Politics and Law

New legislation introduced to Congress on Monday aims to change the patent review process to curb the influx of new patent-related lawsuits.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, presented a new bill that amends 2011's America Invents Act by making permanent a temporary revision that allows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to review a patent after it has been granted.

The new legislation, called the Patent Quality Improvement Act, would also change language for what types of businesses are covered under current America Invents Act, something Schumer says would better include technology start-ups.

"The … Read more

Update: The Senate late today passed the bill, sending it to the House.

The U.S. Senate is planning to vote Monday to levy new taxes on mobile app developers, cloud computing services, music and movie downloads, and even people selling collections of WordPress themes.

Senators who are backing the legislation known as S.743 describe it as a way to force out-of-state retailers to collect taxes on physical shipments. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., claims his bill will "put local and Main Street retailers on a level playing field with their out-of-state and online counterparts."

What Enzi and … Read more

Aereo is trying to cut CBS off at the legal pass.

The TV streaming service has filed a complaint against CBS (CNET's parent company), to prevent it from filing yet another lawsuit against it. Aereo allows people to watch and record live network broadcasts via the Web, a feature that has gotten it into trouble with CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC. The networks have argued that Aereo's $12-per-month service is illegal because it distributes their shows without compensating them in return.

Both sides have been battling it out in court, and so far the rulings have favored Aereo. … Read more

Apple is eyeing different shapes for batteries to find more room for them in phones, tablets, and other mobile gadgets.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent application dubbed "Curved battery cells for portable electronic devices," describes exactly that. The shape of such a battery would be changed during the manufacturing process to form a curve in its design. That trick would be achieved by heating up a set of curved plates and applying pressure to the battery cell.

The goal would be to create a battery that can make better use of … Read more

President Barack Obama has nominated former lobbyist and venture capitalist Tom Wheeler to serve as the next head of the Federal Communications Commission.

The White House made the announcement Wednesday. Wheeler's appointment as chairman of the agency was widely anticipated. His name had been on the shortlist of potential candidates for months, and several news agencies reported on the impending appointment.

Wheeler would replace current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who has headed up the agency since 2009. Current FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as the interim chairwoman until the Senate confirms Wheeler's appointment.

Wheeler has the support … Read more

Microsoft's ownership of Skype has placed it in the crosshairs of a patent lawsuit.

CopyTele, a company that calls itself "specialists in patent monetization and patent assertion," launched its suit today, alleging that some of the technology used in Skype violates patents owned by its subsidiary, Secure Web Conference Corp.

In its complaint, CopyTele is asserting the infringement of two U.S patents -- "Method and apparatus for securing e-mail attachments" and "Portable telecommunication security device," both granted in 2005.

Both patents concern secure Web-based peer-to-peer communications, such as those used by Skype. … Read more

Facebook and the banks that financed its IPO want a judge to put the brakes on a slew of lawsuits filed by unhappy investors.

In court documents released Wednesday, Facebook claimed it was not required to reveal its own forecasts on how its mobile and product strategy might affect future sales, Reuters said today, even if that information had been disclosed to its underwriters.

Facebook is facing a host of lawsuits claiming that it misled investors about its financial health before it went public last year. Morgan Stanley and other underwriters are also targeted in many of the suits, blaming … Read more

Craigslist has won the first round in its federal lawsuit against PadMapper and two other companies, which extracted and used real estate listings from the world's most popular classifieds site.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco on Tuesday rejected attempts by the defendants to dismiss Craigslist's lawsuit, which alleged a slew of unlawful acts -- including terms of use violations, copyright violations, trespass, and civil violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

"Defendants' continued use of Craigslist after the clear statements regarding authorization in the cease and desist letters and the technological … Read more

Google's popular video channel and its public policy group have teamed up to provide members of Congress with feature-enhanced video channels today.

Citing an increase in public interest in streaming video from their elected representatives, Google has offered to improve the YouTube channels of all 535 members of Congress for free. They will be able to share via YouTube, e-mail, and social media live-streamed and archived videos such as the first hour of the recent Rand Paul filibuster, embedded above.

Google's content partnerships head honcho Robert Kyncl and vice president of Public Policy and Government Relations Susan Molinari … Read more