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Immersion sues Apple for infringing on haptic feedback patents
Apple's the star in the latest chapter of Immersion's court drama. The California haptic feedback developer known for going to court to guard its technologies has filed a lawsuit against Apple and AT&T. It says the haptic feedback systems of the Apple iPhone 6/6Plus, iPhone 6/6s Plus and Watch/Watch Sport/Watch Edition infringe upon two of its patents. Those are no. 8,619,051, which is named "Haptic Feedback System with Stored Effects," and "Method and Apparatus for Providing Tactile Sensations" that's filed under no. 8,773,356. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus allegedly infringe upon a third patent, as well: no. 8,659,571 named "Interactivity Model for Shared Feedback on Mobile Devices."
Uber wants to pay $28.5 million to settle lawsuits about your safety
Today, Uber is trying to kill two legal albatrosses with one stone. After contending with a pair of class action lawsuits over a questionable "safe ride fee," the company petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to settle both of them in one shot with a $28.5 million payout. That's the most amount of money Uber has ever had to shell out over a lawsuit, but don't get your hopes up — payouts will be downright paltry.
James Woods gets permission to sue his Twitter abuser
This week has already seen plenty of focus on Twitter's sometimes toxic culture, and now another high-profile victim is speaking out. James Woods has reportedly been given the go-ahead to launch a $10 million anti-defamation lawsuit against an anonymous Twitter user that suggested the actor used drugs. The case was expected to be thrown out by Judge Mel Recana at a hearing on February 2nd, but chose not to at the last minute. The Hollywood Reporter is claiming to have seen court documents saying that the statement was sufficiently factual not to be dismissed as Twitter hyperbole.
Apple ordered to pay $625 million in FaceTime patent lawsuit
VirnetX has been a thorn in Apple's side (and a good chunk of the tech industry) for the better part of this decade. It first sued Apple in 2010 over the alleged use of virtual private network (VPN) patents in FaceTime video chats, and has been successful enough in court to wring hundreds of millions of dollars out of the folks in Cupertino. And today, it's striking again: a court has ordered Apple to pay $625 million dollars for purportedly using VirnetX's security tech in both FaceTime and iMessage. That's actually more than the $532 million VirnetX had wanted, and a huge windfall for a company that has little business outside of lawsuits (aka a patent troll).
Studio sues makers of 'NBA 2K16' for using player tattoos
Sports video games attempt to offer an experience that's as lifelike as possible, which includes details like players' tattoos. NBA 2K16 is a title that does just that, and the pursuit of accuracy may land it in legal trouble. Take-Two, the parent company of 2K Sports that makes the basketball game, was hit with a lawsuit this week from the designers that created some of the big-name players' tattoos. Solid Oak Sketches, LLC claims that Take-Two should have to pay up for using the artwork in the game. Tattoo copyrights don't exist, but Solid Oak argues that the "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works" of the artists should be protected by law.
Oculus founder must face lawsuit over use of confidential info
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey isn't going to escape that lawsuit over the alleged misuse of confidential data. A judge has ruled that Luckey has to face the core claim, which accuses him of breaching a contract with his former employer (Total Recall Technologies) by using its proprietary knowledge to get the early Oculus Rift off the ground. However, he is dodging a few bullets in the process -- the judge simultaneously tossed out several of the other claims, including fraud.
The lawsuit that can change how you watch Major League Baseball (updated)
Major League Baseball is in court today to defend its practice of region-locking game broadcasts, Bloomberg Business reports. MLB's broadcast deals force some fans to purchase bloated TV and internet packages like DirecTV's Extra Innings or MLB.TV in order to watch the games they want, plaintiffs argue. Comcast and DirecTV join MLB as defendants against a class of fans certified by US District Judge Shira Scheindlin.
Uber might owe you money for charging airport fees
If you've taken an Uber ride to a Californian airport and got hit with a surprise fee, you might be owed some cash. Uber has agreed to pay a settlemement in a class action lawsuit that accuses it of charging an "airport fee toll" years before it was legally required (last November), letting drivers pocket the extra funds. The move will dish out $1.8 million between as many as 355,000 affected passengers. That's not much in practice -- just over $5, if everyone is covered -- but it's welcome if you felt burned on that trip to LAX.
Yahoo faces class action lawsuit over text spamming
Yahoo probably isn't the first company you'd think of as a text spammer, but the courts might soon beg to differ. A judge has ruled that the internet pioneer has to face a class action lawsuit for sending Sprint customers automatic "welcome" messages when someone else pinged them on Yahoo Messenger in 2013. These were effectively small, unwanted sales pitches for Yahoo's services, according to the lawsuit -- and it doesn't help that they sometimes followed spam from another party.
'Star Trek' owners sue to stop a crowdfunded fan film
If there's one thing that CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures are good at, it's showing how much contempt they have for Star Trek fans. The co-owners of the sci-fi property have shoved a proud middle finger at the creators of a fan-made film, demanding that the project be shut down. Axanar, unlike other revival efforts, was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than a million dollars across Indiegogo and Kickstarter. It was pitched as the first fan film to hire professionals who'd worked on the show behind the camera, hence the need for serious financial backing.
Facebook must deal with class-action lawsuits over its IPO
If Facebook thinks the legal troubles with its initial public stock offering are over, it has another thing coming. A federal judge has ruled that the social network must face two class-action lawsuits accusing it of masking doubts about its growth before the IPO kicked off in 2012. Both of them claim that Facebook pulled a fast one, tricking investors into buying stock at high prices that ultimately lost them money.
Spotify is on the hook for $150 million in class-action suit
A class-action lawsuit filed this week claims that Spotify knowingly and willingly distributes songs without obtaining the proper, mechanical licenses, Billboard reports. The suit, filed by the band Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker frontman David Lowery on December 28th, seeks $150 million in damages. The artists launched a class-action suit because Spotify's actions affect more than 100 people, according to the complaint.
Apple wants $179 million more from Samsung after patent fight
Apple and Samsung — or more precisely, their teams of incredibly well-paid lawyers — can't get enough of each other. This time, Apple claimed Samsung owes it an additional $179 million in supplemental damages (and interest!) because five of the Korean company's ancient Android phones violated a handful of Apple's design patents. US District Court Judge Lucy Koh officially granted the motion late yesterday.
Man sues Bethesda over his 'Fallout 4' addiction
There's little doubt that Fallout 4's gameplay is involving when you can spend dozens of hours on the main storyline alone. However, one Russian man is convinced that it's too involving. RT says that he's suing Bethesda for 500,000 rubles ($7,030) for failing to warn that Fallout 4 would "become so addictive." Supposedly, the man went on a 3-week gaming marathon that cost him his health, job and wife. Had he known how alluring it was, he says, he would have either waited until the holidays to buy the game or avoided it entirely. We've reached out to Bethesda to both confirm the lawsuit and get its take on the claims.
Pandora signs $90 million truce with the recording industry
Thanks to a quirk of copyright law, songs recorded before February 15th, 1972 weren't covered at the federal level. It's a loophole of sorts that Pandora, amongst others, has exploited to play classic pre-1972 tracks without paying a cent to the record labels. Or, at least, that was the case, since the firm has just signed a deal with the RIAA that'll see it pay $90 million to get the record industry to stop hassling it in the courts for unpaid royalties. It's the second big deal of its kind to land in the last few months, with Sirius XM paying $210 million in a similar deal back in June. It's probably not worth mentioning that the RIAA is scoring another own-goal, since services like Pandora are good for music sales, is it.
Sony reaches multi-million dollar settlement with ex-employees over hack
Nearly a year after being infiltrated and bullied by hacker group GOP (Guardians of Peace), Sony is still feeling the effects of the breach. One of the larger issues the company has had to contend with is former employees suing it claiming it didn't do enough to protect their data. According to a filing on Monday, those employees and Sony have come to an agreement. The multi-million dollar settlement includes a $2 million fund to reimburse victims that are part of the class action for any expenses they've incurred protecting themselves from identity theft as a result of the hack up to $1,000 each. Sony will also pay up to $10,000 per person for losses as a result of identity theft up to $2.5 million. Sony will also bear the costs of the suit including attorney's fees up to $3,490,000. The terms of the settlement still need to be approved by the court. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Amazon sues 1,114 people offering fake product reviews
Amazon isn't just content to chase down the larger outfits offering fake reviews on its store... it's pursuing individuals, too. The internet retailer has sued 1,144 people who used Fiverr's gig marketplace to peddle bogus Amazon reviews. They're only mentioned in the lawsuit by their user names, but it's clear that Amazon wants to get their real info from Fiverr's logs. Moreover, it suspects that there's more to the story than some unscrupulous writing -- it wants these sellers' client lists.
