Apple and Samsung are closer than ever to a possible settlement in their long-running legal showdown over smartphone and tablet technologies. The both companies agreed to send their respective chief executives and general counsel to meet face-to-face in the next 90 days. Read More »
Just a week after Motorola was awarded two significant victories in a German court over Apple, the companies’ luck have changed. On Friday, a judge ruled he would not grant an injunction against Apple products on the basis of a 3G/UMTS patent claimed by Motorola. Read More »
Apple has failed to secure a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1N tablet and Galaxy Nexus smartphone in Germany, thanks to a ruling by the Munich Regional Court Wednesday. That should help take the sting out of the appeal it lost on Tuesday. Read More »
Apple won a small victory in Germany on Tuesday as the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court upheld its injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. In the meantime, the European Union is putting Samsung’s recent patent claims under a regulatory microscope with a full-scale investigation. Read More »
Apple is looking to sharpen the teeth on a recent import ban it secured from the ITC against HTC smartphones, according to an appeal filing discovered Wednesday. The appeal seems to at least seek to broaden the scope of the ITC’s ruling. Read More »
Apple has been dealt another blow in its ongoing legal patent war with Samsung. A Dutch appeals court ruled Tuesday that an appeal by Apple against a lower court’s decision from August 2011 is invalid, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 does not infringe on Apple’s iPad … Read More »
Apple’s battle with Samsung over tablet patents may have had a positive effect on Samsung’s profile, at least in some markets. Samsung Australia is saying that’s exactly what happened down under following the reversal of a ban against sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Read More »
Apple may have won an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet from Samsung in Australia, but online retailers still aren’t getting the message. Despite threats of legal action, some retailers are saying Apple either needs to sue or stop complaining. Read More »
Apple is going on the offensive against online retailers who are ignoring the injunction against Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in Australia, even as the South Korean electronics manufacturer has won the right to fast-track an appeal against the ban. Read More »
In a hearing in Australia to determine whether Apple can secure a preliminary injunction to stop the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet ahead of a patent infringement case between the two companies, Samsung’s attempt at a peace offering was rejected. Read More »
Apple has won another victory in the legal battle with Samsung around smartphones and tablets, which spans 12 courts in nine countries. This one comes in California regarding a request for an expedited trial, shortly after another ruling went its way Thursday in a German court. Read More »
Apple has negotiated an agreement with Samsung that will prevent the South Korean company from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet device in Australia, at least until legal proceedings between the two in that country are resolved. The agreement comes after Apple filed for injunction. Read More »
More Must Reads
Apple won a significant victory last week when it was awarded a key patent related to basic multitouch functionality. It was called too broad by many, and raised the specter of pitched legal drama. It’s definitely a key victory for Apple, but why? Read More »
Lodsys wants more time to address the request by Apple to intervene in its court proceedings against seven small app developers, in the ongoing saga of in-app purchasing patents. Also, Samsung doesn’t get early access to Apple gear, a judge has ruled. Read More »
Apple has amended its existing complaint against Samsung over intellectual property rights violations, removing a few infringement claims, but adding many more. The Mac-maker also clarified language in an attempt to deflect Samsung’s recent request to see unreleased iPhone and iPad hardware related to the case. Read More »
Patent holder Lodsys is busy suing small developers making apps for Apple’s platform, but it now also faces an incoming complaint of its own. A Michigan analytics firm has filed a declaratory judgment action against Lodsys that could eventually lead to the invalidation of its patents. Read More »
Apple Monday sent a letter to Lodsys and to developers, saying it has the rights to in-app purchases and that developers are fully able to use them, according to Macworld. Devs on Twitter had begun discussing the letter received by Apple just a few hours ago. Read More »
The best course of action for iOS developers faced with patent infringement suit threats issued by patent holding firm Lodsys earlier this month might be to play nice with licensing requests, according to one intellectual property researcher. It might be the only affordable course of action. Read More »
Lodsys, the patent holding company going after iOS developers, is little more than a “patent troll” according to the EFF. But Apple takes a nearly equal share of the blame for the situation in a new blog post by the Foundation posted Friday. Read More »
Apple is “actively investigating” the claims of patent infringement made by Lodsys against App Store developers, according to The Guardian. Lodsys, a patent holding firm, has been sending notices to independent developers giving them 21 days to secure a license for technology used in in-app purchases. Read More »
Lodsys, the company suing iOS developers for patent infringement over in-app purchases, has created a blog in response to the situation. The blog posts reveal a very good grasp of patent law, but likely won’t satisfy developers or keep Apple from trying to stop Lodsys. Read More »
App Store developers who offer in-app purchasing are receiving threats of legal action today. The threats accuse devs of patent infringement regarding Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism, but the patent holder appears to be targeting independent developers individually instead of going after Apple itself. Read More »
Thursday, Apple filed a patent application for “personalized fitness services” on a handheld device, focusing on exercise in a gym setting. Features would include how-to videos for equipment, as well as the ability to check on classes and possibly schedule training sessions. Read More »
Apple has recently been awarded a patent for “administering and maintaining a network-booted operating system.” This could point to the development of a cloud-based Mac OS X. If it comes to pass, what would a cloud-based OS X actually look like and how will it work? Read More »
Apple has filed suit against Motorola, claiming the Droid-maker infringed on patents held by Apple relating to smartphone technologies. It’s a return fire gesture by Cupertino, since Motorola filed suit first against Apple last month, claiming it had violated 18 patents. Read More »
A new patent the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just approved was filed in 2008 by Apple and prevents users from sending and receiving “objectionable” text messages. The patent, officially called “Text-based communication control for personal communication device,” essentially prevents what’s known as “sexting.” Read More »
Today, Motorola filed suit regarding three complaints against Apple over patent infringements. The complaints deal with antenna design and other associated smartphone technologies covered in 18 patents held by Motorola. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Apple’s legal problems. Read More »
HTC has finally spoken out regarding the pending lawsuit Apple launched against the smartphone maker regarding its use of multi-touch as an interface navigation mechanism, and around 20 other technologies. It should surprise absolutely no one that the Taiwanese company doesn’t see eye-to-eye with … Read More »
Via Apple 2.0, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner asserts in a research note that Apple’s lawsuit with HTC over the iPhone interface was the culmination of “blunt talks” with other phone manufacturers. According to Reiner, starting in January Apple began closed-door discussions with OEMs regarding the company’s … Read More »
Steve Jobs is “extremely happy.” But it’s not because Psystar is dead. And it’s not because he’s been named CEO of the Multiverse or some other such end-of-year award. He’s happy because that Tablet he’s been working on almost exclusively since he returned to … Read More »
In a decision made final last week, Apple was ordered to pay out $27.1 million to OPTi, a semiconductor company that now deals only in licensing its intellectual property. The decision came down from Eastern District of Texas court judge Chad Everingham, and it is a … Read More »
InformationWeek reports that a third-party MacBook power adapter manufacturer is being sued by Apple for allegedly violating one of its patent designs. On Monday, Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Media Solutions Holdings in federal district court in California. Apple says that the company is … Read More »
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday published a patent application Apple made way back in 2008 for “Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device.” So, then…Smart Remotes. Cool! MacRumor’s Eric Slivka reports that the patent’s lead inventor is William Bull, now Yahoo’s Senior … Read More »
Apple apparently isn’t exclusively devoted to the idea of finger-based multi-touch input on all its devices, a recent patent applications shows. The patent application, found by Apple Insider, describes the use of a pen-like stylus to operate an “ink information” input system, and references … Read More »
Halloween has come early this year, and I’m not talking about today’s release of Windows 7. Engadget reports (and I find it difficult to share this with you, dear readers, because I know it will cause you discomfort), in April last year, Apple filed … Read More »
It just wouldn’t feel right getting through a month without another lawsuit. Apple is in the firing line this time from Online News Link, which claims Apple infringed on patent No. 7,508,789. Ah yes, good old 7,508,789: “the transmission of digital information through a broadcast channel … Read More »
As if the raging fire that is the Apple tablet rumor mill needed any more fuel, AppleInsider recently dug up a patent application from Cupertino for two-handed multitouch interactivity for its devices. The system would be able to distinguish between palms and fingers for … Read More »
Never rains, but it pours, eh? As if Apple doesn’t have enough on its plate with the FCC, the latest patent infringement accusations are in, this time courtesy of BTG International. BTG claims some of Samsung’s flash chips violate patents it owns on multilevel NAND Flash memory, … Read More »
AppleInsider’s Kasper Jade today reports that Apple has new plans for its workhorse laptop, the MacBook. This will be the first time since the product’s launch in 2006 that the company’s entry-level Mac has received a complete design update. The MacBook is the best-selling computer in … Read More »
Remember how in 2006, Apple tried to stop Podcast Ready, Inc. from using the word “podcast” because it infringed on their trademarks? For a brief time, there was talk of Apple cracking-down on anyone who dared use the term in their products or services. Apple’s lawyers … Read More »
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the 2007 Worldwide Developer’s Conference, he made a point of letting the world know how seriously Apple would protect its intellectual property. Of course, he did it in inimitable Steve Jobs style, quipping “…and boy have we patented it!” Of … Read More »
A patent application published today for a “mutli-dimensional scroll wheel” suggests Apple may be evolving the venerable iPod click wheel, rather than replacing it with a pure multitouch interface, like the iPhone. Originally filed on September 5, 2008, the patent application describes a “plurality of circumferentially … Read More »
One of the original “wow”-inspiring iPhone apps, music recognition software Shazam, is now responsible for some legal trouble for Apple. Tune Hunter, a company that claims to hold the patent on the technology that Shazam uses, filed suit against the app’s developers, as well … Read More »
I wrote about the patent Apple received for this, but I’d like to comment further in light of all the discussion going on about the relative usefulness of this patent. A lot of the discussion seems to stem from these sources: A Gizmodo article using … Read More »
So Apple is finally awarded their multi-touch patent, and the hue and cry from the Apple Bashers is pretty loud. But not only Apple Bashers are worried, Daring Fireball had this to say: Very broad language – taken at face value, Apple effectively owns … Read More »
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