Patent »
![Crybaby Apple [Comic]](http://cdn.dottech.org/media/2013/04/card_game_apple_crying-290x160.png)
Google announces ‘Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge’, promises not to sue users and developers of open-source software unless sued first
In the midst of ongoing legal battles in the tech industry, there has arisen what some may consider to be a beacon of hope: ‘Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge’. Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge (OPN) is an initiative recently announced by Google that has Google promising “we pledge not to sue any [...]
Read More »Twitter is granted patent for Twitter itself
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has quite fittingly, tweeted that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Twitter a patent on — wait for it — Twitter itself.
If you want to get into all the nitty gritty details of the patent, you can find the USPTO page here. [...]
Read More »Apple is sued by THX for patented speaker tech in iMac, iPhone, and iPad
THX, the sound design company that was originally founded as a division for George Lucas’ Lucasfilm, has filed suit against Apple for allegedly infringing on one of their patents, specifically for ”Narrow profile speaker configurations and systems.”
U.S. Patent No. 7,433,483 is described as a method to enhance sound quality [...]
Read More »Nokia allies with Apple in fight for sales ban of Samsung products in USA
Apple has found an unlikely ally as they seek for a sales ban on Samsung products that infringe on their patents. Nokia has filed an amicus brief on behalf of Apple in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. While the filing is sealed, Nokia isn’t shy about [...]
Read More »Judge reduces damages awarded to Apple in Apple vs Samsung trial from $1.05 billion to $598 million, plus orders a new trial
Apple is having what can best be described as a crappy week. First they are forced to pay $368 million to a patent troll. Then they are taunted by Samsung vis-a-vis Samsung’s lawyers hiring the UK judge that ruled against Apple. Now they are at the receiving end of judge [...]
Read More »Apple loses fight against patent troll, must pay $368 million to VirnetX for infringing on patents with FaceTime
VirnetX, which calls itself a “patent holding company” (aka patent troll), sued a bunch of major corporations back in 2010 over infringement on VirnetX’s VPN-related patents. Microsoft settled with VirnetX in 2010 for $200 million. The fight between VirnetX and Cisco, Avaya, and Siemens, is still ongoing with trials schedule [...]
Read More »Facebook is being sued because of the ‘Like’ button
After Facebook popularized the use of the “Like” button, countless other versions of the Like button have appeared in other sites. You’d think that Facebook invented it, right? Apparently not. And the company holding the patent for such a feature is suing.
Rembrandt Social Media, a patent-holding company, is filing [...]
Read More »Apple gets trademark for the design and layout of its retail stores
When Apple tried to trademark their stores, the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected their request twice on the grounds that the design was not “inherently distinctive.” The company fired back with a 122-page document filled with customer surveys and photos of the stores to argue their case. That seemed [...]
Read More »Federal Trade Commission drops cases against Google, and Google promises changes to mitigate anti-competitive concerns
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has closed its investigation of Google’s potentially anti-competitive practices related to Google Search and other services. The verdict? Google’s services are now in the clear and considered good for users and competition. In other words, FTC did not find enough anti-competitive wrongdoing on [...]
Read More »Apple has withdrawn patent claim against Galaxy S III mini in the US
Apple has seemingly mirrored Samsung’s recent actions of dropping patent claims in the EU by withdrawing a patent claim against them in the US — the device in question, the Samsung Galaxy S III mini.
Have Apple and Samsung suddenly started exchanging pleasantries in the form of dropping patent claims? [...]
Read More »U.S. ITC judge recommends import and sales ban on Samsung products
A U.S. International Trade Commission judge Thomas Pender is recommending sanctions against Samsung in light of his preliminary finding that the company infringed four of Apple’s patents.
The recommended sanctions include an import and sales ban on products found to infringe Apple patents and the posting of a bond for [...]
Read More »Verizon patents technology to observe you while you watch TV
Privacy advocates are gonna love Verizon after this one. The company has filed a patent application for a set-top box that is similarly equipped as Microsoft’s Kinect — cameras, microphones and motion sensors, everything you would need to track movements in a room. What room, you ask? Why, you’re living [...]
Read More »Samsung is suing Apple in South Korea over Notification Center
This one was just waiting to happen. Why? When Apple first introduced its “Notification Center” along with iOS 5, many longtime Android users noted that Apple outright copied Google’s implementation. Now that one of Google’s notification patents has been granted, it looks like Samsung is taking advantage of that opportunity.[...]
Read More »Apple is granted patent for design of original iPhone
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a new patent to add to its steadily growing portfolio, and this time it’s an interesting one. This particular patent is for the design of the original iPhone that was released back in 2007, and arguably changed the mobile phone [...]
Read More »Another Apple patent is rejected by United States Patent and Trademark Office — this time it is “pinch-to-zoom”
Apple just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to patents, as another one of its most important patents has been rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is the second in recent months, following the company’s patent for the “rubber band” effect being temporarily [...]
Read More »Samsung is dropping patent lawsuits against Apple in Europe
Samsung had injunction requests against Apple for patent infringement in the UK, France, Germany Italy and the Netherlands. The keyword here is ‘had’, as Samsung has announced that it is dropping some lawsuits against Apple in Europe. The key thing to note is ‘some’ because Samsung has not thrown in [...]
Read More »Apple is denied injunction against Samsung products
Even after winning a historic $1.05 billion patent and trademark verdict, Apple sought a court-ordered injunction against Samsung. If granted, we would have seen the infringing Samsung phones banned from the US market. Unfortunately for Apple, that won’t be happening anytime soon, if at all.
In post-trial motions, US District [...]
Read More »Apple is found guilty of infringing 3 patents, damages may be ‘substantial’
In an interesting turn of events, it seems that it is Apple now that finds themselves infringing on patents. A federal jury that deliberated on the issue for four hours has found Apple guilty of infringing three patents held by MobileMedia Ideas, a patent-licensing firm owned by MPEG-LA. Apple has [...]
Read More »United States Patent and Trademark Office is ridiculous [Comic]
![United States Patent and Trademark Office is ridiculous [Comic]](http://cdn.dottech.org/media/2012/12/dumb_patents-290x160.png)
Partly due to Apple’s legal endeavors, and partly due to patent trolls, the United States patent system has come into question over the past few years. While some people call for reforms, others express their view of the United States Patent and Trademark Office with jokes and comic. Manu Cornet [...]
Read More »EU has voted for a unified patent system by 2014
The European Parliament has voted for a unified patent system that, if ratified, would take effect beginning 2014. Members have voted in favor of the new system in three separate votes but ratification is needed by at 13 states and must include France, Germany and the UK.
The new method [...]
Read More »Patent troll NTP wins war against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and other major tech companies
Who has three letters in its name and just brought down the hammer on pretty much every company in the mobile device industry? No, it isn’t Apple. Or Google. Or Microsoft. Or Samsung. Or [insert name here]. That would be NTP my friends.
NTP Inc. is a patent “holding” company [...]
Read More »Apple granted major smartphone user interface patent that Android will come to fear
Steve Jobs once declared he will bury Android for “copying” iOS. Apple has just been granted a broad, potentially far-reaching smartphone user interface pattern which will go a long way in doing just that.
U.S. Patent 8,223,134, titled Portable electronic device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying electronic lists [...]
Read More »Google patents the ability to identify faces in videos
In today’s Facebook world, tagging faces/people in photos is nothing extraordinary. But what about videos? That, is seems, is Google’s territory. Google has recently acquired a patent for identifying persons in video content, a patent that can potentially give the search giant an ace in the hole in the arena [...]
Read More »Samsung vs Apple: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales banned by US court
Samsung and Apple have been busy for quite some time now filing suites against each other and blaming the other of copying their products and infringing patents. In a recent development reported by dotTech, a Dutch court had found Apple guilty of infringing one of the four patents Samsung accused [...]
Samsung vs Apple: Apple is found guilty of infringing on Samsung patent
Making a mark on one of the major ‘smartphone wars’, Samsung won a patent infringement case against Apple. A Dutch court has held Apple guilty for infringing on a patent owned by Samsung.
With the iPhone 4S, Apple has infringed on a Samsung patent that governs an “apparatus for encoding
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