Legal - SlashGear

Posts Tagged ‘legal’

Apple weighing legal action over Palm Pre IP infringement?

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Jan 22nd 2009 No Comments

Apple has fired a warning shot across Palm’s bows, over possible legal action concerning the new Palm Pre smartphone’s possible use of multitouch and touchscreen gesture technology that Apple holds IP rights to. Talking to analysts in the financial conference call on Wednesday, where Apple announced record earnings for the last quarter, executive Tim Cook responded to a question about sustaining iPhone market leadership by saying “we don’t mind competition, but if others rip off our intellectual property, we will go after them.”

palm pre

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Psion Netbook trademark case continues: targets those “profiting” from misuse

By Chris Davies on Monday, Dec 29th 2008 1 Comment

psion netbook 480x386 Further details of the Psion netbook trademark case have emerged, thanks to a number of statements from the legal team, Origin, supporting the UK company. The situation came to light last week, with several UK sites reportedly receiving cease & desist letters regarding their use of the term “netbook”, a term which Psion trademarked back in the 90’s for use on a range of sub-notebook devices. While the devices themselves are no longer in production, Psion does still hold the trademark and produce accessories for the line; according to their legal representation, they’re not in fact targeting fan-sites and bloggers using the term “netbook” but those making “a direct, financial profit” from its use.

Full legal correspondence after the cut

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Psion Netbook trademark holder target fan sites with C&D notices

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Dec 24th 2008 No Comments

Some netbook enthusiast sites have apparently received cease and desist (C&D) letters, demanding that they remove the term “netbook” from their pages before March 2009, else face legal action. The letters, which until now have been sent to UK-based sites, claim that the netbook and netbook pro trademarks are owned by the company responsible for the Psion Netbook, a larger version of the company’s PDAs that has not been in production for some years now.

psion netbook 480x386

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Psystar accuse Apple of OS X copyright failure

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Dec 23rd 2008 1 Comment

gavel In the ongoing litigation between Psystar and Apple, the Mac clone manufacturer have claimed Apple failed to file for copyright protection of OS X, and as such are “prohibited from bringing action”. The argument was submitted last week, as part of Psystar’s defence against Apple’s charge of copyright infringement; it follows Psystar’s counterclaim suit against the company being thrown out of court last month.

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Microsoft knew about Xbox 360 disc scratch issue in 2005

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Dec 16th 2008 1 Comment

xbox 360 scratched dvd Microsoft have admitted to knowing about the long-standing issue whereby its Xbox 360 console scratched discs in the optical drive. According to program manager Hiroo Umeno, who is cited in a motion [pdf link] against the company, the problem was acknowledged before the 360 even launched, back in 2005; Microsoft is also believed to have rejected at least three possible workarounds, a decision partly based on avoiding an extra part costing just $0.50 per console.

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Nintendo loses patent infringement case, may have to pull controllers from store shelves

By Chris on Wednesday, Jul 23rd 2008 No Comments

If you’ve thought about purchasing a GameCube, Wavebird or Wii Classic controller sometime in the future, you might want to go ahead and grab one now. Nintendo has just lost a case that may very well see these controllers taken off the market.

gamecube controller

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NVIDIA & ATI class action court hears damning price-fix email

By Chris Davies on Friday, Jul 18th 2008 2 Comments

NVIDIA Dan Vivoli Things are not looking good for NVIDIA and ATI, as they face a class-action suit in California over accusations of price fixing and colluding to keep GPU prices artificially buoyant. In the most damning piece of evidence so far heard by the court, presiding Judge William Alsup read out a 2002 email from NVIDIA’s senior VP of marketing, Dan Vivoli, to ATI’s president and COO Dave Orton, in which, it is suggested, he discusses conspiring to synchronize product releases.

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Apple could face licencing demands if Psystar case goes awry

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Jul 17th 2008 1 Comment

In an interesting – and potentially even more expensive – twist to the Apple/Psystar legal case, it’s now emerged that not only are Apple looking for financial restitution from the clone-makers, but the recall and destruction of every Psystar machine running OS X that has been sold. However, while this is remarkably thorough on Apple’s part, some are questioning whether the move could in fact leave them open to more copycat machines should the final ruling not go entirely their way.

PsyStar Open Computer

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Apple file against Psystar for EULA, trademark & copyright infringement

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Jul 15th 2008 No Comments

Rating around “no surprise” on the predictability chart, Mac-clone manufacturer Psystar has just received some unpleasant legal documentation from Apple, alleging counts for violation of its shrink wrap license, trademark and copyright infringement. The suit, filed at the federal district court for the northern district of California, suggests Apple has been infuriated not only by Psystar contravening their EULA, but by the potential damage to Apple’s reputation what with the Psystar machines proving less than popular with owners and reviewers alike.

Psystar Apple lawsuit

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Konami files suit against Harmonix over Rock Band

By Chris on Friday, Jul 11th 2008 No Comments

Rock Band easily consumes more of my time than any other game I currently play. Its unique gameplay and ever-growing list of songs make for a great time alone or with friends. However, Konami doesn’t think that the gameplay is all that unique, as they have recently filed suit against Harmonix citing patents issued in 2002 and 2003.

Rock Band Pick