infringement

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

TiVo strikes back against Motorola in patent suit

The week is just getting started, and we already have a new patent infringement lawsuit on our hands.

The twist this time is that it is a counter suit from TiVo against both Motorola and Time Warner Cable.

A little over a year ago, Motorola filed a lawsuit against TiVo over patent infringement related to digital video recorders -- some of which focused on patents stemming from as far back as the 1990s.

Now, TiVo has filed counterclaims with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Motorola and Time Warner Cable (one of Motorola's customers) infringed upon the … Read more

Apple says Samsung violated court order in patent case

Apple appears to be stirring up more legal headches for Samsung.

In a court document filed yesterday, Apple reportedly accused Samsung of only partially complying with a court order requiring the Korean handset maker to provide source code for the products involved in a patent suit, according to Bloomberg.

Samsung allegedly produced code for just one version of its 4G smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablets accused of patent infringement, Apple claimed in its filing. But the iPhone maker has contended that it needs to examine the source code for all versions of the products in question in order to prepare … Read more

Google, Apple sued over Street View technology

A new lawsuit claims Google and Apple have infringed a patent by using the Street View feature in Google Maps.

In a lawsuit filed last week in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Florida-based PanoMap Technologies accuses Google and Apple for infringing on its patent covering the the 3D panorama mode found in the Google Maps app on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The lawsuit (pdf), picked up by PaidContent, says both companies knowingly infringed on U.S. Patent No. 6,563,529, issued to developer Jerry Jongerius in mid-2003. That patent covers an &… Read more

Apple's iPhone voice mail the target of another patent suit

The voice mail system on Apple's iPhone has once again become the target of a lawsuit from a company claiming infringement on one or more software patents.

A new lawsuit filed yesterday against Apple by Pennsylvania-based Brandywine Communications Technologies in a U.S. District Court in Florida accuses Apple of infringing on two of its patents covering voice technologies.

The filing, picked up by GigaOm today, says Apple's infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,719,992 as well as U.S. Patent No. 6,236,717, both of which cover a "simultaneous voice/data answering machine.&… Read more

The 404 994: Where we need to talk (podcast)

Leaked from 404 Podcast 994:

Apple asks bankruptcy court for OK to sue Kodak for infringement. Leaning back from your PC screen can help you decide when shopping online. Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat might actually happen. Call of Duty: Black Ops has the best game ending of all time, Guinness World Records says. Bathroom break video 1: I'll call you right back. Bathroom break video 1: Even dogs cry to Adele.

Chinese authorities seize iPads from reseller's shelves

Chinese authorities have seized iPads from a third-party retailer, according to several sources in China, a move apparently brought on by Apple's continued refusal to honor a trademark owned by a Chinese manufacturer for the name iPad.

The seizure by government officials netted 45 iPad 2 units under the auspices of an official investigation over a trademark lawsuit that claims Apple has no right to sell a device named "iPad" in China. That right allegedly belongs to Proview, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer that is fighting hard to claim a $1.6 billion payout from Apple.

Some retailers, after … Read more

Apple snatches a victory in Motorola patent wars

Apple has finally scored a win in its never-ending patent battles with Motorola Mobility.

A German judge today found that the iPhone maker did not infringe on a Motorola patent related to wireless technology, according to Florian Mueller's Foss Patents legal blog.

The patent in question covers 3G/UMTS wireless communications and in tech jargon refers to a "method and system for generating a complex pseudonoise sequence for processing a code division multiple access [CDMA] signal."

Motorola had argued that any use of 3G/UMTS by Apple would violate the patent. But Judge Andreas Voss was unconvinced, … Read more