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FTC tells ITC that bans over standards-based patents aren't kosher, looks warily at Motorola and Samsung
Most of the scrutiny over abuse of standards-based patents has come through European Union investigations of Motorola and Samsung. That attention might come to the US if the Federal Trade Commission has its way. It just sent a letter to the International Trade Commission arguing that companies should be blocked from landing bans if they base their disputes on standards. These kinds of blockades "deter innovation" and spur companies to try for much more of a cash windfall from a patent than it's really worth, the FTC argues. The letter doesn't directly accuse anyone of getting their fingers dirty, but there's little doubt that it's referring to Motorola (now part of Google) and Samsung: their varying ITC disputes against Apple and Microsoft are often based around standards patents for technologies like 3G and H.264 video, which aren't supposed to demand legal action except as a last resort. An angry FTC missive doesn't constitute a formal investigation that would actively worry either Motorola or Samsung, but it certainly fires a warning shot across the bow.
ITC says again that Apple and RIM don't violate Kodak patent
Kodak hasn't caught a break lately, and that trend isn't easing up any time soon with a second rejection arriving in its main International Trade Commission (ITC) patent dispute with Apple and RIM. Despite having had its case remanded after a loss last year, Kodak is once more being told that BlackBerrys and iPhones don't violate a patent on previewing photos. The one violation was rendered moot through "obviousness," according to administrative law judge Thomas Pender. It's still an initial ruling, and Kodak is trying to put a positive light on the situation -- it's "pleased" there's still an infringement, even if the patent claim is invalid -- but the patent wars aren't looking good for a photography company that has already had to give up cameras to have a chance of staying afloat. Most of Kodak's hope, then, will be pinned on a second wave of ITC disputes that might stand a better chance of putting at least Apple's feet to the fire.
Samsung sales injunction won't kick in prior to patent validity check
Stick with us here. A German court has ruled that Samsung will be able to fight to protect the sale of its products before an argument over the actual patent involved in those products is resolved in favor of either company. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is. Usually, in Germany, companies can sue for injunctions before the patents in question are ruled valid or invalid, to stop sales of a certain product immediately. If the patent is then ruled invalid (meaning that the competitive device is actually not infringing it and will not need to be changed), there's a compensation system in place to make good the lost sales income. If it is a valid patent, then sales were rightfully blocked. But in the case of Apple accusing Samsung of using photo gallery technology it has previously patented, the German court has ruled that Samsung will be able to try and stop the injunction, even before the patent argument has been decided. If Samsung is able to block the injunction, then, it will be able to keep selling its phones, even if the eventual patent dispute is resolved in Apple's favor.
Sprint to pay at least $1 billion to use Clearwire's 4G network through 2012
Although it might not make a difference to consumers, the 4G network ripping through Sprint-branded devices such as the EVO 4G doesn't actually belong to the carrier. Rather, Sprint rents use of Clearwire's network, and the two have been duking it out for months over just how much that service is worth. That battle finally came to an end today when Sprint, which happens to be Clearwire's majority owner, agreed to pay at least $1.03 billion this year and next to run its WiMAX devices on the network. The two companies also agreed to mutual wholesale rights, meaning they can sell access to each other's 3G and 4G networks to other providers. And they reached a pricing agreement for phones that offer both 3G and 4G connectivity -- a bone of contention for Sprint, whose customers can't all take advantage of 4G speeds, depending on where they live. Then again, Clearwire needs those billions precisely so that it can expand its network. As for Sprint, it can now blow less cash on legal fees -- and instead gird itself for a potential three-horse race against Verizon and AT&T&T. [Image courtesy of Mobiledia]
Storyboard: A group effort
Roleplaying is like many other activities in MMOs -- it can't be done alone. That means that no matter how much of an antisocial player you might be for the rest of the game, you'll need a number of other people to make any roleplaying work. By extension, any longer storylines and character development require people working together with some level of consistency. You can technically have a character's development take place without the same audience, of course, but it won't mean as much to the late arrivals. Put very simply, you want a coherent overarching sequence of events that you can point to for your characters. This is going to require some level of group coordination, and group RP events are a great excuse for roleplaying bonds to form anyway, so it's fully endorsed. For this week's Storyboard, we're going to take a look at running a group event in the smoothest way possible, ranging from a simple one-off night of adventure to a long guild-wide storyline that ends with time travel. (You know the story is really getting overwrought when the time travel makes things simpler, see.)
Sadly, iPod girls will not get publicly berated by Judge Judy
In what is slowly snowballing into the Trial of the Century (and being only 2006, we can safely say the Trial of the Millennium), the dispute between the families of Shannon Derrick and Stephanie Eick over a stolen iPod will not, unfortunately, be resolved in the hallowed halls of Judge Judy's tough-but-fair courtroom. Amusingly, the plaintiff's mother originally saw the show as a quick way to resolve the matter on a level playing field, even though this whole incident could have been put to bed weeks ago had said mother not rejected a free iPod and associated swag donated by an anonymous do-gooder. As much as we'd love to hear JJ's take on this silly matter, since Eick's parents have been dropped from the suit and now only the piggybank of 14-year-old Stephanie is being pursued, it's up to her to approve a change of venue from Illinois to California. According to dad Steve, young Stephanie -- now a high school freshman -- doesn't want to go the Judy route because -- get this -- she'd have to miss two days of school and diving practice. (Who says kids these days lack ambition? When we were on the swim team, we would have given up our favorite pair of goggles to miss class and those grueling after-school torture sessions). Anyway, the next chapter in this saga will be played out on October 18th, when a DuPage County judge will attempt a last ditch effort at ending the debacle amicably through a settlement hearing. And after that? The high-profile case will most likely end up going to trial, and regardless of the final resolution, there's a good chance that Apple's legal team will swoop in and sue both families for besmirching the good name of their precious little cash cow.[Via The Beacon News, thanks Ricardo]
SanDisk busted at IFA, forced to take down display DAPs
Now we've never actually manufactured a product ourselves, but if we had, and we were showing off said product at a major European trade show, we'd be mighty embarrassed if a bunch of lawyer-types showed up at our expensive booth and told us to stash the goods out of public view. Well apparently that's exactly what happened to Sansa-manufacturer SanDisk over the weekend at Berlin's IFA exhibition, after an Italian patent management company called Sisvel convinced a German prosecutor to issue an injunction against the US's number two DAP seller. No surprises here, but the beef that Sisvel has with SanDisk centers around certain MPEG audio patents that many big-name companies -- including Apple, Archos, and Creative, to name just three of over 600 -- have taken seriously enough to license, with SanDisk being the one notable exception. SanDisk and Sisvel are already locked in heated legal battles in several large countries, and until the courts pick a winner or SanDisk decides to pay up, Sisvel wants to make sure that they can only show pictures of their products at events like IFA -- not exactly the best way to impress potential buyers. If we were SanDisk in this situation, we might take a page out of iPod Shuffle knockoff manufacturer Luxpro's book -- you know, the ripoff artists who got busted by Apple legal at CeBIT -- and comply just long enough for the hired guns to leave the building, followed by a mad dash to put the players back up on their displays and put our big fake sales grins back on our faces.
Xbox ownership dispute leads to arson
Following the horrific incident in 2004 in which four dim-witted individuals perpetrated a home invasion and mass murder in order to "reclaim" their repo'ed Xbox, comes another tale of disputed console ownership leading to tragic consequences. A 20-year-old Seattle man returned to his former residence on Thursday in an attempt to take possession of an Xbox that he had supposedly purchased, and in a classic example of "if I can't play with this toy then no one can," tossed the 'Box right through a window and into the front yard. Not content with destroying what may have been his own property, the young man returned later that night and set fire to home's back porch, and although no injuries were reported, the structure was apparently completely gutted. Making the suspect even more eligible for the "Stupid Criminals' Hall of Fame" was the fact that he called the house from a payphone (while it was still burning, presumably) to brag of his crime and make additional threats. The lesson here: videogames may or may not incite folks to violence, but fighting over them sure does. [Via Joystiq]
