's ITC battle with Motorola over multi-touch patents
It's been well over a year since the ITC ended its initial investigation into Apple's allegations that a spate of Motorola mobile devices infringed its patents on multi-touch display technology. Apple remained undeterred by that ruling and appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Today, Cupertino got what it wanted when the CAFC overturned parts of the ITC's decision, and remanded it back to the ITC for further consideration.
How one ITC commissioner's dissent opinion cleared the way for veto of Apple product ban
For those of you that have an interest in patent law or an interest in the ITC's ruling in the Apple-Samsung case, which President Barack Obama just vetoed, then you should check out this piece from Philip Elmer-DeWitt. In the piece, Elmer-Dewitt explains how the ITC's original ruling forced the first presidential veto in a quarter century thanks to the dissent of Dean Pinkert, one of the six ITC commissioners. Most notably, Pinkert said that Samsung had failed to make a reasonable FRAND patent offer to Apple because the offer it did make came with strings attached... strings it knew Apple could not agree with. Specifically, Samsung wanted Apple to license non-essential iPhone patents to the company in return for its FRAND patents. This made it appear Apple was being unreasonable, thus incurring the ITC's original ban on some of its products. This led Pinkert to write in his dissent that "it is neither fair nor non-discriminatory for the holder of the FRAND-encumbered patent to require licenses to non-FRAND-encumbered patents as a condition for licensing its patent." Elmer-Dewitt theorizes that this set the stage for something the Obama administration, and the ITC itself, wanted: a strong sign via a presidential veto that signaled the United States was serious about putting an end to unreasonable patent lawsuits. Whether or not the presidential veto will have a lasting effect on patent lawsuits in the United States remains to be seen, however many in the industry believe it will jump-start much-needed patent reform in the country.
Samsung's market value plummets following US presidential veto
Over the weekend, the Obama administration vetoed the US International Trade Commission's import ban pertaining to older generation iPhones and iPads. The move marked the first time since the '80s that a US president vetoed an ITC ruling. While Apple is of course thrilled with the Obama administration stepping up to protect FRAND rights, the same can't be said for Samsung, or its investors. In the wake of the ITC veto, Samsung's market value dropped by over US$1 billion. Also expressing concern regarding the veto was the South Korean government itself, which on Monday issued a statement exclaiming that the veto will have a negative impact on patent property rights. Reuters reports: "We express concerns about the negative impact that such a decision would have on the protection of patent rights," the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, said in a statement. The ministry called on the U.S. trade body and the Obama administration to make "fair and reasonable decisions" as Samsung faces a decision on Friday as to whether some of its phones and tablets infringed on Apple's patents and should be banned from imports into the United States. As the legal drama between Samsung and Apple continues to evolve, the ITC will issue another ruling on Friday, this time regarding whether or not it should ban Samsung products that Apple alleges infringe upon its own intellectual property.
Weekly Roundup: Moto X preview, Nexus 7 review, Chromecast review, and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Obama administration vetoes ITC import ban on older iPhones and iPads
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, on Saturday the Obama administration vetoed the US International Trade Commission's import ban on older models of Apple's iPads and iPhones. The ITC ordered the ban after it found the Apple devices infringed a Samsung patent. The ban, had it been enforced, would have blocked importation of the GSM-compatible iPad 2 and iPhone 4. In his letter to the Chairman of the ITC, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman focused on the issue of the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing of standards-essential patents (SEPs). He writes that "licensing SEPs on FRAND terms is an important element of the Administration's policy of promoting innovation and economic progress." Apple contacted AllThingsD with a statement supporting the decision. "We applaud the Administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way," an Apple spokeswoman said. Froman says this decision is "not an endorsement or criticism of the Commission's decision or analysis" and adds that Samsung may "continue to pursue its rights through the courts." You can read his full decision in this PDF. Apple has its own complaint pending against Samsung with the ITC, as noted yesterday. Although Verizon doesn't sell the GSM iPad 2 or iPhone 4, a company representative weighed in supporting the Obama veto in the WSJ last month.
Obama vetoes ITC ban on older AT&T-compatible iPhones and iPads (update: Samsung responds)
Remember that ITC ban on the import, sale and distribution of some AT&T-compatible iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G models Samsung won in June? The Obama administration has officially vetoed the ruling. A letter issued to Irving A. Williamson, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission ITC, explains that the decision considers the ban's "effect on competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers." If you'll recall, the case focused on patent 7,706,348 for encoding mobile communications, which Samsung claimed the aforementioned devices infringed upon. The administration notes that despite his decision on the ruling, Samsung will still be able to "pursue its rights through the courts" (i.e. monetary compensation, etc.). In a statement to All Things Digital, an Apple representative notes: We applaud the Administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way. You can peruse the full four-page memo for yourself at the source link. Update: Courtesy of 9to5Mac, here's Samsung's response: We are disappointed that the U.S. Trade Representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC's decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license.
ITC postpones its decision on Apple's complaint against Samsung
Yesterday, August 1, 2013 was the day that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) was supposed to make a decision on Apple's complaint against Samsung. According to Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents, the ITC gave notice yesterday that it is postponing that decision by eight days until August 9, 2013. Not to be confused with the possible ban on importation of older Apple iPhones and iPads due to infringement by Apple of some Samsung technical patents, this ruling was to determine possible sanctions against Samsung after Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender found in October 2012 that Samsung had infringed on three Apple technical patents and one design patent. Additional violations by Android's text-selection feature were found after the ITC had remanded some issues to Judge Pender. August 9 is going to be an important day for Apple. Not only will the ITC announce its decision (unless it is postponed again), but that's the day that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit holds a hearing on Apple's appeal of a court denial of an injunction against a number of Samsung products found to be infringing on Apple patents. The next three days are also critical for Apple, as the presidential review period for the Samsung ban against older iPhones and iPads expires. As noted yesterday, a bipartisan group of US senators has called on US Trade Representative Michael Froman to veto the ban, and today Washington, DC-based antitrust lawyer Jay Jurata called for the White House to "rein in the ITC" on standard-essential patents.
