A company called Ultramercial has for years claimed that a monopoly over an "invention" for showing pre-roll ads on the internet, and sued the likes of Hulu and YouTube for royalty payments.…
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Why the Apple-Samsung trial was a waste of time for all but fanboys and lawyers
Sound, fury and legal bills -- after three trials, the patent battle between Apple and Samsung has changed nothing. It's time for the companies to declare a peace.…
Read MorePatent reform in peril as trial lawyers flex muscle
Congress was poised to go forward with patent reform this week but an unexpected hold-up in the Senate suggests the process could be in trouble.…
Read MoreTypo’s response to BlackBerry lawsuit: We’re still launching at CES
Typo, the Ryan Seacrest-backed keyboard startup, intends to defend itself against patent infringement allegations from BlackBerry and will be officially launching its iPhone keyboard accessory at CES this week.…
Read MoreBlackBerry files lawsuit against Typo, Ryan Seacrest’s keyboard startup
BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against Typo, the Ryan Seacrest-funded keyboard startup, alleging patent infringement of the company’s keyboard.…
Read MoreApple patent points to new curved screen technology
Apple has been awarded a patent for a new, more efficient way to manufacture curved touch displays.…
Read MoreTroll wins Newegg encryption patent case, threatening web firms that protect customers
Newegg's use of industry-standard online encryption techniques infringed on an obscure modem patent, a Texas jury found. However, the e-commerce outfit has promised to appeal, which has worked out well for it in the past.…
Read More3 reasons why the US might finally be ready for real patent reform
Patent trolls are plundering the economy like never before -- even though a 2011 law was supposed to stop this. Now, Congress is trying again, and it might actually work.…
Read MoreEFF files to invalidate troll’s abusive podcasting patent
It’s a sad fact that patent trolling is pretty much everywhere these days, with businesses large and small — and even Martha…
Read MoreApple Ordered to Pay ¥330 Million Over Patent Infringement in Japan
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/apple-ordered-to-pay-y330-million-over-patent-infringement-in-japan–kyodo-20130926-00181 The ghosts of products past have come back to haunt Apple (s AAPL), as the Tokyo District Court ordered the Cupertino…
Read MoreVerizon calls on President to veto coming iPhone ban
If a ban set for Aug. 5 takes effect, Apple and partners won't be able to import iPhone 4's or iPad 2's. A lawyer for Verizon -- who is not affected by the dispute -- says President Obama should use his power and step in.…
Read MoreVermont sues patent troll over small business shakedowns
Patent trolls have been bleeding legitimate businesses for years -- now a state government has turned the tables and asked a troll to pay $10,000 for each of the hundreds of threatening letters it has mailed out.…
Read MoreGoogle strikes back at BT with patent suit, but mediation looms
The suit, covering quality-of-service and internet telephony technologies, is a response to a suit BT launched against Google more than a year ago. But a source at BT suggests the original case is going to mediation.…
Read MoreSurvey: Despite initial missteps, mobile payments will boom in 2013
We've heard it before: So-and-so year will be the year of the mobile payments. A group of mobile industry experts, however, believes 2013 will be the real deal. Google and the carriers had their chance. Now it's the banks' turn.…
Read MoreChip maker Marvell smacked with $1.17 billion patent verdict
A jury said Marvell Technologies, which specializes in energy efficient chips, must pay $1.17 billion for violating two patents belong to Carnegie Mellon University. That figure is likely to be adjusted.…
Read MoreNew York Times tangles with patent trolls
The patent troll problem is spreading from the tech sector to media companies. Rather than paying off the trolls, the New York Times is holding its ground in two major patent cases.…
Read MoreCounterintuitive: Did Samsung emerge a winner?
Observers like Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang said Samsung may not be a loser in its patent fight with Apple despite a $1 billion verdict to the contrary, Samsung may have come out ahead even with the court loss.…
Read MoreTriple damages and injunctions: what comes next for Apple and Samsung
A jury ordered Samsung to pay $1.05 billion for infringing Apple's patents. But this is just the beginning -- Apple will try to bump the figure up while Samsung tries to knock it down. Here's an easy-to-read guide to what happens next.…
Read MoreThe next phase of the Apple Samsung case: straw polls and sandwiches
The jury is about to decide whether Apple and Samsung ripped off each other's smartphones and tablets. Here's an easy-to-read guide about how they will reach a verdict and what happens when they do.…
Read MoreAnother senior judge bemoans ‘wasteful litigation,’ state of patent system
A judge added more grist to the ongoing controversy over the state of America's patent system. The judge -- who sits on the country's top patent court -- complained about the cost and consequences of obvious patents.…
Read MoreMalaria is no excuse for patent trolling, Mr. Myhrvold
The CEO of Intellectual Ventures says his company's philanthropy means he is doing more good for the world than GigaOM. The claim fails to account for the harm to innovation he is causing through ruinous patent suits.…
Read MoreBig Tech’s patent bubble: an “aberration” waiting to burst
Companies have been scrambling to throw down billions of dollars to buy up patent portfolios. One expert warns the purchases reflect a market distortion while the impending Kodak sale suggests a bubble might be bursting.…
Read MorePatent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare
Patent trolls continue to take it to young companies with a vengeance. This time, a shell company that claims to own basic navigation technology wants the maker of a popular location-based "check-in" service to pay up.…
Read MoreSuper troll sues Netflix, Yelp, dozens more over Autocomplete
This one's a doozy even by patent troll standards. A shell company that is already suing Apple and Nokia over a common autocomplete feature is now branching out to file dozens of patent claims against online video firms and retailers.…
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