Last month Apple and Ericsson went to war over the fees Ericsson is trying to charge Apple for the use of its…
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Study shows patent licenses don’t lead to tech transfer
It’s been another bad week for America’s benighted patent system: a Texas jury ordered Samsung to pay a patent troll $16 million for…
Read MoreMIT uses patent from 1997 to sue Apple over chips
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed a patent lawsuit against Apple and its suppliers this week, claiming that semiconductor wafers found in the…
Read MoreEngineers, tech firms battle patent trolls on standard setting
A big showdown is taking place at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, an important standard-setting body, about rules for patents that cover basic building…
Read MoreAs Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar count patents, warning signs ahead
Government regulators and the taxi industry can’t stop Uber — but maybe a patent can. At least that’s the hope of Sidecar,…
Read MoreApple and Ericsson go to court over LTE patents
Thought Apple and Samsung’s truce meant the patent wars were dying down? Think again: now Apple and Ericsson have launched a new…
Read MoreApple-backed patent troll Rockstar signs $900M peace deal
A long-running war over smartphone patents came to an end this week as a consortium of Google rivals, led by Apple, announced they have a…
Read MoreIntellectual Ventures founder steps down: “market is tough right now”
Peter Detkin, a lawyer and former Intel executive, is standing down as vice chairman from the notorious patent trolling venture he co-founded alongside three…
Read MoreNotorious patent troll dings Nebraska taxpayers for $750,000
It’s no secret the U.S. patent system is dysfunctional but, still, this one’s a doozy: a Texas patent troll that sent thousands of shakedown letters to…
Read MoreFormlabs, 3D Systems settle their 3D printing patent battle
The case originally centered around eight patents filed in the 1990s. It turns out that startups still need to tiptoe around the veterans' IP.…
Read MoreApple patent application describes a networked smoke detector
On Thursday, the United States patent office published a patent application from Apple describing a system where a smoke detector pushes a notification to a mobile device, like an iPhone.…
Read MoreApple-backed Rockstar ends patent war on Android, deal suggests
Apple has decided to end a bitter legal war against Google and Android phone makers, and to turn away from patent tactics that have cost the smartphone industry billions of dollars, according to reports and new court filings.…
Read MorePatent reform is likely in 2015. Here’s what it could look like
The head of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), said on Tuesday that a bipartisan bill to fix America's dysfunctional patent system failed this spring after it ran into the "DC version of quicksand known as the Senate," but that 2015 will be a different story.…
Read MoreSamsung counter-sues Nvidia in major fight over chip patents
Nvidia, a pioneer in the field of graphic chips for smartphones and video games, sued Samsung in September for allegedly using patent-infringing Qualcomm chips in…
Read MoreIn win for tech industry, White House nominates ex-Googler Michelle Lee to lead Patent Office
The choice of Michelle Lee, a well-regarded lawyer, to fill the long-vacant position of Director of the Patent Office is good news for Silicon Valley and for patent reform advocates.…
Read MorePatent trolls reel as court smackdowns lead to collapse in share price
There is broad contempt for patent trolls in the tech industry, but that has done little to deter them. Now, however, it looks like the market is getting tired of them too.…
Read MoreMeet Obama’s new “piracy czar,” same as the old czar
The U.S. is about to get a new czar to oversee piracy and intellectual property. If the country must have a czar, why can't the person look at other IP-related problems besides just enforcement?…
Read MorePatent troll king Intellectual Ventures suffers large layoffs
Intellectual Ventures, which has been the scourge of the tech industry for years, may be in trouble after reportedly laying off 20 percent of its staff.…
Read MoreNotorious podcasting troll settles patent suit with comedian Adam Carolla
Personal Audio believes it has a right to collect patent royalties from every podcaster in the country. A comedian stopped the patent troll in its tracks but did not go through with a promise to fight the troll to the end.…
Read MoreMo’ money, less scrutiny: Why higher-paid examiners grant worse patents
Two law professors used a supercomputer to analyze patent applications against a database of examiner records and found that not only do grant rates increase with pay rates, but rejections for obviousness drop off sharply.…
Read MoreIntellectual Ventures acquires hundreds of patents for new troll fund
Uh oh, the world's biggest patent troll has re-upped its weapons chest -- including patents covering cloud computing.…
Read MoreApple may not call patent troll a “patent troll” before jury, says judge
A little known company in Hawaii is demanding patent royalties from most of the mobile device industry. Apple is fighting the demands in court, but will not be allowed to call the company a "patent troll."…
Read MorePure Storage obtains more than 100 patents from IBM
Flash-based storage service Pure Storage just got its hands on a big bundle of patents from IBM, which should gird it for its ongoing IP fights.…
Read MorePatents that fuel Microsoft’s “Android tax” revealed in Chinese blog post
Microsoft has long used a stealthy strategy to coerce device makers into paying a license for the use of Android software. That may get harder, after the Chinese government published a list of its patents.…
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