trolling

A subsidiary of intellectual-property firm Vringo is suing Microsoft for allegedly infringing two of its patents, Vringo said today.

Wholly owned subsidiary firm I/P Engine filed the suit in the Southern District of New York.

I/P Engine is seeking a judgment from the court declaring that Microsoft did infringe its patents and requests the court to award past and future damages through royalties and "any form of recoverable economic injury."

The two patents relate to U.S. Patent No. 6,314,420 and U.S. Patent No. 6,775,664, which detail essentially the foundation framework … Read more

We've had some awesome guests on The 404 Show before, but nothing could have prepared us for Danny DeVito. Well, except for all the preshow preparation we did. None of that mattered though, because Mr. DeVito stole the show with a wiggle of a toe on his #trollfoot.

At the CES 2013 CNET stage, Mr. DeVito joined us to talk about filmmaking, Twitter, social media, and the story behind his Twitter profile picture. The iconic star has appeared in countless legendary films and currently plays Frank Reynolds on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."… Read more

Patent trolls are for the first time behind the majority of patent infringement lawsuits filed in the United States, according to a study conducted by a patent law professor in California.

About 62 percent of all patent lawsuits filed this year up to December 1 were brought by patent assertion entities (PAEs), which are created to extract licensing fees from other companies rather than make products based on the patents, according to Colleen Chien, a law professor at Santa Clara University.

That's a dramatic increase over last year, when 45 percent of patent lawsuits were filed by trolls. In … Read more

Troll + LOL = Trollolol. Dordev's free Android app detects faces and covers them with troll faces and other "rage faces," simple cartoons with exaggerated emotional expressions. As Internet memes, troll faces transcend their deliberately sketchy lameness by exposing the truth behind the image (ironically, by masking it). But troll faces are serious fun, too. Trollolol (like "tra-la-la") simply applies popular troll and rage-comic faces to your photos directly from your Android smartphone. No more uploading, desktop utilities, and other nuisances; a few quick thumb swipes and the picture that's worth a thousand words is ready … Read more

You might think it's obvious that when an iPhone or similar device is placed on its side, what's displayed on the screen should rotate as well.

But CNET has learned that a federal judge in Delaware yesterday rejected Apple's attempt to throw out a lawsuit over screen rotation brought by a holding company, MobileMedia Ideas, which has been dubbed "a classic patent troll."

U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson said the suit could proceed, ruling that the question of whether iOS devices infringed on the patent, No. 6,441,828, was "suitable for determination … Read more

It's no secret patent lawsuits are on the rise, and it turns out the same can be said for the ones filed by what have affectionately been called "patent trolls."

According to a new study published today by University of California Hastings College of the Law, lawsuits filed by patent trolls -- or as they are re-categorized "patent monetizers" -- saw a dramatic increase between 2007 to 2011.

As part of a research project put on by the Government Accounting Office, the law school teamed up with legal tracking and analytics tool Lex Machina to … Read more

Two U.S. congressmen have introduced a bill that would force so-called patent trolls to pay the legal costs of the people they sue, if the suit is unsuccessful.

The Saving High-tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act was introduced on Wednesday by Democrat Peter DeFazio and Republican Jason Chaffetz. The congressmen said the move was intended to save tech startups jobs, which are often threatened by such lawsuits.

"Patent trolls don't create new technology and they don't create American jobs," DeFazio said in a statement. "They pad their pockets by buying patents on … Read more

Patent lawsuits seem to be getting more common -- continually there are daily headlines of this company suing that company over intellectual property rights.

A new study released today confirms that lawsuits are increasing and says the overall cost of these cases in the U.S. was $29 billion in 2011.

The study, which was put out by Boston University, specifically looks at "non-practicing entities" (NPE), or "patent trolls." How these trolls operate is by buying and licensing patents without making the products of their own. Many major tech companies, like Apple, Google, and Samsung, have been criticized … Read more

Wayne Brady makes his second appearance on The 404 today to expand on some of the gaming topics we covered back at CES in Vegas, but first he has a few words for his Twitter trolls.

He's daring all of them to show up to his improvisational comedy show at the Gotham Comedy Club here in NY. He's putting on three shows running today through Sunday and would love to face his critics in person, so check it out!

Wayne mentioned that he's always been into video games, so he'll update us on what he's … Read more