It makes for reasonably impressive reading, too, especially to those people who forget that HTC acted as a whitebox OEM for various carrier partners before deciding to promote their own brand.

The title of their statement – “HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions” – may be bordering on the unduly polite, but the underlying message from company CEO Peter Chou is still clear.  ”[HTC] will fully defend itself … we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation.”  Don’t expect this battle to be over any time soon.

[via Android Community]

Press Release:

HTC DISAGREES WITH APPLE’S ACTIONS

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA

The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002. and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002., our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:
First Windows PDA (1998)
First Windows Phone (June 2002)
First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

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It seems Microsoft are viewing the ongoing litigation as an opportunity to finally settle the pesky question of who owns what multitouch IP, and what other companies are allowed to do with the multi-finger technologies.  To Smith’s mind, “the question of the day is, how will patent licensing work for the software and other information-technology layers that actually make up an increasingly large percentage of the value of a smartphone”; he went on to suggest that 5-10 percent of a smartphone’s cost could be royalty fees for these technologies within the next 3-5 years.

Smith saved some scorn for Google’s copyright settlements over book publishing, describing them as “not the way litigation is supposed to work.”  In fact after the event, when asked whether Microsoft would get more involved with HTC’s case, he seemed to obliquely critique the search giant’s quickness to speak up in the handset manufacturer’s favor.  ”I think it’s premature to endorse or offer any other reaction to it” he told reporters.

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“Appellants (collectively, “EchoStar”) appeal from the district court’s decision finding them in contempt of the court’s permanent injunction order. TiVo Inc. v. Dish Network Corp., 640 F. Supp. 2d 853 (E.D. Tex. 2009). Because we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing sanctions against EchoStar, we affirm the finding of contempt.”

The outcome, it seems, will result in further crippling of Echostar/DISH boxes, together with more monetary penalties to be paid to TiVo.  Echostar was originally forced to push out a firmware upgrade to remove such functionality as infringed on TiVo’s patents; however TiVo insisted that the changes made were minor and insufficient.

As for the financial penalty, that’s yet to be announced but TiVo’s share price has rocketed all the same.  The company announced a new range of DVRs earlier this week, the Premiere and Premiere XL.

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“HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones. HTC Corporation values U.S. and international patent rights and will work with in the U.S. Judicial System to protect its own innovations and rights.

HTC believes that consumer choice is a key component to success in the smartphone industry and this is best achieved through multiple suppliers providing a variety of mobile experiences. HTC has focused on offering its customers a uniquely-HTC experience through HTC Sense and its broad portfolio of smartphones.

HTC does not believe this lawsuit poses a short-term material impact to its business nor will it affect its Q1 2010 guidance.” HTC announcement

HTC also cast doubts on the potential of the suit to impact its short-term business, likely a reference to Apple’s demand that the US ITC freeze imports of HTC handsets.

The statement follows Google’s own announcement earlier today, in which they said that while they were not specifically named in the lawsuit, they would nonetheless “stand behind” both Android and their partners in the OHA.  The case shows every sign of turning into a long, protracted one.

[via Engadget]

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Harvard Law School professor Jonathan Zittrain reckons the HTC/Apple case could have parallels with the TiVo/EchoStar lawsuit that kicked off all the way back in 2004.  There, after a protracted battle, EchoStar were forced to update their existing DVRs with software that removed the contentious functionality.  In fact, Zittrain says that “if the court were to side with Apple and issue an injunction that insists HTC kill the phone, or at least some of its functionality, they easily could.”

“The judge simply ordered EchoStar to connect to the DVR boxes via the Web and destroy the functionality.  Patent law is a completely different universe online. That means if the court were to side with Apple and issue an injunction that insists HTC kill the phone, or at least some of its functionality, they easily could” Jonathan Zittrain, professor, Harvard Law School

Of course, just because the legal – and technical – potential for such a move is there, that doesn’t make it especially likely.  Not only would Apple face a countersuit from HTC (and Google), other legal experts reckon that courts have become increasingly reluctant to issue such blanket rulings.

Still, even if user’s phones aren’t remotely-crippled, the end result is a potentially more cautious tech industry, frightened of the very systems intended to protect and foster innovation.  Says MIT professor Eric Von Hippel:

“It’s a bad scene right now. The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it.  The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out” Eric Von Hippel, professor, Sloan School of Management, MIT

[via Valleywag]

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“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it” Google spokesperson

Apple specifically referred to a number of Android-based devices in their lawsuit – while several Windows Mobile handsets were also mentioned, they are only ever referred to obliquely as “DSP Devices” – but fell short of naming Google.  The crux of Apple’s argument is that HTC have overstepped the mark on 20 iPhone-related patents; however, the patents themselves generally cover OS-level functionality, something more within Google’s realm than HTC’s.

Google haven’t detailed exactly what their pledge to “stand behind” both Android and HTC might entail in the long run, but if – as widely speculated – Apple hoped to drag them into a legal fight then it looks as though they’ve succeeded.  We’re hoping to hear more from HTC soon; yesterday’s statement was a basic acknowledgement of the lawsuit, since the company only heard about it through media reports.

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Resident Engadget legal-beagle Nilay Patel has been digging through the hot-off-the-press legal documentation, and has highlighted just how Android-centric Apple’s claims are.  Windows Mobile devices, while named in the lawsuit, are only ever tangentially referred to (as “DSP Products”) while the Android devices are specifically connected with what Apple believe to be relevant – and infringed – patents.

Meanwhile, over at Gizmodo they’ve dug through the patent documentation and come up with an illustrated guide.  Some of the filings look, to our legally-untrained eyes, pretty tenuous; Apple have patented “unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image” (US Patent No. 7,657,849), or basically using some sort of slider or control on a touchscreen to unlock your phone.  Meanwhile “list scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display” (US Patent No. 7,469,381) seems to document paging through various screens of text or menus.

In fact, none of the patents specifically refer to multitouch, despite initial expectations (based on Apple’s previous wranglings with Palm).  Instead, many of them deal with the general interface of devices, but since Apple name both devices using HTC Sense and those with the plain Android UI (such as the Nexus One) it’s unclear how HTC are entirely responsible for that.  List paging and an “object-orientated graphic system” (US Patent No. 5,455,599) seem hard-boiled into the underlying OS, rather than specifically something HTC have done, hence our suspicion that this is Apple testing the water for an all-out assault on Google themselves.

That could certainly draw Google into the battle, something Apple’s phrasing appears reluctant to do with Microsoft.  One thing is certain: expect legal experts to be digging into this battle royale for some time to come.

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Full statement after the cut

“HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones. HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations. HTC only learned of Apple’s actions this morning via media reports, and therefore we have not yet had the opportunity to investigate the filings. Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC.”

Apple claim that HTC have overstepped the mark on 20 patents the Cupertino company holds, related to the functioning and UI of the iPhone.  You can see the full list of patents here, of which there appear to be just 10 rather than the 20 Apple mention.

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“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it … We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours” Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple

We’ll have to go dig through the lawsuit to figure out exactly which patents Apple reckons HTC have illicitly borrowed, but we’re guessing it’s the same bevy of multitouch tech that they’ve previously threatened Palm over.  Apple maintains they hold the intellectual rights to much of the multitouch gesture technology we’ve grown used to seeing included in modern smartphones, such as pinch-zoom.

HTC are yet to issue a response, but we’ve got a request in for a comment from their PR team.  If past legal battles are anything to go by, this will all take some time to work its way out.  Update: HTC’s official comment is here.

Update:

Full list of supposedly infringed patents (of which there seem to be 10, not the 20 Apple suggest in their press release) from Gizmodo:

• The ‘331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• The ‘949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
• The ‘849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
• The ‘381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
• The ‘726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
• The ‘076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
• The ‘105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
• The ‘453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
• The ‘599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
• The ‘354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.

Update: According to Engadget Apple have submitted over 700 pages of exhibits to support their case; HTC may have only just found out about this, but it looks like Cupertino’s legal team have been working on it for some time.  They also list the named devices in the case:

Nexus One, Touch Pro, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Tilt II, Pure, Imagio, Dream / G1, myTouch 3G, Hero, HD2, and Droid Eris

Apparently while both Android and Windows Mobile devices are fingered, the former are flagged up for running Android while the latter only get a mention thanks to the DSP chips they incorporate.

Press Release:

Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement

CUPERTINO, California—March 2, 2010—Apple® today filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Apple reinvented the mobile phone in 2007 with its revolutionary iPhone®, and did it again in 2008 with its pioneering App Store, which now offers more than 150,000 mobile applications in over 90 countries. Over 40 million iPhones have been sold worldwide.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

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The WSJ reported late today that the complaints stemmed from “Google unfairly ranks the sites of the Internet competitors, in effect lowering their rank in search results that appear on Google sites.”  Google has posted a response on its European Public Policy Blog that essentially denies any wrongdoing:

We understand how important rankings can be to websites, especially commercial ones, because a higher ranking typically drives higher volumes of traffic. We are also the first to admit that our search is not perfect, but it’s a very hard computer science problem to crack. Imagine having to rank the 272 million possible results for a popular query like the iPod on a 14 by 12 screen computer screen in just a few milliseconds. It’s a challenge we face millions of times each day.

Given the steady climb of market share that Google has been experiencing in the last several years, it’s not surprising that governments have more of an incentive in launching closer inspections of what they may believe is a precursor to, say a monopoly on search.  Google also has a larger position in search advertising in Europe, compared to its standing in the United States.  Remember, Google, your motto has always been “don’t be evil”.

[Google, WSJ]

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The whole tale began in March 2009, and included attempts by MagicJack to have Boing Boing cover up the details of the case (in return for paying their legal fees) as well as CEO Dan Borislow blaming his own lawyers for poorly preparing him.  Boing Boing offered MagicJack the chance to keep the settlement amount confidential if they’d donate $25,000 to charity, but the company declined.

Every time we write about MagicJack we have comments both from contented users and from those warning against the service; some people are also content to see adverts in return for admittedly very cheap calls.  However, the problem comes when MagicJack aren’t willing to see the details of that advertising – and their EULA policy as a whole – in the public domain.  We’d wager things are going to get even more complex when MagicJack’s upcoming femtocell is released.

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Qualcomm reckon the term “smartbook” is a generic one, and are attempting to have the trademark revoked; in the meantime, Smartbook AG have a temporary restraining order – effective in Germany only – preventing Qualcomm from using the term without a disclaimer about the current ownership.  However the order only applies to Qualcomm, not to any other company – inside or outside Germany – or news organization, and Smartbook AG have been slapped with a temporary restraining order of their own for misrepresenting exactly what the courts had ruled.

What does this mean?  Well, we’re not lawyers (we just dress like them sometimes) but it seems like Smartbook AG’s legal wiggling was not only over-egged but unsupported by their actual rights as German trademark holders.  Business as usual then, for us and everyone else; now we just have to pin down exactly what the difference between a smartbook and a netbook is…

“German laptop manufacturer, Smartbook AG, is engaged in an aggressive campaign to prevent the continued use of the term “smartbooks” by journalists, manufacturers and consumers. Qualcomm does not claim and has never claimed to own the term “smartbook” which it believes is a descriptive and generic term. The term is used by a number of companies, consumers and industry commentators to describe a class of devices that combine attributes of smartphones and netbooks enabled by various technology companies, including but not limited to Qualcomm.

Smartbook AG has obtained a Temporary Restraining Order in Germany against Qualcomm. We are complying with the decision, which requires Qualcomm not to use the word “smartbook” on any internet site in Germany without a disclaimer that the rights in the mark in Germany are owned by Smartbook AG. We are contesting the temporary order and are taking steps to cancel the trademark, which we contend is a generic and descriptive term that should not have been allowed as a mark in the first place. The Temporary Restraining Order applies only to Qualcomm; to our knowledge no other orders were issued.

The German court did not extend its provisional order to other parties; nor does it reach outside Germany; and nor does it prevent news organisations from reporting news. Further, it does not actually prohibit the use of the term; it allows the use of the term with the appropriate disclaimer. [Qualcomm was recently granted a Temporary Restraining Order in Germany against Smartbook AG which now prevents Smartbook AG from misrepresenting the terms of the order against Qualcomm, both on Smartbook AG’s website and in letters to the media.] In fact Smartbook AG has now revised its website to correct these misrepresentations of the scope of the TRO.

Since Smartbook AG’s action against Qualcomm, it has been seeking to register “smart” trademarks in other countries. The European Union and other countries have rejected these efforts on the grounds that the term “smartbook” is generic. Smartbook AG has also publicly stated it would sell the rights to the registered German trademark. Presumably, the campaign to expand the trademark registrations and the attempts to force journalists and others not to use the term are attempts to increase the sales value of the trademark.” Qualcomm statement

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“Nokia will study the complaint when it is received and continue to defend itself vigorously.  However this does not alter the fact that Apple has failed to agree appropriate terms for using Nokia technology and has been seeking a free ride on Nokia’s innovation since it shipped the first iPhone in 2007″ Mark Durrant, spokesperson, Nokia

So far the ITC – the agency responsible for handling the complaints – is yet to formally announce whether it will investigate the claims of either company.  Such investigations generally take around 15 months to complete.

[via Bloomberg]

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We can only assume that, what with smartbooks being a common sight at CES 2010 last week and us making liberal mention of models from Lenovo, Mobinnova, HP, Freescale and others, they felt it important to remind us of what legal manoeuvrings are going on across the Atlantic.  In case you’ve forgotten, lawyerly wavings in Germany and elsewhere saw several ultraportable device sites in Europe redact any mention of smartbooks, lest they get dragged across the courtroom coals.

Unfortunately we’re left guessing as to why exactly they got in touch, as so far all we’ve received is that first page you can see above.  Wilde Rechtsanwalte, if you’re out there reading this, please do re-send the rest (if indeed there was any); alternatively you can save the cost of an international fax and get in touch the 21st century way.

* Yes, it’s actually an online “virtual” fax service, not a real fax machine, but that’s not quite so evocative is it.

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Such technology, Nokia claims, are what enables the Finnish company to make smaller, longer-lasting and cheaper handsets, with the company’s general manager in charge of patent licensing, Paul Melin, describing the IP as “pioneering”.  ”Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices” the executive claims.

Apple has already accused Nokia of “stealing” the Cupertino company’s technology, in response to the original Delaware suit.  ”Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s General Counsel and senior vice president.

Press Release:

Nokia requests ITC investigation into Apple patent infringement
December 29, 2009

Espoo, Finland – Nokia announced it has today filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.

The seven Nokia patents in this complaint relate to Nokia’s pioneering innovations that are now being used by Apple to create key features in its products in the area of user interface, as well as camera, antenna and power management technologies. These patented technologies are important to Nokia’s success as they allow better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size and longer battery life for Nokia products.

“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices” said Paul Melin, General Manager, Patent Licensing at Nokia. “This action is about protecting the results of such pioneering development. While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple’s attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple’s practice of building its business on Nokia’s proprietary innovation.”

About Nokia

Nokiais a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading maker ofmobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways -fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable peopleto stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digitalmap information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services forcommunications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

Duringthe last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion inresearch and development and built one of the wireless industry’s strongest andbroadest IPR portfolios, with over 11,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development ofhandheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstratedby Nokia’s strong patent position.

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As for the speculation regarding the manufacturing deal with Pegatron, Fusion Garage claim that relationship was a failure not helped by the fact that “Arrington’s promises of hardware development support proved to be hollow”.  They’ve now moved to a different ODM and a different design, they claim, and one to which Pegatron hold no IP rights.

The full statements are in the gallery below, but one thing is clear – neither side of this battle seem likely to back down.  Preorders for the JooJoo are being taken already, priced at $499, and the device is expected – according to Fusion Garage – to begin shipping early in the new year.

[via Gizmodo]

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Morley has apparently submitted a patent application for the technology, which converts data encoded in the magnetic strip of a credit card into audio tones; the reader plugs into the headphone socket of an iPhone or iPod touch, and those tones are interpreted by Square’s software.  While Morley is not attempting to take credit for that software application, nor the final mechanical design, he reckons – despite Square’s protestations to the contrary – that the company have used his idea without crediting or remunerating him.

Unless negotiations resume, Morley plans on licensing out the tech to rival payment companies; he’s looking to swap the IP for ownership shares in Square.  The company themselves are yet to comment on the matter.

[via MAKE]

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However, should Psystar continue to sell the $50 Rebel EFI app, there’s a good chance that it could fall foul of the broader scope of the injunction.  Alsup said “Psystar will be selling Rebel EFI at its peril, and risks finding itself in contempt if its new venture falls within the scope of the injunction”.

Psystar had already stopped selling its clone Macs after an earlier agreement with Apple that saw the Cupertino company agree to hold off on collecting a $2.7m damages settlement until all of the infringer’s appeals had been exhausted.  Psystar still maintains that Apple is guilty of “anticompetitive attempts to tie Mac OS X Snow Leopard to its Macintosh line of computers”, which remains the subject of another lawsuit being decided in Florida courts.

• Copying, selling, offering to sell, distributing or creating derivative works of Mac OS X without authorization from Apple.
• Intentionally inducing, aiding, assisting, abetting or encouraging any other person or entity to infringe Apple’s copyrighted Mac OS X software.
• Circumventing any technological measure that effectively controls access Mac OS X, including, but not limited to, the technological measure used by Apple to prevent unauthorized copying of Mac OS X on non-Apple computers.
• Playing any part in a product intended to circumvent Apple’s methods for controlling Mac OS X, such as the methods used to prevent unauthorized copying of Mac OS X on non-Apple computers.
• Doing anything to circumvent the rights held by Apple under the Copyright Act with respect to Mac OS X.

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In fact all the application says is that the Zii mark covers “video games and electronic devices”.  Next-gen Wii replacement, perhaps, toting HD playback?  General consensus is that it’s bizarrely late for Nintendo to be worrying about protecting itself from mis-spelt copycats of the existing Wii.

[via Kotaku]

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Update: Full legal text after the cut, plus Nokia’s “copy with pride” quote about the iPhone comes back to haunt them

Nokia’s suit alleged that Apple had infringed ten patents relating to “one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA), and wireless LAN standards” with the iPhone, and was filed back in October.  At the time, Nokia’s VP of legal was quoted as saying “By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.”

Update: Apple’s filing is available to read (see below) and what’s notable is that they specifically refer to Nokia executive vice president Anssi Vanjoki’s 2007 quote about copying the iPhone “with pride.” [via IntoMobile]

AAPL-NOKCountersuit –

Press Release:

Apple Countersues Nokia

CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Responding to a lawsuit brought against the company by Nokia, Apple® today filed a countersuit claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 Apple patents.

“Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s General Counsel and senior vice president.

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He also addresses some of Fusion Garage CEO Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan’s statements during the JooJoo webcast earlier this week, in which his former friend claimed TechCrunch has no IP claim for the touchscreen tablet.  In actual fact, Arrington counters, he personally created “the entire blueprint” of the CrunchPad, while Pegatron own “much of the key intellectual property, including the board and much of the mechanicals”.

“The entire blueprint of the device was created by me. And we also have hired direct resources, including the former head of hardware at Vudu, as well as very high level software engineers, who have worked directly on the project here and in Singapore with the Fusion Garage team. Their direct work on the project was crucial to its success, and the device would not be finished without their work” Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

Arrington believes Fusion Garage may have given Pegatron’s IP to a new ODM manufacturing partner – the two companies are not collaborating on manufacturing of the JooJoo.  The likelihood of the JooJoo – which is meant to go up for pre-sales today, priced at $499 and with initial deliveries in 4-8 weeks – reaching customers’ hands seems ever more unlikely.

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Spring Design allege that they worked closely with Barnes and Noble in 2009, believing the retailer would use their Alex Android-based ebook reader concept.  As a result, they shared various details of hardware and software, details they claim B&N went on to use in the creation of their own ebook reader, the nook.  We’ll have to wait to see how the courts figure this one out, but so far B&N are having trouble getting the nook into readers’ hands with merely their own supply chain to contend with.

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“Psystar and Apple today entered into a partial settlement that is embodied in a stipulation that will be filed with the Court tomorrow. Psystar has agreed on certain amounts to be awarded as statutory damages on Apple’s copyright claims in exchange for Apple’s agreement not to execute on these awards until all appeals in this matter have been concluded. Moreover, Apple has agreed to voluntarily dismiss all its trademark, trade-dress, and state-law claims. This partial settlement eliminates the need for a trial and reduces the issues before this Court to the scope of any permanent injunction on Apple’s copyright claims” Psystar motion

Rebel EFI, Psystar insist, is entirely a software product of their own creation, and doesn’t contain or include OS X.  As such, they reckon it should be left on sale, since Apple’s assertion that Psystar have impinged copyright does not apply to the software tool (even if that’s what users then go on to do with the app).

The unusual element to the story is that Apple seem to have agreed to the settlement amount – as well as to “voluntarily dismiss all its trademark, trade-dress, and state-law claims” against Psystar – only being payable once all of Psystar’s appeal avenues are exhausted.  More details of the agreement are expected to be revealed later on today, as the motion is presented before the court in San Francisco.

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The legal hurdles seem to have been prompted by Fusion Garage looking to renegotiate their part in the project, or more precisely the equity split.  In the end, the courts will decide; TechCrunch are “almost certainly” going to file lawsuits against their former partners.

“We’re still completely perplexed as to what happened. We think they were attempting to renegotiate the equity split on the company behind CrunchPad, which was to acquire Fusion Garage. Renegotiations are always fine. But holding a gun to our head two days before launching and insulting us isn’t the way to do that. We’ve spent the last week and a half trying unsuccessfully to communicate with them. Our calls and emails go unanswered, so we can’t even figure out exactly what’s happened” Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

Away from the production wrangles, it’s disappointing news both for anybody interested in portable electronics and for those to whom the CrunchPad project represented the potential for individuals and small companies to come up with an idea and make it reality.  Right now it looks like SlashGear columnist Michael Gartenberg’s predictions were correct: citizen gadgetry is harder than it seems.

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As a result – and after “constructive discussions” - Apple have agreed to tweak their language to ensure it’s “plain or intelligible”, fits in with the UK’s distance-selling regulations, prevents price-changes from being implemented after a purchase agreement has taken place, and “do not exclude liability for faulty or mis-described goods”.  Unfortunately there’s no way the OFT can actually make sure users bother reading the T&Cs.

[via Twitter]

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“Microsoft has chosen to use one of the most indiscriminate ‘weapons’ in its arsenal in an effort to combat piracy — as a result, use of this ‘weapon’ has resulted in a great deal of collateral damage — many people were affected who had nothing to do with piracy” AbingtonIP

AbingtonIP are hoping to hear from Xbox 360 gamers who either didn’t receive a pro-rated refund for their remaining subscription, or who have experienced hardware issues as a result of the ban.  They maintain Microsoft’s actions were “convenient” in their timing; Microsoft are yet to comment.

[via Kotaku]

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AMD will, in return, drop all of their upcoming litigation – including one US and two Japanese cases – and yank its regulatory complaints.  Neither company will be allowed to complain about any previous license agreements or breaches they believe have been made.  Looks like we’ll have to wait until things get properly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before we find out full details; meanwhile, Intel and AMD are now apparently going to “focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development” rather than kicking seven shades out of each other.

Press Release:

SUNNYVALE/SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Nov. 12, 2009 – Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) today announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes.

In a joint statement the two companies commented, “While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development.”

Under terms of the agreement, AMD and Intel obtain patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions. As a result, AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide. The agreement will be made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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The real issue is how Verizon have chosen to detail coverage in their mapping, focusing only on 3G areas and making no indication of non-3G areas.  That, the carrier insists, is the point of the advert – which you can see below – in that it focusses on why their network is good for high-speed data services such as streaming video.

AT&T, though, reckon that the ads have “stepped over the line of legitimate comparative advertising” by not making clear that just because their customers may not have 3G access in the white areas on the map, it doesn’t mean they have no service at all.  In fact, they suggest, subscribers can “fully use their wireless devices outside of a ‘3G’ coverage area and undisputedly have coverage in areas depicted by white or blank spaces on the maps used in Verizon’s advertisements.”  AT&T have called for an immediate temporary injunction on the adverts, and are seeking a permanent injunction when the case reaches trial.

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According to Spring Design, having had the NDA signed they then showed the Alex and accompanying marketing materials to Barnes and Noble employees.  They even say that B&N.com president William Lynch said he was “looking forward” to the two company’s partnership.  After that, B&N apparently cut off all contact with Spring Design, and the company heard nothing new until the nook was launched last month.

As Engadget point out, the exact terms of the agreement between the two firms basically say that, while each is allowed to produce competing products, they can’t do so having made use of knowledge gleaned under the NDA.  It seems the bulk of the court case is going to be Spring Design attempting to prove that the nook’s development borrowed from that of the Alex.  Barnes and Noble are yet to comment on the allegations.

You can find the Spring Design complaint here and the NDA (along with some other materials) here.

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According to Spring Design, they and Barnes and Noble had been working together since the start of 2009 on bringing the Alex design to market under the B&N brand.  As part of that, Spring Design shared various features, design decisions and the like; those features, they claim, subsequently showed up in the nook, a device B&N had not revealed it had in development.

Spring Design says it holds patents on various aspects of the Alex dual-display technology that it began filing back in 2006.  If true, Barnes and Noble could face a painful financial pay-out to the company, or even an injunction on selling the nook altogether.

Press Release:

Spring Design Files Lawsuit against Barnes & Noble : Nook Violates Alex Intellectual Property

CUPERTINO, CA – November 2, 2009 – Spring Design today filed a lawsuit to protect its Alex™ e-book intellectual property. The lawsuit asserts Barnes & Noble misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties’ non-disclosure agreement when it copied Alex’ features into its recently announced Nook e-book.

“Spring Design unfortunately had to take the appropriate action to protect its intellectual property rights,” said Spring Design Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Eric Kmiec. “We showed the Alex e-book design to Barnes & Noble in good faith with the intention of working together to provide a superior dual screen e-book to the market.”

Spring Design first developed and began filing patents on its Alex e-book, an innovative dual screen, Android-based e-book back in 2006. Since the beginning of 2009 Spring and Barnes & Noble worked within a non-disclosure agreement, including many meetings, emails and conference calls with executives ranging up to the president of Barnes and Noble.com, discussing confidential information regarding the features, functionality and capabilities of Alex. Throughout, Barnes & Noble’s marketing and technical executives extolled Alex’s “innovative” features, never mentioning their use of those features until the public disclosure of the Nook.

Alex, with its unique Duet Navigator™, provides the capability for interaction and navigation techniques of the two screens and furthermore utilizes the capabilities of Android to enhance the reader’s experience by supporting interactive access to the Internet for references and links. As the first in the market to offer an e-book with full Internet browsing while reading and with easy navigational control via its touch screen, Alex is well-positioned to offer the most dynamic and powerful reading device in the market.

Spring Design is focused at working strategically with book store partners to jointly develop the market and revolutionize e-book with interactive multi-media open Internet access. “It is our desire to resolve this matter so that we can move forward together to expand and grow this e-book market with enriched user experience, bringing readers to a new level of reading enjoyment,” said Eric Kmiec.

About Spring Design:
Spring Design, founded in 2006, delivers innovative e-reader solutions and products to the e-book market, offering overall “Link Notes”, a content authoring and multi-media publishing tool as add on editions to original text. Spring Design is located in Cupertino, California with engineering offices in Taiwan and China. Spring Design pioneered its patent-pending dual screen design with Duet Navigator™ capability in 2006, and has been working with major book stores, newspapers and publishers over the last two years, sharing the vision and the capabilities of the dual screen device. Spring Design’s innovative patented technologies incorporate the seamless interaction of dual display and multi-online access in a single device, benefiting and leveraging the technology and resources of the Web to enhance the reading experience with open Internet access.

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