We all love Steve, but it’s still common knowledge that our beloved Apple leader can be a bit ornery, especially when he feels like his intellectual property is being threatened. Of course, he doesn’t always get it right, as evidenced by a great little blog post made today by former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, who explains how Jobs threatened to sue Sun over Project Looking Glass and its graphical effects.

Over at his blog, Schwartz writes:

In 2003, after I unveiled a prototype Linux desktop called Project Looking Glass*, Steve called my office to let me know the graphical effects were “stepping all over Apple’s IP.” (IP = Intellectual Property = patents, trademarks and copyrights.) If we moved forward to commercialize it, “I’ll just sue you.”

But Schwartz has a ready retort…

Apple’s iPhone, which has steadily risen in marketshare against most competitors, hit a bump in February, losing 3.2 percent of its marketshare, according to a Web analysis firm. By comparison, the marketshare of Android-based phones rose 8.3 percent in February.

The problem isn’t a falling interest in the iPhone, says Quantcast. At 63 percent, the iPhone has the largest piece of the Mobile Web Consumption pie, the firm said. Rather, Android phones are taking off at a much faster pace. Android’s marketshare grew 44 percent during the past quarter and almost 100 percent the past year. This is while the iPhone’s marketshare fell 4.5 percent and 10.2 percent during the same periods.

Patent infringement lawsuits filed by Apple and Nokia in Delaware were put on hold after a judge ruled Wednesday their outcome must wait for international trade complaints to be sorted out. In February, the International Trade Commission announced it would investigate Apple’s claims against Nokia, a move following a similar January pronouncement concerning Nokia’s allegations against Apple.

It is uncertain when the Washington, DC-based ITC will announce decisions in the two cases, although some say the probe could last about 15 months. The body can demand the halt of imports if a company is found guilty of infringing upon a competitor’s patents.

Apple appears to be investigating ways to do away with the iMac’s keyboard, replacing it with a touchscreen that should detect shapes, such as a key. Harkening back to the days when letters were sealed with insignias to prove the sender’s identity, the Cupertino, Calif. company would use “signets” for security-related tasks.

The shape-detecting technology, first outlined in a 2004 patent, then updated Oct. 30, 2009, permits “improved techniques to allow different authorization levels” on computer networks.

Apple’s claims of patent-infringement against Nokia will be reviewed by the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Washington, DC-based agency announced. The commission could decide in just over a year whether imports of handsets made by the Finnish company should be banned from the United States.

The announcement comes on the heels of the ITC agreeing to investigate claims by Kodak against the Cupertino, Calif. electronics maker. In January, Kodak sued Apple, claiming the iPhone infringed its patent on previewing images.

Don’t search for Horticulture vs. Necromancy or Vegetables vs. Decomposition, but if you go to the App Store now, Plants vs. Zombies is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch for only $2.99.

Trust me, that’s an absolute steal. Pop Cap Games’ wonderfully goofy tower-defense game — in which rows of flowers and funguses must cheerily hold off wave after wave — was the most addictive game of last year, and not only does Plants vs. Zombies feel more intuitive to play on a touchscreen, but the iPhone app costs 85% less than the desktop port.

For iPhone gamers, this is news that should be met with nothing less than hysterical shrieking and full-on bladder evacuation. Buy Plants vs. Zombies here, then join me in the comments where I’ll explain my patented, never-fail Gloomshroom defense.

Just days after Apple asked an iPhone app developer to remove references to Google’s Android Marketplace, the Cupertino, Calif. company is advising location-aware applications can’t simply help Google’s AdMob serve location-based advertising.

“If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store,” Apple warns.

A lot of commentators on the iPad noticed the similarity between Delicious Library and the iBooks virtual bookshelves for the display of e-book titles. So did Delicious Monsters Wil Shipley.

Talking to the Washington Post, Shipley seemed upset… but also seemed to understand.

But the thing about iBooks is, it’s a book-reader. So, of course they looked around, found the best interface for displaying books (Delicious Library’s shelves), and said: yup, this is what we’re doing…

Shipley then notes that he actually understands why Apple couldn’t write him a check: it would have been taken as a legal admission that Apple copied his design, and since Delicious Library’s UI isn’t copyrighted or patented, it actually would open up culpability, not close it.

Although unlikely to dampen the spirits surrounding Apple’s widely-expected launch of a Tablet device Wednesday, the International Trade Commission has formally launched an investigation into a rival’s allegations. Nokia, which has sued the Cupertino, Calif. company, alleging multiple patent infringements, said it was “pleased” by the news.

The ITC’s move comes after the Finnish cell phone giant in December requested the trade investigation, claiming Apple products infringed patents involving power management, antenna, user interface and camera technologies. The investigation could result in a ban on iPhones, Macs, iPods and other Apple products.

Like a modern-day Hatfield and McCoys, Apple and Nokia are at it again, the latest shot fired by the Cupertino, Calif. firm, asking the International Trade Commission to block imports of the cell phone giant. The legal action comes after Nokia asked the same commission to ban imports of iPods, iPhones and Macs.

The action was posted on the ITC Web site without any comment from Apple. Nokia, however, said it will “study the complaint when it is received and continue to defend itself vigorously,” Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant told Bloomberg by text message over the weekend.