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Tong stood in line all night for Mortal Kombat, while Molly went to bed with her laptop and her brand new Keynote download. Impressive, right? In the actual news, Apple files a major set of patent and trademark lawsuits against manufacturing partner Samsung, Netflix is doing family plans, and what happened to all those 1-800 numbers. Dial carefully children. Dial carefully.

A judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission said today that Apple is not in violation of five of Nokia's patents.

Nokia filed a series of suits against Apple in 2009, accusing the company of infringing on 17 patents related to wireless handsets that Apple had refused to license. Nokia asked the ITC that Apple be banned from importing the offending devices. Apple countersued, charging Nokia with infringing 13 Apple patents related to the iPhone.

ITC Judge James Gildea made the initial determination that Apple had not infringed on Nokia's patents, Reuters reported today. It's not … Read more

LG Electronics wants the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar the import of the PlayStation 3 into the United States, according to a complaint.

The complaint, filed Friday with the ITC and first reported by Bloomberg yesterday, claims that the Blu-ray player in the PlayStation 3 violates several of LG's patents. The company cited Sony, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Sony Computer Entertainment America in the complaint, according to the docket page on the ITC's Web site.

The ITC 337 Law Blog, which is run by a private law firm, posted the … Read more

A judge said today that Apple and RIM phones featuring cameras are not infringing on technology developed by Eastman Kodak, according to reports.

Kodak filed a complaint in January 2010 with the International Trade Commission claiming that the technology used in the iPhone and BlackBerry to preview images infringes on one of its digital imaging patents. Kodak demanded the ITC block import of phones in violation.

The endgame for Kodak is really to get Apple and RIM to pay royalties for using the technology. The camera company arrived at royalty arrangements more recently with LG and Samsung after filing similar complaints. … Read more

Microsoft has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against the makers of TiVo and is seeking to bar the set-top DVR boxes from being imported to the U.S. as well as being sold within the country's borders.

The legal move, which was sniffed out by blog Winrumors, is a follow up to a year-old patent suit Microsoft filed against TiVo for illegally using video purchasing and delivery technology in its digital video recorders--two features Microsoft says are covered within patents it owns.

Microsoft had originally said it was "open to resolving this … Read more

If there's any coal in Motorola's stocking this year, it could be from Microsoft.

Reuters is reporting that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has agreed to hear Motorola's case against Microsoft, which it filed in late November.

Handset maker Motorola Mobility, which Motorola plans to spin off next year, filed its complaint against Microsoft due to the company's use of Motorola patents in its Xbox game console. Included in those patents were things like wireless networking and video decoding.

Motorola is seeking an exclusion order, as well as a cease and desist order against … Read more

The U.S. International Trade Commission is officially stepping in to investigate Apple's claim of patent infringement against Motorola.

The ITC announced yesterday that its probe will examine a complaint that Apple filed with it on October 29 against Motorola. The charges are detailed in two lawsuits by Apple against Motorola in which Apple alleges that the sale of Motorola's Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, and other smartphones and related software violate several Apple patents.

In one of the suits against Motorola, Apple cites patent No. 7,479,949, which covers methods by which touch screens detect contact … Read more

Motorola's ongoing legal disagreements with Microsoft thickened this morning, with Motorola's mobility unit filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission over Microsoft's use of patents in its Xbox game console.

While the complaint is currently pending, it could go on to become an investigation by the ITC.

A Microsoft representative said the company is currently reviewing Motorola's filing, and that "we remain confident in our position, and will continue to move forward with the complaints we initiated against Motorola in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and … Read more

Internet provider Earthlink announced today that it has agreed to buy regional telecommunications carrier ITC Deltacom.

To complete the merger, Earthlink will pay $516 million in cash, but that includes $325 million in Deltacom debt.

As a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), Deltacom provides voice and data telecommunications services to the Southeast. The company owns most of its 16,400-mile fiber-optic network and serves around 32,000 small and medium-sized businesses, government agencies, and enterprise customers.

Through the acquisition, Earthlink said it's looking to combine its ISP and IP businesses with Deltacom's communications operations to offer customers a … Read more