More patent Stories

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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 »

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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 […] Read more »

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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 »

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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 »

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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!” […] Read more »

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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 »

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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 as Apple, […] Read more »

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Flixor, a four-year-old startup that enables the insertion of a 3-D version of a digital photo of face in a video, has received a patent for its technology. Hollywood-based Flixor has no customers yet, but CEO Blake Senftner said the company is in advanced negotiations with […] Read more »

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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 a […] Read more »

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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 the IP […] Read more »

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It could certainly be argued that the iPhone has sparked a new revolution of multi-touch capable mobiles phones and handheld devices. iPhone-esque phones seem to be rearing their heads every day, all sharing one common problem; they don’t recognize a tap from a gloved finger. For […] Read more »

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Looks like EEStor, the high-profile Texas energy storage startup, finally got its patent. According to the U.S. patent office it was issued on Dec. 16 (hat tip GM-Volt.com). A lot of the details of the patent, which was filed Aug. 13, 2004, have been online for […] Read more »

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Chuck Klosterman once wrote that the phrase “comparing apples to oranges” to reference the contrast of two different things was dumb because in many ways apples and oranges are actually very similar (small, round fruits). Recently at least two stories have run comparing online video to […] Read more »

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When we first heard that California utility Southern California Edison was applying for a patent on smart meters, we were a bit concerned. Patent wars in the mobile and broadband industries have played a big a part in delaying innovation. But the utility seems to have […] Read more »

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Put this in the category of “you gotta be kidding me.” Microsoft has applied for and received a patent (U.S. Patent #7,415,666) that essentially patents “Page Up/Page Down” functionality. The patent (Timothy D Sellers, Heather L. Grantham, Joshua A. Dersch) that was filed in March 2005 […] Read more »

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Its like the Groundhog Day for Vonage (VG), the beleaguered VoIP services company. After being separately sued by Verizon (VZ) and Sprint (S), and losing its cases over patent infringements, the Holmdel, NJ-based company is now facing similar charges from AT&T (T). Vonage was ordered to […] Read more »

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The beleaguered VoIP provider Vonage (VG) has been taking it on the chin for so long that even a marginal bit of good news is worth noting. The company said today it has “settled its pending patent dispute with Sprint (S)” and has “entered into a […] Read more »

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I have been fairly skeptical of the One Laptop Per Child project, not because it’s not a worthy cause, but because it doesn’t factor in the harsh realities of the daily lives of those who Nicholas Negroponte & Co. plan to uplift. Where food, water and […] Read more »

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