Legal

Apple CEO Steve Jobs was ordered by a judge yesterday to answer questions in a deposition related to an antitrust suit filed against the company in 2005 over its FairPlay DRM software.

Attorneys for Apple had argued that Jobs' testimony in this case would be repetitive of what has already been offered as part of the ongoing lawsuit. But presiding over the case known as the Apple iPod iTunes Antitrust Litigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd ruled yesterday that this alone was not sufficient to preclude Jobs from testifying.

The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for … Read more

Apple is once again protecting its trademark turf, this time with a suit against Amazon.com that takes aim at the Web retail giant's use of the term "App Store."

The suit, which was filed last week and first reported by Bloomberg this afternoon, goes after Amazon's use of the "App Store" name, which Apple filed a trademark for following the release of the iPhone 3G.

The suit seeks to prevent Amazon from using the phrase on its site or in marketing materials, according to Bloomberg. Apple is also seeking damages.

Amazon spokesperson Mary … Read more

A probe into a prototype iPhone 4 purchased by a gadget blog is nearing its end, with investigators expected to report their findings soon.

Stephen Wagstaffe, district attorney for the county of San Mateo, Calif., told CNET today that "the investigation is ongoing" and he expects it could conclude as early as next month. Investigators are close to finishing their interviews and will present him with their findings, he said.

The investigation began early last year when Robert Gray Powell, a 28-year-old Apple computer engineer, left an unmarked prototype iPhone in a German beer garden in Redwood City, … Read more

Some four years after Apple Inc. and Beatles-backed record label Apple Corps announced that the two companies had settled their trademark dispute (with Apple Inc. coming out the owner), the Mac and iOS device maker has filed paperwork with the European Trademarks Office seeking to make the famous Granny Smith logos its own abroad.

The filings, unearthed by Patently Apple, cover 14 international trademark classifications in common areas like advertising, games, and computer hardware, and in more obscure ones like precious metals and building construction.

Following the 2007 settlement, Apple had filed trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and … Read more

Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is a big fan of typography. Before dropping out of Reed College and starting Apple, Jobs took a calligraphy class that he's since attributed to the inclusion of various fonts that are a part of the Mac OS. As it turns out, Microsoft is pretty interested in fonts, too, so much in fact, that font size has become a point of contention in the legal spat between the two companies over Apple's attempts at trademarking the term "App Store" as its own.

In a motion filed this morning with the … Read more

Apple is defending its effort to trademark the phrase "App Store" against a Microsoft challenge, arguing the term is no more generic than the software giant's trademarked "Windows."

Apple applied for the trademark in 2008, prompting a challenge by Microsoft, which contended the phrase is too generic to register and would restrict competitors' ability to describe their own services. In a filing (PDF) yesterday with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple asked that the challenge be dismissed and pointed out that one of Microsoft's most prominent trademarks has also been challenged as … Read more

A former manager at Apple has pleaded guilty in a major kickback case that could land him 20 years in prison.

Paul Shin Devine, once employed at Apple as a supply manager, admitted guilt yesterday in federal court in San Jose, Calif., on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He was accused of taking kickbacks from Apple suppliers in exchange for information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Devine, who worked at Apple from 2005 through 2010, sent forecasts, roadmaps, product specifications, and other confidential information to Asian suppliers and manufacturers of Apple components, according to … Read more

U.S. antitrust investigators are examining the terms Apple placed this week on publishers wishing to sell digital subscriptions through the App Store, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are interested in whether Apple is violating antitrust laws by routing customers through Apple's App Store and taking a 30 percent cut of each subscription, sources told the newspaper. Regulators' interest in the subscription terms is reportedly preliminary and might not lead to a formal investigation.

Representatives for Apple, the Justice Department, and the Federal … 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