At a good time for both involved parties, Nokia and Research In Motion have settled all current patent litigation, just in time for RIM to debut BlackBerry 10 devices. Details are confidential, but RIM will make a lump-sum payment and pay ongoing royalties to Nokia. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: A theory that Apple was appealing to a new demographic with Genius ads, tensions in the Apple-Samsung courtroom, kid-sized iPads, and how Hollywood does free advertising for Apple. Read more »
Google, Apple and Samsung get all of the attention in the mobile patent wars, but only one of them is a true powerhouse in terms of mobile intellectual property. Samsung, along with Nokia, lead the overall mobile patent portfolio rankings, according to a new study. Read more »
Cleantech largely has so far avoided the nasty patent wars that plague a space like mobile, but the Honeywell-Nest lawsuit changes that. A large company using its patent libraries to fight a new product could have chilling effects for startups in the space. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung suffered another reversal in its patent battle with Apple on Friday morning, as the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany dismissed the Korean company’s second patent complaint related to 3G/UMTS technology. Last week, the same court rejected another similar Samsung complaint about 3G tech. 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’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 »
Friday was not a good day for Apple’s ongoing global legal efforts. In addition to the German ruling against it in a case with Motorola Mobility, the Australian High Court has also agreed with the Federal Court and overturned the ban of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Read more »
Apple will be able to continue selling the iPhone 4S in France unimpeded, according to a court decision on Thursday. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris has denied a request by Samsung to secure a preliminary injunction against the sale of the 4S. Read more »
The temporary injunction in Australia against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, which was struck down on Wednesday, will remain in effect for one more week, according to a decision by the country’s High Court on Friday. The week-long delay could have considerable effect on Samsung’s holiday sales. Read more »
On Friday, Motorola Mobility was granted a preliminary injunction against Apple by a German court, but despite that victory, it’s business as usual for the iPhone maker in Germany as of Monday. Apple’s retail and online stores are still selling the company’s entire range of products. Read more »
A hearing Thursday in California in front of U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh addressed a request from Apple to ban the sale of Samsung products, including Galaxy Tab 10.1, in the U.S. Samsung infringes on the patents, Koh said, but they may not be “valid.” Read more »
A victory for Apple in its ongoing patent infringement battle with Samsung in Australia could have far-reaching implications. It prevents Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia until further notice, and could eventually affect the sale of any new Android device in the country. Read more »
Samsung revealed Wednesday that it would try to stop the release of Apple’s new iPhone 4S in France and Italy with filings seeking injunctions on the new smartphone. Samsung’s complaints will center on two instances of alleged patent infringement related to WCDMA standards for 3G connectivity. Read more »
Friday marked the final day this week for a hearing in Australia over touch-screen patents held by Apple and allegedly infringed upon by Samsung. Samsung apparently took a very conciliatory approach to ending the injunction before it begins, offering Apple a proposal to resolve the dispute. Read more »
Apple and Samsung clashed in a second day of hearings in an Australian court Thursday. Apple’s lawyers revealed that Steve Jobs attempted personally to avoid a legal battle between the two companies, and Samsung made a concession that could lead to hardware design compromises. Read more »
At a hearing Monday in Australia to determine whether or not an injunction against the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country is merited, a judge suggested both Samsung and Apple expedite their patent infringement trial in order to resolve the issue. Read more »
A hearing Monday saw Samsung argue that it has the right to pursue an injunction of Apple products in the Netherlands, while Apple claims that Samsung is overstepping its boundaries regarding its mobile wireless patents in an attempt to derail the launch of upcoming products. Read more »
Samsung made comments early Friday about going on the offensive with its ongoing patent dispute with Apple, and it appears to be backing that up with a new request today for a Dutch ban on the sale of Apple smartphones and tablets. Read more »
Lee Younghee, the head of global marketing for mobile communications for the Korean firm, told the Associated Press in an interview on Friday that the company is switching its strategy for dealing with the patent suits and that the new plan is to be more “aggressive.” Read more »
Apple has another patent-related lawsuit on its hands, reports Bloomberg. VIA Technologies Inc., a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer, filed suit against Apple on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del. over the alleged misuse of three of its microprocessor-related patents. Read more »
Apple was granted new ammunition with which to fight the rampant counterfeiting of its products that is an ongoing problem in China. It was granted 40 patents in China, according to a new report Wednesday. The patents mostly cover aspects of its mobile phones. Read more »
Samsung has officially fired back at Apple in Australia, filing a cross claim today with the Federal Court of the country. The claim says that Apple’s iPhone and iPad infringe upon seven wireless patents held by Samsung, and seeks to invalidate some of Apple’s patents. Read more »
Apple has fired back against Samsung in the UK, where the Korean company originally filed suit against the iPhone maker in June. In a new countersuit, Apple argues that Samsung’s Android tablets and smartphones infringe on its iPhone and iPad designs, not the other way around. Read more »
Apple is facing another new patent infringement suit this week, as Texas-based Droplets Inc. has filed a new complaint. Apple products that Droplets claim infringe on the patent include the Apple website, iTunes, the movie trailer site and also its other web applications. Read more »
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be a rare sight in Germany for at least two more months, and probably a lot longer, thanks to a ruling on Friday by the court trying the patent infringement case between Apple and the Korean firm in that country. Read more »
If Apple wants to bar sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, it might have to produce numbers that show such an action is necessary, said Sydney Federal Court judge Annabelle Bennett on Monday. That could be very good news for Samsung. Read more »
It seems Apple can’t even go a full week without being targeted with a new patent violation claim. Friday, patent-holding firm WiLAN announced that it had begun the process of litigation against Apple, as well as Dell, HP and others related to patents around wireless tech. 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 won another victory in court Thursday in its ongoing patent dispute with Samsung, when German judges upheld the existing preliminary injunction against Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales in Germany. The injunction will now remain in effect at least until the court rules on Sept 9. Read more »
When Congress returns from its summer recess in early September, it will vote on patent reform legislation that should represent a major overhaul of the United States patent system. It won’t do away with patent trolls or software patents, but it could level the playing field. Read more »
HTC says nearly all Apple product lines infringe on patents it owns, and it wants compensation. On Tuesday, the Taiwan-based Android smartphone maker filed a lawsuit against Apple, saying that Macs, iPads, iPhones, iPods, AirPort, Time Capsule and Apple TV infringe on three patents it owns. Read more »
The mobile world is witnessing an amazing feeding frenzy of patent litigation. Among other cases, Apple is hoping to slow the momentum of Google’s Android by pursuing infringement claims against HTC, Motorola and Samsung; Skyhook and Google are locked in a “location battle royale” regarding positioning ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple put away $10.4 billion in cash during the most recent quarter, bringing its total cash and securities to $76.2 billion. Apple is extremely conservative about what it does with its money, which has become a little controversial. Here’s what people are saying. Read more »
Dish and EchoStar have finally given up fighting against TiVo in the long-running dispute over DVR patents. After a court found Dish would have to replace its customers’ set-top boxes, the satellite TV provider decided it would be cheaper to license TiVo’s intellectual property instead. Read more »
