Patent Infringement | "WiLAN Provides Update Related to LG Litigation"

By : Market Watch
Source : http://www.marketwatch.com
Category : Patent Infringement

Wi-LAN Inc. ("WiLAN" or the "Company") today provided an update related to an important discovery dispute in its litigation against LG Electronics, Inc. and LG Electronics USA, Inc. (collectively, "LG").

The dispute arose because LG was attempting to compel WiLAN's law firm Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP to produce a number of documents in WiLAN's litigation with LG that both WiLAN and its law firm considered to be protected by attorney client privilege. The District Court agreed with LG's position and ordered that WiLAN's law firm was compelled to release the documents to LG, whereupon WiLAN's law firm appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("CAFC").

On July 13, 2012 the CAFC issued a decision in WiLAN's favour regarding the matter and vacated the order of the lower court that WiLAN was compelled to produce the documents in question to LG.

"We are pleased with the opinion released by the Federal Circuit," said Matt Pasulka, VP, Patent Litigation. "The Federal Circuit reviewed the matter and came out in support of our position regarding the proper legal standard to evaluate the scope of a privilege waiver."

Pasulka added, "We are also pleased that our counsel acted in a manner that protected attorney client privilege and successfully argued its position against that put forth by LG and its counsel during the appeal process."

In WiLAN vs. LG, another matter before the CAFC, WiLAN is appealing the ruling and opinion for summary judgment of non-infringement granted to LG that was issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 7, 2012. The Company expects oral hearings to take place in the fourth quarter of 2012 and a resulting court opinion to be issued in the first half of 2013.

About WiLAN

WiLAN, founded in 1992, is a leading technology innovation and licensing company. WiLAN has licensed its intellectual property to over 260 companies worldwide. Inventions in our portfolio have been licensed by companies that manufacture or sell a wide range of communication and consumer electronics products including 3G and 4G handsets, Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, Wi-Fi and broadband routers, xDSL infrastructure equipment, cellular base stations and digital television receivers. WiLAN has a large and growing portfolio of more than 3,000 issued or pending patents.

All trademarks and brands mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.

Source : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wilan-provides-update-related-to-lg-litigation-2012-07-16-6173312

Patent Infringement | "SmartPhone Prices To Sky Rocket?"

By : Oonagh Reidy
source : http://smarthouse.com.au 
Category : Patent Infringement

Patents gone mad: BlackBerry's $147 M patent infringment fine last week could spell major trouble for the mobile industry.

BlackBerry makers RIM are being forced to pay a $8 royalty per device, which a Californian court estimate is "reasonable" sum,  for just one patent infringement.

It now means a total bill of $147.2 million for the struggling Canadian giant and could spell big trouble for the tech industry, warns patents guru Florian Mueller.

The massive fine was following an action brought by little known US company called Mformation in the U.S. District Court Northern California, handed down on Friday 13th last.

This fine was based on the court finding Research in Motion (RIM) infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,970,917 whicc relates to a "system and method for remote control and management of wireless devices" notes Mueller.

Mformation made seven patent infringement claims in all, but five of them were deemed anticipated.

This couldn't come at a worse time for struggling BlackBerry who has already reported a US$518m loss in the last quarter and last week reports emerged investors may sue the company over the delays with the release of BB 10 OS.

RIM said it was "disappointed by the outcome and is evaluating all legal options."

"RIM has worked hard for many years to independently develop its leading-edge BlackBerry technology and industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, and RIM does not believe that the Mformation patent in question is valid," the company said in a  statement.

"I have no idea whether the blame for this crazy verdict is on the judge, the jury or on RIM's legal team. The verdict, however, relates to a single software patent that I've looked at and can't find anything exceptional about," says Mueller.

"But whatever the reason... this verdict must be overturned at the earliest opportunity," he believes as would mean even high flying tech giants like Apple and Android would be forced to fork out millions in patent licensing for every device sold, pushing phone (and other tech device) prices stratospheric.

Paying per-unit royalties for patented technologies (theres tons in every smartphone – up to 250,000, Google says) is "unsustainable" as it would mean the likes of Apple and Android vendors would be forced to pay out up to $1million per device – just in licensing costs alsone, says Mueller.

"We're talking about a six-digit figure of patentable inventions in a smartphone, not a four- or five-digit figure.

"The potential licensing cost per smartphone would amount to $1,000,000 -- yes, one million dollars per device."

"This is absolutely unsustainable," he warned and appears to be further evidence of a patents world gone mad, where everyone from Apple and Samsung, to HTC, Microsoft and Google Android are all battling it out over alleged patents infringements.

The trial judge in the RIM V Mformation case has yet to decide certain legal issues that might impact the verdict and RIM says it will "await those rulings before deciding whether to pursue an appeal."

Source: http://smarthouse.com.au/Phones/Smartphones_And_PDAs/H5D5W4V5?page=2

Patent Infringement | "Fujifilm hits Motorola Mobility with patent-infringement lawsuit"

By : Steven Musil
source : http://news.cnet.com
Category : Patent Infringement

Japanese photography giant says it's been trying for more than a year to get the Google subsidiary to license four patents related to digital camera and photography technology.
Japan's Fujifilm has sued Google's Motorola Mobility, claiming that several of its cell phones and tablets infringe on four of its patents related to digital camera and photography technology.

Fujifilm, which filed its lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, said its filing came after attempts to negotiate a licensing deal with Motorola failed. The Japanese photo giant said it notified Motorola in April 2011 of its belief that the handset maker was infringing on its patents and held face-to-face meetings with Motorola representatives. However, those discussions failed to produce a licensing deal and infringing behavior continues, Fujifilm said.

The four patents cited in the lawsuit:

    U.S. Patent 6,144,763, which covers converting captured color images to monochrome images;
    U.S. Patent 6,915,119, which describes a method in which devices communicate with each other over a    telephone network;
    U.S. Patent 7,327,886, which covers facial detection in digital photography;
    U.S. Patent 5,734,427, which covers a process for allowing high-resolution images captured by an image sensor to be displayed on a low-resolution view finder.

Fujifilm alleges that several handsets and tablets infringe on some or all of the patents, including the Droid X, Razr, Razr Maxx, Droid Bionic, and Xoom. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, as well as attorneys' fees.

CNET has contacted Motorola Mobility parent company Google for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

Motorola scored a patent win of sorts late last month when a federal judge threw out a lawsuit with Apple that claimed Motorola of infringing on some of the iPhone maker's patents. The judge said that neither side managed to prove damages and dismissed the case with prejudice, saying that neither company should be allowed to refile.

Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57472610-93/fujifilm-hits-motorola-mobility-with-patent-infringement-lawsuit/

Patent Infringement | "Noise Reduction Company Sues Apple For Patent Infringement"

By : Francis Rey 
Source : http://socialbarrel.com 
Category : Patent Infringement 

Noise Free Wireless has accused Apple of patent infringement involving noise-reduction technology in cell phones.

A small company in Silicon Valley, Noise Free Wireless, brought out that it presented detailed technical information about its noise-reduction technology during several meetings that happened at Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters. That was way before the accused firm filed its own patent for a similar technology, and said to have already been embedded in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s and all three iPad models.

Noise Free filed its technology under U.S. patent 7,742,790 in May 2007, centering on an innovation that has the capability to reduce or eliminate environmental noise such as wind from a voice transmission on a mobile phone that was then awarded to the firm on June 2010. Incidentally, it was the same time Apple filed its own U.S. patent application 2011/0300806 involving a system for eliminating signal noise while keeping the user’s voice intact.

According to Noise Free, Apple was the first consumer electronic company that the firm approached and discussed the technology’s particulars with in the middle of 2007 after the filing of its patent, which was then followed by a work presentation to the company during September in that same year.

According to the prosecuting company, more meetings followed after the presentation over the next three years, until a time came when both firms primarily agreed on a verbal agreement and then signed a formal non-disclosure agreement in September 2008 to the confidentiality of the subject, which includes an evaluation circuit board.

By August that same year, Noise Free disappointingly discovered that Apple had decided to use technology in the development of its products from a competitor named Audience. Their good relationship started to drift away.

The complaint claims that Apple “extracted Noise Free’s proprietary and confidential object code, determined Noise Free’s noise reduction software and measured and duplicated the signal traces from the circuit board and microcontroller,” plus disclosed the information to Audience.

Further, it states that the some of the ideas and inventions containing the patent filed by Apple came from the information that Noise Free disclosed to the firm during their meetings.

On 3 July this year, Noise Free Wireless based in nearby Santa Clara, appealed to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California under case number 12-03483, to take legal action in the form damages and invalidation of patent against Apple who allegedly has taken trade secrets, breached contract, and engaged in unfair business practices.

Both Apple and Noise Free were unavailable for comment.

Source: http://socialbarrel.com/noise-reduction-apple-patent-infringement/40487/

Patent Infringement | "EMG Technology sues Google over mobile device technology infringement"

By : mobility.cbronline.com 
Source : http://mobility.cbronline.com 
Category : Patent Infringement 

Files a lawsuit in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the Tyler Division

EMG Technology has filed a lawsuit against Google in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the US, alleging patent infringement of its mobile device technology.

The lawsuit accuses Google of infringing U.S. Patent 7,441,196 C1 ('196), by using EMG's patented simplified navigation system on smart phones and tablets.

EMG sought money damages and a preliminary and permanent injunction against Google from distributing its Chrome Mobile Browser in the US.

EMG's patent portfolio managing member and lead inventor Elliot A. Gottfurcht said Google's Chrome Mobile Browser directly infringes the '196 patent by displaying mobile webpages on smart phones and tablets using the company's patented simplified navigation system, which permits users to navigate a touch screen with inputs and to manipulate the screen for zooming and scrolling.

"Mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, made by Motorola (which is owned by Google) and Samsung, use Google's Chrome Mobile Browser to navigate mobile web sites using EMG's patented simplified navigation system," Gottfurcht added.

JMBM partner and author of the Patent Lawyer Blog Stanley Gibson said, "The '196 patent has successfully emerged from the reexamination at the USPTO that was initiated by Apple Inc. in 2010."

EMG has licensed its patent portfolio to 40 Fortune 200 companies that use EMG's technology to display and navigate their mobile web sites on smart phones and tablets.

The news comes after Google is close to a deal with the Federal Trade Commission to pay $22.5m in settle the charges of bypassing the privacy settings of customers using Apple's Safari browser.

Source : http://mobility.cbronline.com/news/emg-technology-sues-google-over-mobile-device-technology-infringement-120712

Patent Infringement | "Amazon making a smartphone to rival iPhone"

By : Philip Shan 
Source : http://www.examiner.com    
Category : Patent Infringement 

The same manufacturer of iPhones is teaming up with Amazon to make a new smartphone that would rival Apple’s phones, using the Android network. Still there are barriers to entry. Amazon may buy a portfolio of mobile patents to give them the capability to sell and license mobile phone use without running into patent infringement and litigation.

So far, InterDigital has pitched up $375 million for their patents, an offer that is being looked at by Amazon, according to Bloomberg. The demand for patents has gone up given the lawsuit frenzy arising from patent infringement. A new entrant in the monopoly of mobile phones could really shake up Apple, who is already being undercut by Amazon with their tablet devices.

Not only does Amazon want to profit on the sales of its phones, it has a considerable interest in expanding their digital media business, which is a good chunk of their total revenues. Bloomberg writes, “A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies. It would help Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos made a foray into tablets with the Kindle Fire -- carve out a slice of the market for advanced wireless handsets.”According to the article, Samsung and Apple combined sold 398.4 million smartphones.

The cell phone business has entered a state of so-called ‘perfect monopoly’ where a few companies monopolize the market with third-parties able to provide the same generic service at a lower rate. The no-contract phones offer identical service just with a different company and customer service. If people are willing to pay full price for a phone they can get identical service for cheaper without a contract. Otherwise, customers only have to pay a fraction of the price for new phones as most phones are heavily discounted.

Since Amazon’s phone would work off of the Android operating system, it could be carried by more than one service carrier making its sales potential that much greater. Different versions of the Amazon phone may be supplied by different mobile phone service carriers.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/amazon-making-a-smartphone-to-rival-iphone

Patent Infringement | "Samsung Wins Patent War against Apple; Galaxy Nexus Hits U.S. Again"

By : Raymond Ronamai 
Source : http://www.ibtimes.co.in   
Category : Patent Infringement 

After failing to ban the import of HTC smartphones to the U.S. last week, Apple has received another setback with the Samsung Electronics winning an appeal to sell its Galaxy Nexus smartphones in the U.S.

Apple had earlier managed to impose immediate injunction on the sales of Galaxy Nexus in the U.S. over patent infringement.

However, Samsung reportedly updated software for its Galaxy Nexus mobile phones, thus winning the appeal to sell its product in the U.S. Internet giant Google has provided software for the smartphone.

Apple can respond to the ruling of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on or before Thursday. The trial on the case can be taken up only in March 2014 if Apple manages to ban sales of Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the U.S.

It may be recalled that Apple managed to stop sales of Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the United States a couple of weeks ago.

A California judge issued a preliminary injunction on Samsung last week, baring it from manufacturing or selling its tablet in the U.S. following injunction by Apple Inc. The ruling came just a few days after a court issued preliminary injunction against selling and importing of its Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the country.

Apple and Samsung have been at loggerheads for a quite a long time now, acussing each other of violating patenting laws. The two gianst in consumer electronics are waging paten war in several countries.

Not long ago, Apple filed a suit against the sales of Samsung Galaxy series including Galaxy S3 in the U.S., alleging that Samsung violated Apple's patent.

Source: http://www.slashgear.com/apple-wins-major-patent-for-itravel-application-10237916/

Patent Infringement | "Apple wins major patent for iTravel application"

By : Elise Moreau 
Source : http://www.slashgear.com  
Category : Patent Infringement 

Just as Apple is probably figuring out how to respond to a recent patent-infringement lawsuit, the company was awarded a number of patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today. One in particular stands out from the rest, and that’s Apple’s newly granted iTravel patent application, which allows users to make reservations, check in to flights and share identification details.

With the new Passbook app for iOS 6 announced last month and now this newly granted patent for the iTravel NFC-enabled app, it looks like Apple is definitely hard at work making its way into the travel business. According to the filing, the iTravel app should work on Macs, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, allowing users to make trip reservations and share them with others. Users should also be able to take care of luggage check ins with the app as well.

It’s possible that the Apple iTravel concept could be released later this year for iOS devices, although Apple has not made any announcement regarding the iTravel concept as of yet. Apple files for patents regularly, and it’s often the case that the products laid out in granted patents never get released. We’ll all just have to wait and see if Apple decides on actually launching it.

Source: http://www.slashgear.com/apple-wins-major-patent-for-itravel-application-10237916/

Patent Infringement | "Microsoft Signs Two New Patent Licensing Deals Covering Android, Chrome"

By : John Ribeiro
Source : http://www.pcworld.com 
Category : Patent Infringement 

Microsoft said Monday that two more companies had signed patent agreements covering their Android and Chrome devices, under the company's IP (intellectual property) licensing program that already has over 1,100 licensing agreements.

The software giant said it would earn royalty from the two deals but did not provide details.

The agreement with Coby Electronics, a maker of Internet TVs, tablets, and other consumer electronics, provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Coby's products running the Android or Chrome platform, while the patent agreement with Aluratek provides coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for Aluratek's e-readers and tablets running the Android or Chrome platform.

Microsoft said the program launched in December 2003 was developed to open access to Microsoft's research and development investments and its patent and IP portfolio, though some critics claim Microsoft views it as a revenue stream. A number of companies including Samsung have signed up for Microsoft's Android licensing program, but Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google, has not signed.

Microsoft claims Android infringes some of its patents, hence the requirement for these licensing agreements.

One holdout, Barnes & Noble settled patent litigation with Microsoft over its Android-based Nook e-reader in April as part of a broader alliance with Microsoft. Barnes & Noble and a new subsidiary set up with Microsoft under the terms of the alliance will pay Microsoft royalties for its Nook and tablet products.

Motorola and Microsoft have legal disputes in a number of countries, including one over patent infringement by the Xbox before the U.S. International Trade Commission. A Munich court ruled in May that Motorola infringes on a Microsoft patent relating to SMS messaging.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/259002/microsoft_signs_two_new_patent_licensing_deals_covering_android_chrome.html 

Patent Infringement | "[Update: Now 1-2 Weeks] Hey Look: The Galaxy Nexus Is Back On The Play Store, Will Ship In 2-3 Weeks"

By : Eric Ravenscraft 
Source : http://www.androidpolice.com 
Category : Patent Infringement

Just a few days after the Galaxy Nexus was removed from the Play Store following an injunction in Apple's suit against Samsung. However, as of today, the flagship Android phone is available from the Play Store again. While customers can purchase the device, the site says it won't ship for 2-3 weeks. This is in contrast to the immediate availability the device had prior to the injunction.

Update: And now the site says that the Galaxy Nexus will ship in 1-2 weeks. We're unsure what caused the change, but the net effect is still largely the same: you can't get it immediately, but soon.

It's still unclear how Google is planning to rectify the allegedly infringing features, however we know that an update is in the works. The shipping delay may mean that either Google or Samsung needs to open up each individual Nexus to update the software before they're legally allowed to sell the device.

Further confusing the matter, just yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court decided to temporarily lift the ban on sales of the Galaxy Nexus, pending a response from Apple. The court decided that Samsung had made a plausible argument for why the ban should be lifted. This isn't the end of the story, but it may mean that Google and Samsung are allowed to sell the device after all, update or no.

In any case, if you wanted a Galaxy Nexus from Google, you likely won't be waiting too much longer.

Source : http://zeenews.india.com/business/gadgets/gadgets-news/now-iphones-for-guests-at-hotel_55312.html

Patent Infringement | "Now, iPhones for guests at hotel"

By : Zeebiz Bureau 
Source : http://zeenews.india.com  
Category : Patent Infringement 

New Delhi: A Canadian hotel is all set to replace its boring hotel room phones for sleek iPhones, a leading American daily reported on Friday.

Opus hotel in Vancouver will now pamper its guests with an iPhone, which they can use in their rooms and take it out as well while they are guests of the hotel.

Reportedly, the hotel management are eying for guests, particularly from the US who have prior knowledge of using Apple iPhones.

The guests will be using the iPhones preloaded with the numbers of the hotel's various departments and when the guest checks out, the smartphone's memory will be wiped clean.

Earlier the hotel became the first hotel in Canada to offer an iPad 2 in every room.

Wish some of the Indian hotel industry people read this news and surprise their guests by following the footsteps of this Canadian hotel.

Source : http://zeenews.india.com/business/gadgets/gadgets-news/now-iphones-for-guests-at-hotel_55312.html

Patent Infringement | "Amazon Said to Plan Smartphone to Vie With Apple’s IPhone"

By : Tim Culpan, Olga Kharif and Ashlee Vance 
Source : http://www.sfgate.com  
Category : Patent Infringement 

Amazon.com Inc. is developing a smartphone that would vie with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and handheld devices that run Google Inc.’s Android operating system, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., the Chinese mobile- phone maker, is working with Amazon on the device, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Amazon is seeking to complement the smartphone strategy by acquiring patents that cover wireless technology and would help it defend against allegations of infringement, other people with knowledge of the matter said.

A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies. It would help Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos -- who made a foray into tablets with the Kindle Fire -- carve out a slice of the market for advanced wireless handsets. Manufacturers led by Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple shipped 398.4 million smartphones in the first quarter, according to researcher IDC.

Drew Herdener, a spokesman for Amazon, declined to comment.

Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., said in November that Amazon is planning to release a smartphone.

Seattle-based Amazon considered buying wireless patents from InterDigital Inc. before the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania- based company said in June that it will sell the assets to Intel Corp. for $375 million, two people said. Amazon is taking pitches and setting up briefings with other sellers, the people said.

Patent Protection

Amazon dropped 0.4 percent to the equivalent of $227.67 in German trading as of 9:22 a.m. in Frankfurt. Foxconn gained 4.5 percent in Hong Kong.

Amazon beefed up its patent prowess recently by hiring Matt Gordon, formerly senior director of acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, the company that was founded by former Microsoft Corp. Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold and owns more than 35,000 intellectual property assets. Gordon will be general manager for patent acquisitions and investments at Amazon, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

Adding patents would help Amazon protect itself against lawsuits alleging illegal use of technology. Amazon has been involved in five patent-related cases this year, and 20 cases last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Demand for mobile patents has increased, as shown recently by Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and its thousands of patents, which closed this year.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/amazon-books-to-smartphones-/479735/

Patent Infringement | "Amazon: Books to smartphones "

By : Bloomberg / Taipei (Taiwan)  
Source : http://www.business-standard.com 
Category : Patent Infringement 

Amazon.com Inc is developing a smartphone that would vie with Apple Inc iPhone and handheld devices that run Google Inc Android operating system, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, the Chinese mobile phone maker, is working with Amazon on the device, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans were private. Amazon is seeking to complement the smartphone strategy by acquiring patents that cover wireless technology and would help it defend against allegations of infringement, other people with knowledge of the matter said.

A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies.

THE SMARTPHONE ADVANTAGE

    Seattle-based Amazon.com is developing a smartphone to compete with Apple's iPhone and handheld        devices supported by Google's Android operating system  
    It is working with Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, the Chinese mobile- phone maker

It would help Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos — who made a foray into tablets with the Kindle Fire — carve out a slice of the market for advanced wireless handsets. Manufacturers led by Samsung Electronics Co and Apple shipped 398.4 million smartphones in the first quarter, according to researcher IDC.

Drew Herdener, a spokesman for Amazon, declined to comment. Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Citigroup Inc, said in November that Amazon was planning to release a smartphone.

Seattle-based Amazon considered buying wireless patents from InterDigital Inc before the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company said in June that it would sell the assets to Intel Corp for $375 million, two people said. Amazon is taking pitches and setting up briefings with other sellers, the people said.

Amazon beefed up its patent prowess recently by hiring Matt Gordon, formerly senior director of acquisitions at Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, the company that was founded by former Microsoft Corp Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold and owns more than 35,000 intellectual property assets.

Gordon will be general manager for patent acquisitions and investments at Amazon, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

Adding patents would help Amazon protect itself against lawsuits alleging illegal use of technology. Amazon has been involved in five patent-related cases this year, and 20 cases last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Demand for mobile patents has increased, as shown recently by Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc and its thousands of patents, which closed this year.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/amazon-books-to-smartphones-/479735/

Patent Infringement | "Google demands a whopping $4 million from Oracle for Android Trial."

By : The Droid Guy
source : http://thedroidguy.com 
Category : Patent Infrigement 

The armour had been raised, the battle-field set for perhaps the most intensifying battle on patent infringement. No, we are not talking about the Apple and Google battle. We are talking about the fiery battle between two IT giants- Google and Oracle which has been going on for long and has now reached its (fair) climax.

Oracle’s claims as we all know were obsolete and half-witted. Oracle sued Google in 2010, by laying claims that the search giant infringed its copy-rights and patents in building the Android operating System.

Oracle had filed a suit which stated that Google stepped on its intellectual property by cloning 37 Java APIs in its native operating systems. APIs are Application Programming Interfaces or in layman terms, the language developers used to develop Java applications. Hence, what Oracle actually meant was that Google copied some part of the Java architecture [software code] and embedded into Android without its prior permission.

After fighting for more than a year, Oracle lost to Google- almost empty-handed. The judge in his jurisdiction stated that apart from nine lines of code and two odd test files, Google owed Oracle exactly nothing. The verdict was totally on the side of Google on almost every issue raised by Oracle.

Google however has reverted back by demading $4 million compensation from the Database giant. Google reportedly has juggled a mind-boggling 97 million documents during the law-suit. Google claims that organizing and copying statements gulped over $ 2.9 million of their earnings and the rest $ 1.1 million were spent fighting the law-suit in court.

On a personal note, we think Oracle deserves this. Oracle eminently claimed infringement on an API call- which in geeky terms is simply the method of accessing the underlying functions. Had that been ruled in favour of Oracle, all the GCC libraries, POSIX and codes written by clean-techniques would be under infringement. That apparently would mean that the group who is the first to write the API implementation can sue everyone which follows them. That’s like banging Ed for calling Eddy, just because Edd called Eddy first.

It’s astute, despicable and to some extent shameful how the leading companies, instead of innovating and competing are busy prosecuting each other. This would very well be more than a lesson to companies like Apple who are very fond of filing lawsuits on copyright/patent infringement. Kill one and the rest hundred know what you are.

If Oracle is smart, it would pay the sum right away to avoid any contemptible embarrassment. However, if it was smart, it wouldn’t have filed the suit in the very first place.

Source : http://thedroidguy.com/2012/07/google-demands-a-whopping-4-million-from-oracle-for-android-trial/

Patent Infringement | "Apple Coughs Up $60M USD for iPad Trademark Infringement in China"

By : Jason Mick 
Source : http://www.dailytech.com 
Category : Patent Infringement 

Proview was forced to settle early amid troubled finances

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) has done its fair share of suing others.  Currently Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd.'s (KSC:005930) Galaxy Nexus smartphone and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet are banned in the U.S., thanks to its efforts.

But in China it was Apple this week who was forced to pay up after a lawsuit loss.  Apple ponied up $60M USD to Proview International Holdings ltd. (HKG:0334), after the Guangdong High Court ruled in Dec. 2011 that Taiwanese Proview subsidiary Shenzhen Proview Technology had only sold Apple the rights to the iPad trademark in Taiwan, not China.

Apple now officially owns the trademark "iPad" in China.  The iPad is a popular status symbol in China, a land where many workers are too poor to buy one of the devices.  iPads retail in China for well above their U.S. price point, prices that drive some Chinese teenagers to extreme tactics to get their hands on one.  One boy even sold a kidney to get cash for one.

Proview trademarked the phrase "iPad" in 2001 and was approached in 2009 by Apple who sought to buy it for a non-disclosed use.  Proview agreed to license the trademark for $55,000 USD.

The tale of lawsuits and litigation is perhaps a cautionary tale for Apple.  Much like the fictional Count of Monte Cristo, Proview's quest for monetary revenge consumed it.

The company announced that it may still go bankrupt, after falling short of its target settlement of $400M USD.  Company lawyer Xie Xianghui commented to the Associated Press that his client had numerous unpaid debts and that the settlement might not be enough to keep it afloat.

A Shanghai court's refusal to ban sales of the iPad appears to have forced Proview into a hasty settlement.  While Proview could have, in theory, won in a prolonged court battle, its almost exhausted financial resources required a hastier exit.

That pending bankruptcy calls into question the status of Proview's second major trademark suit against Apple.  That suit was brought back in the U.S. in Apple's home state of California.

Source : http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Coughs+Up+60M+USD+for+iPad+Trademark+Infringement+in+China/article25079.htm