infringe

If you want to buy a mod kit that will turn your iPhone 4 or 4S into what some expect the next iPhone will look like, you've only got two more days.

iPhone5mod.com, a China-based site selling iPhone 5 mod kits, posted on its blog today that Apple is stopping the company from selling any more its product. A company authorized by the iPhone manufacturer sent the site a cease and desist letter, saying iPhone5mod.com is selling "counterfeit Apple merchandise," according to the blog post.

"We are sorry to announce that we have received … Read more

Motorola Mobility today filed a new patent-infringement suit against Apple and seeks to block imports of many foreign-made products such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and some Macs.

According to Bloomberg, Motorola, owned by Google, filed the suit in hopes that it could reach an agreement with Apple on their many existing patent disputes. In a statement to CNET, Motorola Mobility said that, "We would like to settle these patent matters, but Apple's unwillingness to work out a license leaves us little choice but to defend ourselves and our engineers' innovations."

The request to block imports … Read more

Apple's Facetime is the latest technology stirring up legal complaints against the Mac and iPad maker in China.

A Taiwanese man who claims to hold a patent on a "voice network personal digital assistant" technology has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that his technology is used in Facetime, says blog site MIC Gadget. The Intermediate People's Court in Zhenjiang confirmed the lawsuit and contacted Apple, but the company reportedly has not yet responded.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update the story if we get more information.

The Taiwanese man, known only as … Read more

The punches just keep coming for Zynga.

Electronic Arts is suing the social games creator for copyright infringement, alleging that Zynga ripped off EA's "The Sims Social" when it created "The Ville," EA said today in a press release.

The gaming giant filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California today.

The Sims Social is the Facebook version of EA's "The Sims" game. After launching in August 2011, the game has gained "several million active" users on Facebook, according to EA's press … Read more

Oracle has won at least one legal battle this week. SAP is paying the hardware giant $306 million in damages resulting from a copyright infringement suit.

Unlike the fight against Google, it looks like victory over SAP really is a payday. SAP's bill to Oracle continues to get bigger as Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley said in a statement that SAP will have to pay "a minimum of $426 million, including attorneys’ fees."

Oracle originally filed the lawsuit in 2007 against SAP, arguing that SAP downloaded and copied intellectual property. The case didn't go to … Read more

Consumers eyeing Samsung's Galaxy Nexus will continue to find the phone available for sale.

Samsung scored a minor victory this week by continuing to escape a ban on the popular smartphone, at least for the time being. On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Samsung by extending the suspension of the preliminary injunction on the Nexus.

To recount the play-by-play action, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh had given the nod to Apple in June by granting its request for the temporary ban on the Nexus based on claims that … Read more

A U.K. judge ordered Apple to publish a notice on its UK website and in British newspapers informing the public that Samsung did not copy the iPad's design, Bloomberg reported today.

Judge Colin Birss said the notice should explain the court's July 9 decision that Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablets do not infringe on Apple's design.

The notice is to be posted for six months and published in several newspapers and magazines to save Samsung's image. Apple's lawyer tried to argue that it would be like the company having to publish an advertisement for … Read more

HTC won a U.K. High Court case after a judge today ruled the Taiwanese smartphone maker has not infringed four of Apple's European-held patents.

Judge Christopher Floyd also said that three of the four patents were invalid, according to Bloomberg. 

The only patent that was ruled to be valid relates to Apple's photo-management software, but HTC did not infringe on it, according to the court.

The other three invalid patents relate to Apple's multitouch software, alphabet-changing software, and the iPhone and iPad's slide-to-unlock feature.

The same four patents are to be tested in … Read more

Court documents reveal that Yahoo and Facebook are in settlement negotiations over their patent infringement dispute, Bloomberg reported today.

Yahoo's lawyers have asked a U.S District judge for a two-week extension on deadlines to file replies in the lawsuit while the companies talk about a settlement. The lawyers also asked for a two-week delay in a motion hearing now set for Aug. 10.

Representatives for both Yahoo and Facebook declined to comment on the case or the negotiations.

A big question is whether settlement terms would include cross-licensing of patents between the one-time partners and deeper integration of … Read more