legal

Apple and Samsung have decided to reduce the number of patent infringement claims against each other in California.

Late yesterday, Apple said in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that it has offered to drop about half of all of its patent-infringement claims in its case in that court with Samsung, FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller is reporting. The patents Apple is willing to drop cover technologies ranging from a status bar and touchscreen shielding to the iPhone's body style.

Samsung, meanwhile, has agreed to drop five out of the 12 patents … Read more

Google has another country to worry about in its fight against antitrust complaints.

India's Competition Commission announced today that it has launched an antitrust investigation into the search giant's practices on its advertising platform, AdWords. There is a chance, the agency said, that it could expand its investigation into other areas.

Google has been hit from all sides as regulators in the U.S. and European Union investigate whether the search company has violated antitrust regulations.

Last week, European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said his office is "very serious" about its investigation into Google's … Read more

Yahoo and Facebook are officially on the outs. But things could get worse before they get better, according to a document Facebook filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Facebook filed an amended S-1 registration statement with the SEC, noting that Yahoo late last month sent the social network a letter informing it that it holds 16 patents related to open-source technology that could become another pawn in the companies' ongoing legal struggle.

"We received a letter dated April 23, 2012 from Yahoo indicating that they believe 16 patents they claim to hold 'may be relevant' to open … Read more

Nokia has been hit with a class-action lawsuit charging the company with making promises it couldn't keep.

Law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit (PDF) against Nokia and its executives in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of those who owned the company's shares between October 26, 2011, and April 10.

"The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants told investors that Nokia's conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not," the … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- The jurors in the Oracle vs. Google trial seem to be inching closer to a verdict as they returned with another note at the U.S. District Court on Thursday morning.

This time, the question addressed the third out of four questions that the jury must decide upon unanimously, which are listed at end of the 21-page set of instructions.

That question reads, "Has Oracle proven that Google's conceded use of the following was infringing, the only issue being whether such use was de minimis," which refers … Read more

President Barack Obama will allow U.S. officials to sanction foreign nationals for using technology to engage in human rights abuses, according to a new report.

The president will speak today at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum about human rights abuses. Part of his plan to address those abuses worldwide will include taking aim at those who use mobile phone tracking and Internet monitoring to limit free speech, The Washington Post reported yesterday, citing senior administration officials.

The sanctions will only be imposed on individuals and foreign companies that assist governments in violating human rights through technology, according to … Read more

An earlier German court ruling banning iCloud and MobileMe push e-mail service in that country has been upheld.

The Mannheim Regional Court today ordered the ban to continue, claiming that the push e-mail service found in Apple's iCloud and MobileMe violates patents Motorola Mobility holds. In addition, Dow Jones, which first reported on the story, says the court ordered Apple to pay Motorola damages, but did not specify how much.

A German court back in February sided with Motorola Mobility in the case, arguing that Apple's push e-mail services in iCloud and MobileMe should be banned from use … Read more

Facebook has uncovered 200 allegedly forged e-mails that it says should be enough to throw out a case brought against it by Paul Ceglia.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained court documents, Facebook's lawyers accessed Harvard University servers and recovered 200 e-mails between co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Ceglia. The attorneys then compared those e-mails to those Ceglia furnished.

The e-mails Ceglia furnished are "fabrications and this entire lawsuit is a fraud and a lie," Facebook attorneys wrote to the court, according to the Journal.

Ceglia brought the case against Facebook and Zuckerberg in 2010, alleging … Read more

Although it once seemed like Microsoft and TiVo could never come to terms, the companies have decided to walk away from all their lawsuits and pretend like they never happened.

TiVo today filed a regulatory statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that it has reached an agreement with Microsoft to dismiss all pending patent litigation against its operation. In addition, TiVo has agreed to drop its counterclaim against Microsoft.

In early 2010, Microsoft sued TiVo, claiming the DVR company was violating patents it holds related to video purchasing and delivery. The move was designed to defend AT&… Read more