patentinfringement
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Apple and Samsung set to meet May 21st, hug it out over 48 hours
These two brawlers were given until July to come together and mediate over their numerous globe-spanning patent lawsuits, but it appears neither side needs to wait that long. According to Foss Patents, May 21st and 22nd have been circled on the calendar of a certain San Francisco courthouse, where Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero will attempt to arbitrate in a calm, soothing voice for two days straight. Presenting himself as a confidant who sits outside of the main litigation being conducted in San Jose, Spero has already asked both parties to open up and provide "candid" statements about the strengths and weaknesses of their own cases, as a first step towards identifying areas of compromise. Fortunately, he still has a few weeks in which to devise further cunning plans.
Nokia gets nose bloodied in IPCom patent case, says it doesn't care anyway
Mannheim is gaining a reputation as the place where patent disputes go to die. The latest loser? Nokia, in a case against German firm IPCom. A saving grace for the Finnish firm, this time, seems to be that the patent in question was granted in February 2011 and all the handsets involved predate this, and are no longer on the market. That's according to the firm's spokesman at least, who also added that it would be seeking a ruling from a higher court to clarify whether current handsets are also affected by the ruling. Well, they do say things come in threes...
Samsung claims Apple is infringing on eight patents in California documents
Executives from Samsung and Apple may be sitting down to discuss patents and infringement, but the legal battle between the two companies is far from over. According to a report from FOSS Patents, Samsung accused Apple of infringing on eight patents in a California lawsuit filed last Wednesday. Rather than target only mobile devices in this suit, Samsung took out the big guns and is aiming at iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, Apple TV, iCloud and iTunes. This suit may be difficult for Samsung to win as two of the patents are FRAND patents which are essential to technology standards and must be licensed under fair and reasonable terms. Five patents, including the two FRAND patents, are from Samsung and three were acquired from Hitachi. Samsung has filed several lawsuits against Apple globally and has yet to win a judgment against the Cupertino company.
HTC says its touchscreens don't violate Apple patents in UK court
Apple and HTC are exchanging blows in a London court case over claims the Taiwanese manufacturer infringes on four Apple patents, says a Bloomberg report. These patents cover various multi-touch gestures, photo zooming and scrolling, slide-to-unlock and the use of a multilingual alphabet when sending text messages. HTC argues that it does not infringe on these patents because "We are dealing with extremely simple implementations of commonly known techniques." This is one of several lawsuits between the two companies, and a win over Apple in the UK could help HTC in these other cases.
Microsoft wins injunction in Washington against Motorola, can keep selling stuff in Germany
Microsoft's been waging legal war against Motorola on several fronts for some time now, and today, team Redmond scored a victory in a federal district court in Washington that'll have repercussions in Germany. The judge granted Microsoft's motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that prevents Motorola from enforcing any injunction it may obtain in the parties' parallel action in Mannheim, Germany. As a quick refresher, this litigation's all about a bundle of Moto-owned standards-essential WiFi and H.264 patents. Naturally, Motorola claims that Microsoft's infringing its IP, and has sought to stop sales of infringing products in Deutschland. Meanwhile, Microsoft contends Moto's in breach of contract because those patents haven't been made available for it to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. This latest legal victory in the US merely means that Motorola won't enforce any injunction it obtains in Mannheim -- which leaves Microsoft free and clear to peddle its wares in Germany.
Qualcomm, Intel provide source code in patent battle
Apple has some unusual bedfellows, Intel and Qualcomm, in a patent infringement case that it's fighting with Samsung in Australia. According to a Bloomberg report, Intel and Qualcomm agreed to provide the Australian court with source code that'll prove Apple isn't infringing on patents held by Samsung. The trial is slated to begin July 9 and will run through October 12. The Sydney Federal Court is expecting the trial to be a blockbuster affair and may assign a second judge and a court-appointed expert to serve at the trial.
Facebook fights back, countersues Yahoo
Surprise, surprise, Facebook has decided to sling a lawsuit Yahoo's way after the latter first filed a patent infringement action against Zuckerberg's crew a few weeks ago. According to Florian Mueller over at FOSSPatents, the social network's alleging some IP infringement of its own -- claiming that Yahoo has run afoul of ten of its patents. The patents in question cover myriad technologies, ranging for ad placement and information arrangements on web pages to privacy controls for managing what info is shown to individual users and instant messaging using email protocol. Just another ho-hum legal battle between tech behemoths here in Silicon Valley, folks, with mere millions of dollars at stake. But, if you're yearning for more, you can read the full complaint at the All Things D source link below.
Oracle and Google get a trial date, April 16th is the start of Android armageddon
As regular readers of this site are well aware, Google and Oracle have had an ongoing legal spat for nearly two years now. In the time since the lawsuit's filing, the legal claims have been narrowed, damages claims have been adjusted, reduced, and reduced again. All that activity, plus continuous settlement talks caused the trial to be delayed several times. But now it appears that the two sides have officially reached an impasse, and so the tech giants will go to trial on April 16th to determine if Android illicitly pulled code from Java. Will Oracle get paid? Will Google and its green bots be gloating in the end? Pop some popcorn and settle in, folks, we'll start getting some answers in a couple weeks.
Apple approached Samsung in attempt to avoid litigation
Last year Apple lawyer Richard Lutton said Steve Jobs contacted Samsung prior to any legal skirmish and tried to give Samsung the "chance to do the right thing." Spotted by The Verge, a recent filing by Apple in a California Federal Court confirms that Apple met with Samsung four times between July and September 2010. During these meetings, Apple warned Samsung about its trade dress and patent infringement concerns well before it filed suit in April 2011.
Microsoft and TiVo agree to drop ongoing patent suits, we ask the world to follow
At last. A pair of companies decide that bickering (and spending) in the courtroom over patents just isn't worthwhile. In an era where it seems like every technology company under the sun is suing at least one other for nondescript "infringements," TiVo and Microsoft are laying aside their differences. Purportedly, both outfits have reached an agreement "under which both companies will dismiss pending litigation over patents." According to a regulatory filing, nary a patent right was granted to Microsoft by TiVo, but for whatever reason, the two have decided that both can continue operations without any more meddling. It all started early last year, when the folks in Redmond alleged that TiVo was infringing on four of its patents; predictably, TiVo slung one of its many patent-related suits in Microsoft's direction. Those looking to dive fully into the last chapter in this one can hit the links below; for the 99 percent, just scoot your eyes down to the next article and exhale in relief. So, Samsung, Apple -- you guys paying attention?
Apple loses ITC ruling against Motorola Mobility in patent infringement case
Florian Mueller over at FOSS Patents noted yesterday that Apple's patent infringement case against Motorola Mobility has been dealt a nearly fatal blow in the courts of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). The suit alleged that Motorola Mobility was infringing on three Apple patents: one all-important patent for a multipoint touchscreen, an "object-oriented system locator system" patent, and a patent for an "ellipse fitting for multi-touch surfaces." The ITC's preliminary ruling in January found no proof that Moto was infringing on Apple's patents, and Friday's final ruling (PDF) upheld the initial finding. That doesn't make this the end of the road for Apple in the fight against Motorola Mobility. In fact, Mueller notes that the company will most likely appeal the decision in a U.S. Federal Circuit Court, as it is doing with another ITC ruling that found in favor of smartphone manufacturer HTC. There is a much better chance that the Federal Courts will overturn the ITC ruling, but Mueller says that this will take a significant amount of time. Smartphone-related patent infringement claims at the ITC tend to have a very high drop-out rate, so many manufacturers are now taking cases to German courts for "fast and furious" decisions. Mueller notes that the courts in Munich and Mannheim are twice as speedy as the ITC, and patent holders like Apple often win favorable rulings. This explains Apple's reasoning in taking a number of other patent infringement complaints to the German courts for swift rulings that result in injunctions on sales of new products.
Yahoo hits Facebook with patent infringement lawsuit
Yahoo has seen some fairly big shakeups within the company recently, and it looks like it's now also trying another change in tactics. As AllThingsD reports, Yahoo has today filed what's being described as a "massive" patent infringement lawsuit against none other than Facebook. That suit concerns ten patents in all, which cover everything from advertising and privacy measures to messaging and social networking itself. As detailed in the complaint (viewable at the source link below), Yahoo alleges that Facebook is infringing on those patents left and right, including in such core features as the News Feed, user profiles, and its advertising methods. Yahoo went on to say in a statement that it has licensed its patents to others but that the "matter with Facebook remains unresolved" and that it's therefore "compelled to seek redress in federal court," further noting that it's "confident" it will prevail. For its part, Facebook says that it's "disappointed that Yahoo's effort to engage with us was limited to a few short phone calls and that we continue to learn of new developments about a long-time partner through the press," adding that "we will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions."
Judge says Apple can't pursue patent infringement case against Kodak
Apple was dealt a setback today in its efforts to prevent Kodak from selling up to $2.6 billion worth of digital imaging patents, with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper ruling that it would be an "inappropriate way forward" to allow Apple to pursue patent litigation against the bankrupt company. For its part, Apple had argued that one of those patents -- concerning the ability to preview digital photos on an LCD screen -- was "misappropriated" from its own technology, and that Kodak therefore shouldn't be allowed to sell it off as part of the planned sale (something Kodak obviously disputes). On that point, the judge did agree that the matter should be resolved soon, just not in the manner in which Apple had been proceeding, further adding that he "would request that the parties report to me on their efforts to come up with a procedure that truly works."
Nintendo says it refuses to 'succumb to patent trolls' as it wins Maryland case
Nintendo issued a fairly terse press release earlier today, announcing that it has prevailed in a US patent lawsuit for the "third consecutive time this year." That particular case concerned Nintendo's Wii Balance Board accessory and Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus software, which a company called IA Labs said infringed on one of its patents (No. 7,121,982); a claim that was dismissed by the Maryland District Court judge in the case. IA Labs was also more or less dismissed as a company by Nintendo's senior vice president of legal and general counsel Rick Flamm, who said that "we vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent," and that "we refuse to succumb to patent trolls." The company's full statement can be found after the break.
ITC to review its decision on Microsoft, Motorola patent case
Remember back in December when the International Trade Commission ruled on a Microsoft complaint from 2010 that Motorola's Android products infringed on seven of its patents, siding with Microsoft initially on one of them? Since that's so hard to forget, it probably comes as no surprise to hear that the ITC announced today it would review the decision in part, as Motorola noted in its press release at the time. Don't expect a final ruling for another month or so (we'd keep that NFL Draft window clear if we were you), but if you're looking for details, FOSSPatents has the notes on which segments are under review. Don't worry if you miss a step though, we'll be sure to let you know once it's all over (hint: it will never, ever be over.)
Daily Update for March 1, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Daily Update for February 28, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Apple sued by patent holder Brandywine over voicemail
It's tough when you're at the top of your game, because everybody wants to shoot you down. A new lawsuit against Apple by Brandywine Communications Technologies claims that our buddies in Cupertino are infringing on two patents that vaguely describe mobile voicemail. And who is Brandywine? If your answer includes the words "patent troll," you may already be a winner. Brandywine Communications Technologies is a firm that Verizon -- in a lawsuit against the company -- called "a patent holding company that is in the business of enforcing patent rights through the filing of various lawsuits." In other words, a patent troll. The two patents that Brandywine is suing over are No. 6,236,717 and No. 5,719,922, both of which cover a "simultaneous voice/data answering machine." Not vague enough for you? Here's the description from the patent filings: "A simultaneous voice and data modem coordinates the storage of voice messages and data messages on an audio answering machine and a personal computer, respectively. This allows the called party to subsequently retrieve, via the simultaneous voice and data modem, both a voice message and an associated data message, i.e., a multimedia message, where the called party listens to the voice message while viewing the data message. The called party can retrieve the multimedia message either locally or from a remote location." Sounds just like Visual Voicemail on the iPhone, doesn't it? Along with Lodsys and NTP, Brandywine appears to be working on the assumption that it's easier to make money by filing lawsuits than by actually creating something of value. Apple has not commented on this latest lawsuit.
Comcast sues Sprint with patent infringement, says two can play that game
Pro tip: when suing the pants off another company for patent infringement, it's a good idea to make sure you're not violating any of that same company's intellectual property. That's the lesson we imagine Sprint is learning at this very moment. Just two months after it filed a lawsuit against Comcast for getting all up in its VoIP business, the digital services company is now ready to go Comcastic on the Now Network's derriere, as it has filed a lawsuit of its own in a Pennsylvania court. While it's not directly tied into December's case, it seems oddly coincidental that this new suit came into existence so soon after Sprint fired the first shot.Comcast and subsidiary TVWorks, LLC allege that Sprint is guilty of violating four wireless patents: its wireless broadband cards, Vision Pack and other SMS services, MMS transfers and voice and data using IP / MPLS backhaul. That's a pretty hefty portion of the carrier's basic operations, it seems, and we're assuming that a settlement or licensing agreement will be the end result here. Regardless, as the adage says, what goes around comes around.
Apple granted injunction in German patent suit, Motorola phones with slide-to-unlock at risk
Apple scored a huge victory today in Munich's Regional Court where Judge Dr. Peter Guntz found Motorola's implementation of slide-to-unlock on smartphones to be in breach of Cupertino's patent holdings. The ruling has resulted in a permanent injunction that Apple could execute at will, forcing Moto to alter the UX it employs across its device portfolio in Deutschland. The case originally focused on three separate applications of this gesture tech -- two for phones, alone -- but for now, the one used on the Xoom has been deemed outside of Apple's purview. Naturally, both parties are expected to appeal this decision, with Apple gunning for a total victory on every derivation of patent EP1964022 and Motorola seeking to overturn the win. Nonetheless, this particular legal triumph could help to set a precedent for the company as it continues to rage an IP war against fellow mobile industry rivals.
