lawsuit

Apple and AT&T are facing another lawsuit over the iPhone 3G.

This time, William Gillis of San Diego is suing the two companies, claiming that they "have misrepresented the speed, strength, and performance of the 3G bandwidth network," according to freelance journalist Justin McLachlan. Apple has acknowledged the complaints over the iPhone 3G's reception and has promised to fix the issues via a software update.

Apple was sued in August over the iPhone 3G by an Alabama woman who claimed that the company deceived consumers by promising that the iPhone 3G would be "twice … Read more

The legal drama between wireless chipmakers Qualcomm and Broadcom continues this week.

On Thursday, the companies said a federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm is in contempt of an injunction that bans the use of patented wireless technology owned by Broadcom.

U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that Qualcomm violated an injunction issued last year that banned Qualcomm from using technology in its chips that violates Broadcom's patents on wireless technology. The judge also ruled that Qualcomm has not been paying royalties to Broadcom for the use of its technology in Qualcomm-based cell phones with QChat walkie-talkie feature. … Read more

Mac clone maker Psystar officially responded to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit on Thursday by filing a countersuit that alleges anticompetitive business practices.

As expected, the 54-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Apple with restraint of trade, unfair competition, and other violations of antitrust law. Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, requests that the court find Apple's end-user license agreements (EULA) void and seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

"The present litigation is more complex than the misinformed and mischaracterized allegations of copyright infringement," attorney Colby Springer, of … Read more

The unprecedented decision by a U.S. district court judge to dismiss a copyright infringement case against video-sharing site Veoh is definitely favorable to Google, YouTube, and all user-generated sites, copyright attorneys say.

But the ruling doesn't mean that Google will necessarily prevail in the $1 billion copyright suit filed against it by Viacom, parent company of MTV and Paramount Pictures.

There are significant differences between Veoh and YouTube, according to Mark Litvack, a well-known copyright attorney who once worked for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is now with the firm Reed Smith.

Veoh was sued … Read more

Target and an advocacy group for the blind announced Wednesday that they've settled a class action lawsuit regarding the accessibility of Target.com for the visually impaired.

The retail giant will establish a $6 million fund for settlement claims and promised to make its site fully accessible to blind visitors as part of a deal ending a class action lawsuit filed two and a half years ago.

The suit against Target was first filed in early 2006 by the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind, which claimed Target.com contained thousands of access barriers making it difficult, if not … Read more

Haptic technology maker Immersion said Tuesday it has settled its legal dispute with Microsoft.

The maker of tactile feedback technology for mice and joysticks sued both Sony and Microsoft in 2002 for patent infringement. Though both suits were settled, Microsoft filed a separate suit against Immersion in June 2007 and asked the court to enforce a portion of a sublicensing agreement between the two companies that stated Microsoft would get a portion of Immersion's settlement it received from Sony. Immersion countersued, alleging Microsoft had breached a confidentiality agreement.

More than a year later, Microsoft and Immersion have called a … Read more

A patent holding company that has won settlements from Apple, AT&T, and others sued Google, Verizon, and a handful of other companies on Tuesday for allegedly infringing on patents related to voice mail, according to a report from Reuters.

In addition to Google and Verizon, other defendants in the lawsuit filed by Klausner Technologies are: Cox Communications, LG Electronics, Comverse Technology, Embarq, PhoneFusion, RingCentral, and Grand Central, which was acquired by Google last year.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tyler, Texas, alleges the companies are infringing his patents related to visual voice mail.

Representatives … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices.

Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is "an anticompetitive restrain of trade," according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court find … Read more

An Alabama woman has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the iPhone 3G's network is slower than advertised.

In a 10-page complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Northern Alabama, Birmingham resident Jessica Alena Smith charged Apple with breach of express and implied warranty and with unjust enrichment. Smith, who refers to the phone she purchased throughout the complaint as "Defective iPhone 3G," is seeking class action status.

The lawsuit claims that Apple's iPhone 3G advertising campaign is misleading.

"Defendant intended for customers to believe its statements and representations about the Defective … Read more