Legal

Motorola plans to fight hard to defend itself against Apple's patent infringement claims related to the company's Xoom tablet.

Writing to CNET in an e-mail last night, a Motorola spokesperson said that the company plans to "vigorously defend Motorola's own product designs."

Yesterday, FOSS Patents reported that Apple made mention--in a complaint brought before the European Union against Samsung--of a patent suit it filed against Motorola over the design of its Xoom tablet. Apple's Motorola complaint previously hadn't been made public. However, in the e-mail to CNET, Motorola provided a timeline of … Read more

With a lull in the battle of words between Google and Microsoft over patents held by tech giants, Apple today has been granted 20 new ones, including patents that cover integrated touch screens and parts of the visual voice mail tool found on the iPhone.

The full list, dug up today by Apple patent tracking blog Patently Apple, is definitely on the technical side, including printed circuit boards, metadata processing, and a system for estimating where a computer is located to improve online shipping experiences.

Of special interest though is one for an "integrated touch screen." The system, … Read more

A U.S. trade agency announced today it has decided to review Apple's patent infringement complaint against HTC.

The U.S. International Trade Commission, which has the power to block imports, will review Apple's claim that the Taiwanese company violated five of its patents, including one used for scrolling operations, another for programmable tactile touch-screen displays, and one for a double-sided touch-sensitive panel.

The decision to review the complaint, which was announced on the agency's Web site, follows the commission's initial decision in July that HTC had violated two of 10 patents Apple accused HTC of … Read more

A decision from the U.S. International Trade Commission on whether Apple and Research In Motion are infringing on a patent held by Eastman Kodak could face additional delays and a new outcome following the planned retirement of the judge who was presiding over the case.

The Wall Street Journal reports that ITC Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern retired from the agency today, and that cases he was presiding over--including this one--have now been reassigned to other administrative law judges.

The Journal notes that Luckern has worked as an administrative law judge with the agency since 1984 and was … Read more

Google's top legal officer today posted a scathing indictment of adversaries Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle for pursuing "bogus" patent claims that may serve to drive up the costs of phones using Google's Android mobile operating system.

Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond paints a picture of rivals envious of Android's success, noting that more than 550,000 Android devices are activated daily.

"But Android's success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, and other companies, waged through bogus patents," Drummond writes … Read more

Apple has been slapped on the wrist by the Korea Communications Commission over the company's inadvertent collection of location data.

The commission, which is South Korea's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, fined Apple 3 million Korean won, or about $2,829, following the revelation earlier this year that Apple's iOS-based devices collected location information on users without their specific authorization.

The fine could have been much stiffer. According to Reuters, which first reported on the story, the commission could have suspended Apple's operations in Korea or imposed a fine of up to 10 … Read more

Personal Audio, the company that was awarded $8 million in damages from Apple in patent infringement ruling last month, has had its attempt at additional damages denied by a U.S. District judge.

In a judgment filed over the weekend, and picked up by the Courthouse News Service today, U.S. District Judge Ron Clark said there will not be a second trial to cover patent infringement issues with the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad since the previous case judgment covered both past and future use of Personal Audio's technology.

"In light of the history of this case, … Read more

Following yesterday's report that Apple and Samsung had come to an agreement in a federal court in Australia to have Samsung not sell the U.S. version of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country, Samsung has confirmed the agreement.

A Samsung spokesperson responded to Android-focused blog Austdroid, noting that the company's plans to release a version of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the Australian market "in the near future":

Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the Federal Court of Australia involving a Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 variant that Samsung Electronics had no plans of selling in Australia. No injunction was issued by the court and the parties in the case reached a mutual agreement which stipulates that the variant in question will not be sold in Australia.

A Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 for the Australian market will be released in the near future.

This undertaking does not affect any other Samsung smartphone or tablet available in the Australian market or other countries.

Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business.

That statement obviously does not go into detail about what changes will be made to that device in order to keep Apple from going on the legal offensive once again. … Read more

The U.S. International Trade Commission today announced that its members have voted to begin an investigation on Apple's behalf into whether Samsung infringes on Apple's intellectual property with its mobile phones, tablets, and other hardware.

Apple first filed that complaint on July 5, seeking to have the Korean tech giant's devices barred from being imported into the U.S. That was just a week after Samsung had targeted the iPhone, iPod, and Mac maker with its own ITC complaint seeking similar ends. Both of these complaints were on top of the legal battle the two companies … Read more