lawsuit - page 4

Apple and Nokia join forces after settling patent dispute

By

Nokia
Keeping Nokia at bay isn't cheap.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple and Nokia have settled their ongoing patent dispute and entered a new licensing and business cooperation agreement.

Apple will resume selling Nokia digital health products, formerly sold under the Withings brand, while Nokia will provide Apple with network infrastructure products and services.

Qualcomm: Apple is cutting off our iPhone royalties

By

16538416979_13d6221fde_k
The Qualcomm/Apple standoff is getting nasty!
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

The battle between Apple and Qualcomm is intensifying, with Qualcomm claiming that Apple is set to stop making licensing payments related to the iPhone.

The result of this is that Qualcomm will have to revise its earnings forecasts to give a smaller number, due to Apple cutting off one of its major sources of revenue until the dispute is resolved.

Qualcomm can’t stop talking about Apple on earnings call

By

16538416979_13d6221fde_k
This lawsuit is shaping up to be a big deal.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Qualcomm just had its earnings call, and CEO Steve Mollenkopf and Derek Aberle, head of the wireless chipmakers’s licensing business, couldn’t stop talking about Apple.

In a one-hour conference call, discussion about the developing Apple/Qualcomm dispute took up the entire first 20 minutes.

“If you peel apart all of the arguments Apple’s making, we believe firmly they’re all without merit,” Aberle said. “At the end of the day, they essentially want to pay less for the technology they’re using. It’s pretty simple.”

Apple sued after driver gets hit by iPhone texter

By

Messages iOS 10
Texting while driving caused a car crash.
Photo: Apple

Apple is being sued for something it didn’t do, by a car crash victim who claims Apple has the technology to stop iPhones working while drivers are behind the wheel — but fails to implement it.

The driver in question, Julio Ceja, was rear-ended by another motorist who was distracted while texting on their iPhone.

Qualcomm could slap Apple with a lawsuit of its own

By

16538416979_13d6221fde_k
However, their current business relationship won't be affected.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Qualcomm is reportedly considering countersuing Apple after Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the company on Friday.

Apple’s lawsuit against Qualcomm relates to the fees Qualcomm charges for use of its licenses, which Apple says amounts to, “at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined.”

Apple sues Qualcomm for charging massive licensing fees

By

16538416979_13d6221fde_k
Apple claims Qualcomm charges it way too much for its licenses.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Apple and Qualcomm seem to be headed toward a head-on collision, with Apple suing the the wireless chipmaking company for apparently overcharging for use of its patents.

“For many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with,” Apple said in a statement. “The more Apple innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays, and cameras, to name just a few, the more money Qualcomm collects for no reason and the more expensive it becomes for Apple to fund these innovations.”

Apple scores $119.6 million from Samsung in ‘slide to unlock’ lawsuit

By

iOS and Android are killing off the competition.
Samsung vs Apple lawsuits will never end.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The U.S. Court of Appeals gave Apple another victory today in its five-year-long legal battle with Samsung.

Apple won its appeal in an 8-3 ruling that reinstated a previous patent-infringement verdict that awarded the company $119.6 million. The judges in the case said it was wrong for the three-judge panel to throw out the verdict in February and suggested Apple could be owed even more money.

iPhone’s Touch IC Disease pandemic triggers lawsuit

By

3D Touch app switching
An insidious defect is effecting iPhone 6 owners.
Photo: Ste Smitch

Touch IC Disease, a glitch with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that results in gray, flickering bars at the top of the devices’ screens and a loss of touch sensitivity, has earned Apple its latest class-action lawsuit.

Caused by an apparent design flaw in the iPhone 6 series, Touch IC Disease is more prevalent among the larger iPhone 6 Plus devices. While the problem made headlines for the first time last week, a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Saturday claims Apple has long been aware of the defect, which can render devices useless.

EMT slapped with lawsuit for hitting patient with iPad

By

Cult of Mac's buyback program
Don't slap people with your iPad.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A Connecticut man has filed a lawsuit against an EMT after being hit on the head with an iPad while in the back of an ambulance. Robert Alix, who is seeking $15,000 in damages, also claims that he was beaten and told to “get a haircut and join the military.”

Today in Apple history: Apple fires first shot in war against Samsung

By

Samsung
The start of Apple's battle with Samsung.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Aug4August 4, 2010: Apple fires the first shot in its apparently never-ending war against Samsung, when a team of Apple executives visit Samsung’s HQ in Seoul, South Korea, and give a presentation with the title, “Samsung’s Use of Apple Patents in Smartphones.”

It marks the official start of a multi-billion dollar battle between the two rivals (and, weirdly, collaborators) which has continued to rage ever since.

Patent troll won’t get a penny out of Apple … yet

By

Apple wants patent trolls to stop ‘gaming the system’
Apple's money is safe. Until September, at least.
Photo: Andrew Becraft/Flickr CC

Due to its massive success, Apple is a frequent target of patent trolls: non-practicing enterprises which appear to make all their money by taking other companies to court.

Earlier this year, one such company called VirnetX was awarded a massive $625 million after Apple reportedly infringed on its intellectual property with both its FaceTime and iMessage tech. However, seven months later it appears that Apple may not have to pay the money after all — after the judge threw out the previous ruling and demanded a retrial.

Apple sued by man who claims he invented iPhone in 1992

By

IpHONE se
The nerve of Apple to put its name on someone else's invention!
Photo: Sam Mills/Cult of Mac

The iPhone went on sale nine years ago today, and to mark the momentous occasion a Florida man is suing Apple for a whopping $10 billion and 1.5 percent of all future Apple earnings — because he claims to have come up with the idea for Apple’s breakthrough mobile device all way back in 1992.

E-book customers receive payouts for Apple price fixing

By

money
Affected customers will get their share of Apple's $450 million payout.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Bringing an end to Apple’s long-running iBooks price fixing scandal, affected customers will today receive their settlement payment for books bought between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012.

Settlements work out at $1.57 for the majority of e-books, increasing to $6.93 for New York Times bestsellers. Publishers involved in the suit include the Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster — all of whom were found guilty of colluding with Apple to fix e-book prices.

Siri lawsuit costs Apple $25 million

By

Siri
Hey Siri
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A long running lawsuit between Apple and Dynamic Advances and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has finally come to an end, and it wasn’t cheap for Apple.

The Dallas-based Dynamic Advances sued Apple for allegedly infringing on a 2007 patent. The patent in question was exclusively licenced to the firm by Rensselaer, but Apple violated it with certain voice features used in Siri. 

Apple could pay $532 million for infringing on iMessage patents

By

breaking-bad-huells-money-bed-640x360
Apple may have an unexpected payout on its hands.
Photo: Breaking Bad

Apple could owe up to $532 million for infringing on secure communication patents, used for both its FaceTime and its iMessage services — or at least it will if patent-holding entity VirnetX Holding Corporation has its way.

A lawyer for the firm told a court in (where else?) the Eastern District of Texas that, “Apple hasn’t played fair. They have taken Virnetx’s intellectual property without permission.”

Judge rules in Apple’s favor in lawsuit about disappearing Android texts

By

judge-rules-in-apples-favor-in-lawsuit-about-disappearing-android-texts-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201506apple-android-battle-jpg
The latest Android vs. Apple lawsuit is over.
Photo: Tsahi Levent-Levi/Flickr CC
apple-android-battle
The latest Android vs. Apple lawsuit is over. Photo: Tsahi Levent-Levi/Flickr CC

Apple has claimed final victory in a lawsuit arguing that the company was purposely intercepting and failing to deliver texts sent from iPhones to Android owners.

The case was related to Apple’s iMessage service, which posed a challenge to Apple-to-Android switchers up until 2014, when Apple finally issued a fix for the problem.

Apple won’t have to compensate retail employees for waiting in line

By

San Francisco Apple Store Line
Apple Stores are known for their long queues. But it's usually the customers who are waiting.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple won’t have to stump up the cash for back-paying thousands of current and former employees at Apple Stores across California, according to the ruling of a federal judge.

The lawsuit was brought against Apple in 2013 by two former retail employees — claiming that Apple’s policy of mandatory bag searches after work had cost them dozens of hours of unpaid wages, totalling around $1,500 per year.

Apple faces $862 million fine for infringing university’s patent

By

Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Apple faces a heavy fine.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple may face $862 million in damages for allegedly infringing on a patent owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s patent-licensing wing, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

The Apple technologies that take advantage of said patent for increased processor efficiency? None other than the A7, A8 and A8X chips, which are found in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus handsets, as well as several iPad models.

Uh-oh.

Apple’s pile of money is patent trolls’ favorite target

By

Apple wants patent trolls to stop ‘gaming the system’
The lesser-spotted patent troll.
Photo: Andrew Becraft/Flickr CC

A whopping 9 out of 10 patent lawsuits filed against tech companies in the first half of 2015 were brought by NPEs (non-practicing enterprises, a.k.a patent trolls), a new report reveals.

Thanks to its status as the world’s most valuable company, Apple was the number one target of these attempted lawsuits — with the Eastern District of Texas being the favored location for patent trials on account of their tendency to side with trolls and award large sums of damages.