infringement

Apple wants to squelch five Google patents issued to HTC

Apple has fired another shot at HTC in its patent wars with the Taiwanese mobile phone maker.

A motion filed by Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission is seeking to throw out five patents HTC received from Google last year.

Part of an ITC document discovered online by Foss Patents' Florian Mueller said that Apple is calling for a partial termination of the investigation with respect to the patents due to lack of standing.

Translating the legalese into English, that means Apple believes HTC has no right to file a lawsuit or an ITC complaint over the patents … Read more

IP address doesn't ID individuals in piracy lawsuit, judge rules

In a likely setback to the MPAA and RIAA's antipiracy efforts, a federal judge has ruled that an IP address alone is not enough to accuse a specific individual of illegal downloads.

An IP address only identifies the location at which any number of Internet-connected devices may be located, much that a single telephone number can be used by many telephones, Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said in a ruling earlier this week.

"Thus, it is no more likely that the subscriber to an IP … Read more

Questions from Oracle v. Google jury hint at copyright violation

SAN FRANCISCO--The jury in the Oracle v. Google trial returned to U.S. District Court here this morning without a verdict, but with more questions. The nature of those questions, however, suggests what some of the jurors might be thinking.

Both questions this time focused on fair use and Android revenue. One juror, for example, asked if "the definition of commercial use is limited in this case by virtue of Android being freely distributed?" further questioning if that means because Android is not sold directly, could they consider indirect revenue from the mobile platform?

Oracle's lead attorney … Read more

Apple doesn't want jurors to see Samsung logo at trial

Apple doesn't want jurors to see Samsung's logo on court video equipment, which is just one of many courtroom requests the two companies have made as they prepare to take their patent issues to trial.

With the upcoming jury trial currently set for July 30, the two have already revealed the issues they plan to raise ahead of their courtroom showdown, according to Foss Patents' Florian Mueller.

Apple's intention to file a motion to obscure the Samsung logo on the court's video displays may seem "funny," says Mueller. But Apple doesn't want to … Read more

Judge scolds Apple over 'frivolous' lawsuit filings

Apple has managed to tick off the judge hearing a case between it and Motorola.

Judge Richard Posner of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will preside over a patent lawsuit between Apple and Motorola due to hit the courts in June. But the judge last week chided Apple for filing "frivolous" motions, according to Foss Patents' Florian Mueller.

"I deny the second half of Apple's motion (seeking prohibition of the deposition) as frivolous and the first half (seeking substitution) as untimely. I've had my fill of frivolous filings by … Read more

Samsung claims eight more patent infringements by Apple

Samsung continues to ramp up its patent battle against Apple.

The Korean mobile phone maker yesterday filed its own counterclaim to a prior Apple patent lawsuit, alleging that the iPhone maker has infringed on eight Samsung patents.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, Samsung's action was taken in response to a suit brought by Apple in February calling for a ban on U.S. sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

As described by Florian Mueller at Foss Patents, two of the patents are "FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory)-pledged" that Samsung maintains are … Read more

Apple given the OK to intervene in in-app purchase lawsuit

Nearly a year after filing a request to intervene in a controversial case involving app developers being sued for using in-app purchase features, Apple has been given the go-ahead by a district court judge to step into the fray.

Intellectual property tracking blog Foss Patents reports that Texas judge James Rodney Gilstrap today granted Apple's original request, saying it could become a part of the proceedings as long as the company's role was "limited to the issues of license and patent exhaustion."

The case Apple's getting into is one kicked off by Lodsys, a Texas-based … Read more

The ten patents Facebook claims Yahoo infringed

Last month, Yahoo set off a bomb when it sued Facebook for alleged patent infringement. Today, Facebook fired back, denying that it violated any patents and claiming that ten of its own were infringed by Yahoo.

Here's what Facebook alleges.

Facebook says a wide variety of Yahoo services infringe its patents, including its Flickr photo sharing system. According to Facebook's countersuit, those servies include:

the Yahoo Home Page, Yahoo's Content Optimization and Relevance Engine ('C.O.R.E.'), [Flickr], and advertisements displayed throughout Yahoo Including on My Yahoo, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News, Yahoo Games, Yahoo … Read more

Apple and Samsung could make nice in patent wars

With lawsuits filed against each other in countries around the world, Apple and Samsung could be headed toward a truce with one another, according to a new report.

In a detailed history of Apple's legal battles with mobile-device competitors including the likes of HTC and Samsung, Bloomberg suggests that Apple and Samsung's top leadership could be looking to strike a settlement.

"People familiar with the situation, however, note that top-level executives at both Apple and Samsung have communicated lately about potential settlement options," the report today says.

"Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to … Read more