patent infringement

Why Apple threatened to pull out of the UK

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Is Apple’s deal to make Google Safari’s default search engine anticompetitive?
If a UK court orders Apple to pay a tremendous patent licensing fee, the iPhone maker might decide it’s better to just leave the country.
Photo: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels CC

Apple reportedly warned a U.K. court that it might withdraw from the country if it must pay an enormous patent licensing fee. The iPhone-maker is being sued by Optis Cellular Technology over patents Apple says are invalid because they cover standard cellular-wireless technology.

Apple pays up in patent case involving FaceTime technology

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Facetime
Jony Ive and Steve Jobs talk during the first public FaceTime demo, which took place at WWDC 2010 in San Francisco.
Photo: Mathieu Thouvenin/Flickr CC

Out of appeals, Apple cut a check to VirnetX for more than $454 million to end a lengthy patent infringement case.

VirnetX, which sued Apple over patents relating to FaceTime, iMessage and VPN technologies, announced the payment in a one-paragraph press release Friday.

Apple v. Qualcomm: You win some, you lose some

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Qualcomm patents
The ITC sided with Apple over Qualcomm today in one case, but things went the other way in a separate decision earlier in the afternoon.
Photo: Qualcomm

Just hours after an International Trade Commission judge ruled in favor of Qualcomm in a patent infringement lawsuit with Apple, the Commission as a whole made the iPhone maker the winner in a separate dispute between the pair of companies.

This is a demonstration of how much acrimony there is between these two, who were once close allies.

Judge calls for iPhone import ban due to patent infringements

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Qualcomm patents
Qualcomm scored another victory in its legal battle with Apple.
Photo: Qualcomm

Some iPhone models could soon be blocked from coming into the U.S. after a judge recently ruled that Apple infringed on Qualcomm’s patents.

ITC Judge MaryJoan McNamara found that iPhone infringes on one of three patents in Qualcomm’s case against Apple. She subsequently said she will recommend an import ban on iPhones, but a panel of judges could still save Apple.

Appeals court reverses $234 million patent-infringement ruling against Apple

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A8 chip
Turns out the A7, A8 and A8X didn't infringe on a patent held by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Photo: Apple

An appeals court just reversed the 2015 decision against Apple made in a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The original court ruled that the iPhone-maker owed the university $234 million for infringing on patented microchip technology in the iPhone and iPad.

Apple challenges Qualcomm patents as legal battle rages on

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Qualcomm patents
Apple to Qualcomm: "I wish I knew how to quit you." But the companies continue to do business even as they drag each other to court.
Photo: Qualcomm

“Coopetition” best describes the relationship between Apple and Qualcomm. Wireless modems made by Qualcomm are used in iPhones even as the two companies are locked in a years-long patent dispute over billions of dollars.

The fight reached a new phase today as Apple challenged four Qualcomm patents, arguing they shouldn’t have been awarded in the first place.

Samsung wants retrial in patent infringement lawsuit with Apple

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The Samsung patent infringement lawsuit isn't over, as the Android phone maker still tries to wiggle out of its punishment.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Last month, a jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $539M for infringing on its patents. Now, the Korean company wants that decision thrown out.

It again says it should pay a far, far smaller amount for stealing many of the design elements of the iPhone.

Apple demands $1 billion from Samsung for patent infringement

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Apple and Samsung return to court
Apple and Samsung are battling it out again.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple wants Samsung to cough up a whopping $1 billion in damages for infringing iPhone design patents.

The two companies again returned to court this week over the long-running dispute, which first began seven years ago. Apple told jurors that Samsung should hand over all the profit it made on four devices that were heavily inspired by the iPhone. Samsung’s lawyers disagree.

Apple lays groundwork for bendable iPhone

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Martin Hajek
A curved iPhone would be just a first step toward a bendable iPhone.
Photo: Martin Hajek

Apple today received a patent for a device with a bendable display. Sadly, that doesn’t mean that an clamshell iPhone is right around the corner. The wait for an iPad that be folded up and slipped in a pocket is probably still going to be a long one.

The patent was filed in 2016 because Apple is just preparing for the day when bendable displays are a reality.

Beats and Bose end their patent beef

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Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

A budding feud between Bose and Beats Electronics has ended with both sides settling out of court. Although the terms haven’t been made public, according to Bose the matter has been satisfactorily “resolved” and will no longer go to trial.

Both sides have agreed to pay their own costs and legal fees, and have asked the International Trade Commission to suspend its investigation into the disagreement.

Apple Adds Galaxy S4 To Ongoing Patent-Infringement Lawsuit Against Samsung

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Apple has confirmed it will seek to add Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 to its ongoing patent-infringement lawsuit against the Korean electronics giant.

In a statement filed in the U.S. District Court in California on Monday, Apple said it has analyzed the Galaxy S4 and “concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product.”

Google Forced To Give Up Documents In Apple Vs. Samsung Case

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Google has been forced to hand over Android source code documents sought by Apple in an ongoing patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung.

The search giant initially argued that it was not required to give up the documents and that it would be too burdensome to collect them, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal in San Jose, California, has given the company two days to give them up.

Samsung Says Apple Stole Notification Center

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notification-center

While Apple fans will argue that Android copied iOS, it’s hard to deny that Apple didn’t take a little bit of inspiration back from from Android, too. Its Notification Center is an almost identical copy of Android’s — that’s easy to see no matter which side of the fence you’re on. In fact, Samsung’s now using this as another reason to sue Apple in South Korea.

Samsung Will Be Charged For Patent Lawsuits Against Apple In EU

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The European Commission’s Vice President for Competition Policy, Joaquín Almunia, has confirmed that it will charge Samsung  “very soon” in an antitrust patent case after the Korean electronics giant broke competition rules by filing patent-infringement lawsuits against Apple. Samsung has been under investigation since January for a possible breach of antitrust rules, and earlier this week, it dropped all of its injunction requests against Apple in Europe.

Samsung Drops Patent-Infringement Lawsuits Against Apple In Europe

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Korean electronics giant Samsung has today announced that it will drop its patent-infringement lawsuits against Apple in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The announcement comes just hours after Apple was denied its request to have 26 Samsung devices banned in the United States — though the two cases are unrelated.

‘It’s Time For Peace’ – Judge Urges Apple, Samsung To Talk One Last Time Before Jury Deliberations

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You weren't expecting Apple to issue a straight and sincere apology, were you?
You weren't expecting Apple to issue a straight and sincere apology, were you?

At the end of a long trial day, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who’s been the presiding justice over the course of both pre-trial and actual trial, urged that Apple and Samsung speak together to try and resolve their differences out of court before the jury comes back to deliberate on the evidence that has been presented by both sides this week and last.

“It’s time for peace,” Koh said, adding, “I see risks here for both sides.”

Judge Denies Two More Samsung Pre-Trial Proposals, Uses Apple Patent Wording As A Definition

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A mere ten days before the scheduled patent infringement trial between Samsung and Apple, US District Judge Lucky Koh rejected two more proposals from Samsung, maker of Android enabled smartphones. Judge Koh entered a supplemental claim construction order in which two disputed terms are now defined. Unfortunately for Samsung, who initially requested the order, the definition decision favors Apple, using the Cupertino-based tech company’s definition in the dispute.

“Dear Apple, You Are Simply A Disgrace To The World Of Technology And To Engineering”

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By now, I’m sure you may have heard about how U.S. Customs is holding all of the HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE phones hostage as they investigate allegations over patent infringement stemming from a ruling Apple won against HTC back in December. The ban essentially went into effect in April of 2012, but what most of us don’t understand is why the investigation at Customs? HTC has already created a work around for the infringement and even responded back in December about it:

Patent Fear Mongering Pushes App Developers Outside of the US [Report]

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Available on the App Store

The state of software patents in the US is very reminiscent of the feudal system during the medieval ages. In terms of the US app development scene, you have large companies, like Apple and Google, that provide the platforms for developers to create and innovate on.

Innovation on these platforms (platforms like iOS and Android) is regulated by communication and frequent lawsuits between patent holders. As of late, attacks by large patent companies on mobile indie developers have caused devs to flee the US to escape otherwise-unnecessary legal fees and infringement ramifications.

Correction: Who’s *Actually* Suing Whom in Mobile Infographic

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Last week, we all saw a fantastic flow chart showing off who was suing whom for patent infringement in the mobile landscape. Then we saw the same chart as re-imagined by a competent infographic designer.

The only problem? Both charts were based off of the bad data of a New York Times post back in March, which included numerous lawsuits that never actually occurred. That prompted Techdirt‘s Mike Masnick to try his hand at his own version of a “who’s suing whom” chart… which ends up revealing that even more companies are suing each other over mobile patents than anyone had initially thought.