Tag archive: patents

The world of patent licensing often seems like a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, but every so often the industry stumbles into a new tunnel — or, at least, one that seems new at first glance. Such is the case with Apple, which has asked the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to establish a set of basic principles governing so-called fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing of patented… Read More

Microsoft has dropped one of its patent infringement claims against book- and ereader-seller Barnes & Noble before the U.S. International Trade Commission, in an effort to streamline its case against the company as a trial date looms closer. The so-called “522 patent” describes a method for displaying tabs similar to those now commonly found in Web browsers; Microsoft isn't saying the patent is not valid or is not being… Read More

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired The 30-pin connector has become a mainstay of all of Apple's mobile devices, but could it soon be replaced by something more similar to the MagSafe adapter used in the company's laptops? A newly uncovered (thanks to AppleInsider) Apple patent reveals that the company might be exploring incorporating a MagSafe-like adapter into future devices and abandoning the ubiquitous 30-pin connector. The patent also… Read More

The long-running tit-for-tat legal battle between Samsung and Apple logged another entry today, with Judge Andreas Voss of the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruling that Apple does not infringe on a Samsung patent involving 3G/UMTS technology. The judge did not offer any detailed reasoning, but overall the ruling likely represents only a small setback in Samsung's ongoing battle with Apple in Germany: It still has four more lawsuits… Read More

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard Posner has significantly narrowed the high-profile patent litigation between Apple and Motorola over the technology used in their iOS and Android-powered mobile devices, reducing the number of claims in the case that could go to trial from eight to five. Posner ruled that one of Apple's patents in the case is invalid, and that Apple was not guilty of infringing on Motorola patents for authenticating… Read More

In an early victory for Motorola, an administrative law judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that Motorola Droid smartphones do not infringe on three Apple patents. Although the case will now go to a full six-judge panel at the ITC for a final determination, the ruling is a setback in Apple's efforts to cast a dark cloud over Android devices as a product “stolen” from Apple's iOS and iPhone.… Read More

Software giant Microsoft announced today that it has executed a deal with South Korea's LG Electronics that has LG paying royalties to Microsoft for it's use of Google's Android mobile operating system and Chrome OS, in exchange for immunity from litigation in the event Microsoft ever decides to sue Google for patent infringement. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed, but Microsoft proudly trumpets that the… Read More

Beleaguered imaging company Kodak, one of the most recognized names in the photography and film industry, has announced a broad new reorganization that shrinks the company from three business units to two in an effort to improve operational efficiency and cut costs. At the same time, Kodak is suing Apple (again) and smartphone maker HTC, claiming their mobile devices infringe on Kodak patents. Kodak's reorganization sees the company… Read More

As reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier today, Eastman Kodak may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if company officials aren't successful in selling off 1,100 patents over the next few weeks. While the company would continue to operate during the bankruptcy procedure, Kodak would be forced to sell the patents during a court-supervised bankruptcy auction and wouldn't get the full value for the patents. The… Read More

Google has bought itself a couple hundred more patents to beef up its portfolio. SEO by the Sea reports that the search giant has purchased 188 granted patents and 29 patent pending applications from IBM. The purchase was completed on Dec. 30, 2011 and gives Google access to technologies on a broad range of topics from mobile phones to blade servers to video conferencing. We've listed a few notable patents below: Mobile Wireless Device… Read More

Photography pioneer Kodak is looking towards a grim 2012 as the world continues to leave traditional film photography behind—and now shakeups in the company board may be adding to the pressure. The company has lost three members of its board in the last week: Adam Clammer, Herald Chen, and Laura Tyson have all tendered their resignations, with Tyson's departure only becoming public knowledge via an SEC filing. Clammer and Chen were… Read More

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office dealt Oracle a bit of a setback in its high-stakes patent litigation against Google over Android. In a filing just before the Christmas holiday, the USPTO effectively threw out one of the seven patents Oracle is using against Google (full text available at Groklaw), rejecting some 17 of the 21 claims asserted in U.S. patent 6,192,476. Although only one of those claims was being leveraged against… Read More

Businesses the size of Google tend to attract all manner of litigation, and Google has felt the sting of legal battle. The company is already facing its share of high-profile cases, including an major infringement suit with Oracle — and a looming mano-a-mano with Apple — over its Android operating system. Now, the Internet giant faces another patent infringement battle, and this one is from across the pond. British Telecommunications has filed… Read More

Motorola Mobility has finally managed to strike at the heart of Apple's wildly successful iOS business. In the first significant ruling in Motorola's patent counter-suits against Apple, a German judge has granted a preliminary injunction against Apple selling the iPhone in Germany. The grant of a temporary injunction is a follow-up to a default judgement the court entered last month. If the ruling sticks (Apple can try to win a… Read More

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued findings on two of Oracle's Java-related patents at issue in the database giant's case against Google over the Java virtual machine included in Android. Perhaps most significantly, the USPTO rejected Oracle's patent claims on U.S. patent number 7,426,720, which has generally been considered one of the most important patents in the case, in part because it's one of the… Read More