The Samsung GALAXY S 4 is at the center of this suit, with Apple also making clear their intent to seek action against Google-made elements in the Android system such as Google Now. At the moment it appears that Apple will be calling out Samsung for implementing items like Google Now, the company having not yet pushed Google directly on the matter.

The line specifically calling out the Samsung GALAXY S 4, as located by Foss Patents, is as follows:

“Apple determined that the Galaxy S4 product practices many of the same claims already asserted by Apple, and that the Galaxy S4 practices those claims in the same way as the already-accused Samsung devices.”

This bit of text comes from the “13-05-21 Apple Motion to Amend Infringement Contentions” document which has been filed this month. Of note here is the fact that the Samsung GALAXY S 4 Google Edition is not specifically mentioned, and would therefor not be falling under this filing. It’s likely that Apple will specifically include the Google Edition once the device becomes available in stores.

It’s also worth noting that at least one of the two filings against Google’s Android Quick Search Box was overturned when filed against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus – this was done back in October of 2012, and has yet to be successfully challenged by Apple. This case is filed with Judge Koh and, because of the way this Siri-related patent was turned with the Galaxy Nexus, it’s quite possible that the Samsung GALAXY S 4 will be found innocent as well.

As a part of Apple’s statement recently filed with the US District Court in California, the company said that the Galaxy S 4 “is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product.” The Galaxy S 4 now joins a list of 22 Samsung products that Apple believes are infringing on their patents.

Both sides have over 20 products from each company that they claim infringe on each other’s patents. Samsung has included almost all of Apple’s iOS devices, while Apple has focused on Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup, as well as the Note series of phablet-style smartphones.

Judge Lucy Koh will oversee the upcoming patent trial, as she was the judge during the first patent trial that saw Apple win with a whopping $1.05 billion award. However, that was since cut down by $450 million. However, while it seemed Apple was fine with that for the most part, the company claimed the re-calculation is off by $85 million, and thus, another court case will begin in November to re-calculate the damages.

If you’re slightly confused by all that’s going on between the two companies, you’re most likely not alone. Apple and Samsung have been going at it for a couple years now, and both companies are starting to slowly end their partnerships in the industry. For instance, it’s been rumored for quite some time that Apple is completely dropping Samsung from its manufacturing partners, which would cut ties between the two companies. Of course, Apple wants to develop their own chips anyway, but the separation is probably for the best at this point.

VIA: Phone Arena

SOURCE: US District Court Filing

Zhizhen says that Siri infringes on its “Xiao i Robot” software that it had patented back in 2004, a while before Siri was developed in 2007 and released on the iPhone 4S in 2011. The i Robot software does exactly the same thing as Siri, such as responding to the user’s commands. Xiao i Robot, however, is available for both iOS and Android devices. Zhizhen says that it’s currently being used by over 100 million people in China.

The two companies went to pre-trial today to discuss the issue. Apple denied Zhizhen’s claim and asked for the case to be rejected. The court, however, rejected its request. Zhizhen’s lawyer, Si Weijiang, stated that if the company wins the case, they will ask Apple to “stop manufacturing and selling products using its patent rights.” He also stated that they will probably demand compensation from Apple in the future.

Apple had similar legal issues with another company in China. The company, Proview, claimed that Apple committed fraud when it acquired its iPad trademark. Apple purchased the trademark through IP Application Development, a U.K. subsidary, but Proview stated that the subsidary didn’t have the right to sell the trademark. Through a long, complicated legal battle, Apple finally settled the lawsuit by paying Proview $60 million. We will see how this legal battle over Siri plays out when the official case takes place in July.

[via AKP]

LG claims it applied for the patent in 2009, as well as other eye-tracking patents as far back as 2005. There’s nothing that the company can do right now, but once the GALAXY S 4 officially launches late next month, they’ll be able to investigate and see whether or not Samsung infringed on one of LG’s patents.

Samsung denies any infringing on LG’s patent, and the says that it uses its own technology for “Smart Pause.” LG’s Optimus G Pro was unveiled at Mobile World Congress last month and is expected to release sometime next month in the US, and there’s already an update out for the new phone that enables eye scrolling, similar to Samsung’s “Smart Scroll.”

This isn’t the first time that LG has turned up the heat on the battle between the Optimus G Pro and the GALAXY S 4. Before the GALAXY S 4 launch, LG trolled Samsung in New York City by placing a clever and bold ad directly on top of Samsung’s ad for the new phone, officially mocking the company before the phone has even been unveiled. Of course, this is only the start, so we’re bound to see more skirmishes between the two companies in the near future.

[via The Next Web]

Koh is calling for a new trial to set revised damage amounts for the products affected by the “impermissible legal theory” of the judgment, which include the Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, AT&T Galaxy S II, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, and Transform.

However, Koh believes that Apple may be affected with damages for sales not included in the original case, and there’s a chance that Samsung can lower the amount it would owe to Apple. Specifics are pretty scarce at this point still, and Koh hasn’t even set a date for the retrial, either, so we’re not sure what to expect, nor what will happen.

The retrial may not take place until appeals of the original ruling have played out, which means that it’s very likely that it will be awhile before the retrial gets under way and revised damages are announced. While we thought that the Apple vs. Samsung court battle might have been slowly coming to a close, it’s picking back up to full speed now.

[via FOSS Patents]

Soverain actually ended up suing Newegg for $2.5 million in 2010, and won. They also sued Amazon in 2005 and walked away with $40 million. However, unlike other online retailers, Newegg wanted to fight until the death. Instead of taking the safe road financially and settling with Soverain, Newegg decided to take down the retail patent troll for good.

Newegg ended up getting the 2010 court case overturned, thus invalidating all other lawsuits handed out by Soverain, effectively ending their reign on online shopping patent trolling. Newegg’s Chief Legal Officer Lee Cheng says that the attitudes of the court officials had a lot to do with Newegg’s win, when they finally decided that enough was enough and gave Soverain what it deserved.

Chong says that this isn’t the first time that the company has been hit with bogus lawsuits, saying that companies “claim to own the drop-down menu, or a search box, or Web navigation.” Chong also said that one of the reasons that Newegg was able to fight back so relentlessly was that the company is majority-controlled and had a bit more freedom to fight as opposed to other online retailers.

[via Ars Technica]

One of the companies that went to war with Project Paperless was BlueWave, a group whose founder Steven Vicinanza decided to stand up against the so-called “Project Paperless LLC.” He found first that one of the people working with Project Paperless was Steven Hill, a partner at Hill, Kertscher & Wharton, an Atlanta law firm. On the telephone with this man, Vicinanza explains, “He said, if you hook up a scanner and e-mail a PDF document—we have a patent that covers that as a process.”

Vicinanza investigated and found that the initial list of businesses that was being targeted by Project Paperless was lifted directly from the “Atlanta’s Best Workplaces” list published each year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Speaking with the heads of the companies on that list this year, he found that the same legal threat letter he’d received was being sent to each company, one by one, under a set of “at least eight different shell companies”, each of them with six-letter names like GosNel, FasLan, and AdzPro.

U.S. patents 6,185,590, 6,771,381, 7,477,410 and 7,986,426 were and continue to be asserted against companies of all sizes, many of which have settled and paid up without question throughout the year. BlueWave went to court with Project Paperless as Vicinanza refused to pay any amount of cash to them. Vicinanza did a Prior Art search (that ended up costing him around $5,000 USD) and sent the results to the Project Paperless lawyers and filed a third-party complaint against Xerox, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, and Brother through his lawyer Ann Fort.

None of these scanner makers had to come to court (or even really had a chance to) because two weeks after the third-party complaint was filed, Project Paperless disappeared. The case was dropped, and no settlement was made.

The Hill, Kertscher, and Wharton law firm today is associated most with the Stop Project Paperless campaign, an anonymous effort to make the information about Project Paperless (basically everything above) public. Project Paperless has since dismantled, or so it seems, reconstructing themselves under the holding company MPHJ Technologies.

MPHJ Technologies is a mysterious company whose owners remain anonymous, and letters essentially the same as detailed above continue to be sent out by companies by the name of AccNum, AllLed, AdzPro, CalNeb, ChaPac, FanPar, FasLan, FulNer, GosNel, and HunLos. If you or your company have been targeted by one of these companies or a similar letter, please, contact legal representation rather than immediately paying a flat sum. It’s quite likely you’ll have more than enough legal ground to stand on – stay strong!

[via Ars Technica]

Since Samsung is not selling the phone directly in the US, Apple agreed to drop it from the list of accused devices. However, it’s important to note that actions like this are common at this point in time, since both companies are finalizing which devices will be included in the upcoming trial. Plus, the Mini may be put back on Apple’s list if Samsung decides to sell the phone in the states.

Samsung started selling the Galaxy S III Mini in Europe back in October, but in their filing on Friday, Apple said that their lawyers were able to purchase “multiple units” of the Galaxy S III Mini from Amazon.com US site and have them delivered to the US without any problems, despite Samsung saying that the phone isn’t for sale in the US.

Of course, this is only one device out of several that Apple is dropping. They still have a handful of smartphones and tablets on their list, for which they’re seeking sales bans on. Then again, we’re surprised that Apple backed off so easily from Samsung’s claims about the Mini, despite claiming that they were able to purchase such a product from the US.

[via Reuters]

Ericsson actually filed a patent lawsuit against Samsung about a month ago after the two companies failed to extend the licensing agreement after years of negotiations. At the time, Ericsson claimed that Samsung refused to pay the FRAND rate that its competitors are paying for the same standard-essential patents.

This time around, Samsung is going on the offense, and is seeking a ban in the US on several products made by Ericsson after a dispute over patent fees concerning telecommunications networking equipment. Samsung says that they “have sought to negotiate with Ericsson in good faith.” However, Samsung claims that the company has been unwilling to continue negotiations by making unreasonable claims.

Of course, Ericsson also thinks that Samsung products should be banned in the US over the same dispute that Samsung filed, saying that the Korean-based company’s products infringe on its patents. Ericsson said that an import ban is not their goal, but rather that Samsung “sign license agreements on reasonable terms.”

[via Reuters]

If Microsoft had its way in this case as it is today, the amount of cash paid to Motorola would be more than $736,000 per year for Motorola’s 802.11 wi-fi technology and no more than $502,000 per year for Motorola’s H.264 video compression patent. This information comes from a redacted filing read by Reuters this week. The filing was revealed on Monday of this week and also contained suggestions from Motorola.

If Motorola had their way, they’d be receiving 2.25 percent of the selling price of Microsoft products with their patents embedded within them. This includes Windows 7 and the Xbox, for starters. This amount of cash was said to appear acceptable to Microsoft just so long as a cap was set in place for final amounts each year with different percentages listed for each of the two patents.

For the 802.11 patents Motorola suggested that Microsoft pay them 1.15 percent to 1.73 percent of Microsoft end-product prices. Microsoft suggested that for the H.264 patent portfolio, the cost be capped between $100 million and $125 million per year. The case will continue early 2013 with US District Judge James Robart ruling the court. Have a peek at the timeline below for more Motorola vs Microsoft action and stay tuned as the cash is tossed!

According to CNET in early November, the battle was made official when the judge rejected an Apple attempt to toss a lawsuit over involving the patents at hand. Judge Robinson confirmed that the suit would proceed and that patent No. 6,441,828, was “suitable for determination by a jury.”

Three of the patents this case COULD be ruling over (NOTE: These are three main possibilities at this point, not confirmed to be THE final set of three) are as follows:

- Sony patent No. RE39231 showing a “call incoming control method” allowing a user to tap a button (or press it) to mute calls or change the volume of said calls incoming

- Nokia patent No. 6,253,075 for “rejecting incoming calls” which simply allows the user to “ignore” or “decline” incoming phone calls.

- Sony patent No. 6,725,155 for “route search conditions” and GPS transmissions – these transmissions are sent to a remote server and ping to be “receiving guidance data transmitted from the server.”

There’s also the Sony screen rotation patent numbered above which says that “by pressing the rotate button a maximum of three times for one image, the user can rotate the image clockwise.” Sony patent No. 6,563,535 deals with displaying images right-side-up “regardless of the orientation of the image or the physical orientation” of the device at hand. Stick around SlashGear for more information on this case as it develops!

The judge made a plea for “global peace” between the two companies during the appeal hearing, saying that “it would be good for consumers and good for the industry.” You can clearly tell that Judge Koh is getting irritated with both companies at this point, and for understandable reasons. Neither lawyers from both sides answered any of Koh’s questions, and instead continued to put blame on either company.

However, the head lawyer for Samsung said that the company was “willing to talk,” but Apple was said to not want to back down, claiming that the $1 billion judgment from the jury was a “slap on the wrist” for Samsung. Apple also continued saying that Samsung was knowingly going as far as it could copying Apple products without getting into trouble, while Samsung accused Apple of running a smear campaign, and claimed that that company wanted to battle it out in the court instead of out in the market.

The appeal hearing yesterday involved Samsung questioning the jury on their calculations that led to just over $1 billion in damages, and they also asked to have the entire verdict dismissed and another trial opened up, but that seems not have much traction. As for Apple, they’re attempting to add over $500 million to the $1 billion verdict.

[via Engadget]

Of course as it is with all such legal disputes, this case will only take effect in the area in which the court it’s being decided in has jurisdiction. This means that if RIM were to lose this case in a final sense, they’d still be able to sell devices around the world until Nokia can push courts the whole planet over to see their point of view. As it stands, every BlackBerry device working with WLAN (aka all of them) could potentially be banned from sale until all monetary agreements are decided upon.

This could of course have a terrible effect on RIM’s imminent future with BlackBerry 10, the operating system they’ve got lined up to bring them back into heavy prominence with the general smartphone market both in Canada and abroad. As Nokia has made it clear that they’ve filed cases in the USA, Britain, and Canada as well to enforce the ruling made this week, we must assume that RIM will take immediate action.

Immediate action will more than likely be in the form of a settlement on RIM’s behalf with cash adding up to an amount equitable to what Nokia feels their owed due to the usage of their patented technology without their approval. That could be a massive amount of cash, to put it lightly. Stay tuned to see how this particular hard bashing plays out.

[via Reuters]

Apple and Samsung have already been through this dance once before on the same exact patent issue last year. Samsung was accused of implementing the same “bounce back” feature as iOS when scrolling through images, so Samsung replaced it with a blue flash that would appear on the edges of images. However, Samsung has refused to “sign a declaration of abstinence committing to not infringing the patent,” but Samsung claims that the issue had been fixed in the Netherlands, and that its Galaxy products used Samsung’s own technology.

The ban only applies to Galaxy products that run Android 2.2.1 and higher, and that don’t use Samsung’s proprietary photo gallery software. The court ordered Samsung to inform Apple how much net profit it made from sales of its infringing Galaxy products since June 27, 2011. From there, a different court will determine how much of that profit Samsung must give to Apple. If Samsung continues to infringe on Apple’s patent, the company will be required to pay Apple 100,000 euros ($129,000) for every day it violates the ban.

A Samsung spokesperson said that the company was disappointed with the court’s ruling, and Apple did not respond to a request for comment. In another lawsuit between the two companies in the Netherlands, the court ruled that Samsung does not infringe on a multitouch patent from Apple, and this coming January, the court is set to place their verdict in another Apple-Samsung lawsuit dealing with tablet design rights.

[via Computerworld]

The suit comes after Samsung and Ericsson failed to extend the licensing agreement after years of negotiations. Ericsson filed lawsuit in the US federal court in the Eastern District of Texas where the judge is known to side with patent holders. Ericsson reports that it had offered to extend the licensing deal to Samsung using FRAND terms.

Samsung claims that Ericsson is demanding prohibitively high licensing fees. Samsung noted in a statement, “[Ericsson] demanded prohibitively higher royalty rates to renew the same patent portfolio. As we cannot accept such extreme demands, we will take all necessary legal measures to protect against Ericsson’s excessive claims.”

Ericsson maintains that Samsung is refusing to pay the FRAND rate that its competitors are paying for the same standard-essential patents. Ericsson reportedly made $937 million in 2011 from licensing its patents to other companies. There’s no indication of when the case will go to court at this time.

[via Bloomberg]

Nomadix included eight of its patents in the lawsuit out of the 100 or so patents that the company currently owns. Financial terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed, but according to Nomadix, the settlement includes a license to HP for certain portions of Nomadix’s patent portfolio dealing with internet access technologies.

Nomadix is best known for developing internet gateway products, and is a subsidiary of DOCOMO interTouch, which acquired Nomadix in 2008. Nomadix had filed its original patent suit against HP in 2009, and also included 10 other companies in the lawsuit — most of which are smaller companies like Wayport, iBAHN, Guest-Tek, LodgeNet, Aruba Networks, and Superclick.

The chairman of Nomadix, Charles Reed, says that the company is “pleased to conclude the litigation between [Nomadix and HP] in a manner that respects Nomadix’s patents.” Reed continued by stating that company will continue to “enforce” their patent portfolio in litigation, but he says that it’s “gratifying” to reach a settlement with HP that “recognizes the value of Nomadix’s patents.”

Apple filed documents with the US District Court for the Northern District of California adding six new Samsung products to its patent infringement suit. The new products include the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Rugby Pro, and the Galaxy S III Mini. Samsung doesn’t currently offer the S III mini in the US, but court documents show that Apple claims the device is available in the US through unofficial channels.

Apple added the new products to the patent infringement suit it filed in February of 2012 claiming Samsung violated several Apple patents. The patents that Apple alleges Samsung has violated have to do with user interface technology and product design. This year has been big for patent fights between Apple and several companies.

However, the largest patent battle that has resulted in a win for Apple came against Samsung when courts awarded Apple over $1 billion in damages. Samsung is trying to beat that $1 billion ruling in part by alleging juror misconduct in the case. Apple has indicated that it is adding new Samsung products to its case because the new products involve the same patents at the core of the original suit.

[via WSJ]

These four patents were asserted by Apple against HTC and will likely be appearing again in the future against other Android-wielding hardware makers – so says Foss. These patents cover the way a smartphone works and are each likely to be attached to the Android workings of the devices in question rather than to the manufacturer specifically, so will likely apply to non-HTC manufacturers as well as they had (up until now) attached to HTC. These patents are as follows:

EP0719487 on an “object-oriented telephony system”

EP0760131 on a “method and apparatus for distributing events in an operating system”

EP0664021 on a “menu state system”

EP0769169 on a “network component system.”

Keep your eyes open for these patents in the future – they WILL be appearing again. There’s also been some stand-out items as far as Google loan patents go. There are a collection of loans out there that are owned by Google but are being loaned out to companies such as HTC. The cases that involved any patents such as these in cases between Apple and HTC have been dismissed “with prejudice” because of Google’s “buyback” right under their agreement with HTC.

Google is not involved in the Apple-HTC agreement in any way and has not been part of any sort of talks with either company regarding the legal agreements at hand to our knowledge. District of Delaware, case no. 11-785-GMS notes that, “each and every claim and counterclaim between Apple and HTC in the above captioned matter are hereby dismissed WITH PREJUDICE solely with respect to HTC and WITHOUT PREJUDICE with respect to Apple and to any other person or entity.” This means that Google patents (as mentioned above) are dismissed as well, but with prejudice rather than without.

While the Apple – Samsung patent war has been getting the most attention, Apple has been engaged in other legal issues as well, including a two year fight over patents with HTC. Ending the battle was a 10-year licensing agreement between the two companies that encompasses both current and future patents on both sides. The issue started when Apple filed a complaint against HTC, alleging that the company had violated ten of its patents.

Specifically, Samsung is interested in information pertaining to what patents were included as part of the licensing agreement. Two of the patents that were part of the dispute may be part of the current lawsuit between Samsung and Apple, including the ’381 and ’915 patents, according to CNET. The company is also curious about whether Apple tossed in some of its unique patents that it doesn’t offer to other companies.

Samsung’s legal representative Robert Becher offered this statement. “As you know, the issue of Apple’s willingness to license its patents was briefed in Samsung’s opposition to Apple’s motion for permanent injunction. This license has direct bearing on the question of irreparable harm and whether monetary remedies are adequate.”

This information on how much HTC is likely paying Apple comes from Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, a man with vested interests in getting analysis right around these companies getting his own information from “conversations with industry sources.” As it stands, should HTC continue to sell 30-35 million Android smartphones annually, they’ll be paying $180-$280 million annually to Apple. HTC’s total per phone payed to Microsoft and Apple will soon be between $11-$13 USD per phone – tiny or giant, however you choose to see it.

HTC’s license fees here have more of an impact on the way Apple does business than it does on how it does business simply because Apple hasn’t recently been entering into agreements like this – quite the opposite. Instead, Apple has been entering into litigation with groups such as Samsung – grabbing millions from them after arduous legal processes. Prolonged as those fights inevitably are, it may be that Apple has found a better way to do business with settlements such as these.

Have a peek at the timeline below to see other recent Apple legal matters – and see if you can tell why Apple may just want to be out of the courtroom as much as possible into the future. HTC too may be finding itself in either a really terrible place at the moment (not likely) or a great place – with both Microsoft and Apple having enough confidence in their future to make long-lasting agreements, be they negative or not.

[via Business Insider]

The two groups reported from Taipei and Cupertino with news that today, November 11th, 2012 (depending on where you live, of course), they’ve reached a “global settlement” that will take them both out of battles between one another for a full ten years at least. The agreement they’ve made will be covering not just current patents, but past and future patents as well. Both HTC and Apple have sent out short comments on the matter as well.

HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license at hand extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

“HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.

“We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.”

This agreement was accompanied by a note “All patent litigation between the companies dismissed.” Now we’ve got to wonder if this means that further agreements will be had between titans such as Samsung, LG, Microsoft, and the rest, or if this is simply one perfect storm for the betterment of these two companies. Specific details of the agreement are not (yet) public, but both groups have certainly made it clear that this is a very good thing for the future of device manufacturing and development.

As it’s not specified, we must also assume that this agreement fits both software and hardware patents, this possibly leading toward an agreement with Google in the future for their Android mobile operating system that HTC makes use of in their smartphone devices. As it stands, Google and Apple have not made any statement to substantiate such an assumption – stay tuned!

This case was one that would have decided licensing terms that Apple could live with working with Motorola’s industry standard wireless patents. An extremely similar case is set to take place starting next week in Seattle between Motorola and Microsoft – Microsoft of course working here with Windows Phone in the end rather than iOS. Speaking with AllThingsD this week on the subject, Motorola had the following to say:

“We’re pleased that the court has dismissed Apple’s lawsuit with prejudice. Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards. We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.” – Motorola

Apple is currently seeking to have the court’s decision switched to have been made “without prejudice”, this allowing them to hear the case again in the future. A similar situation is happening down in California where a verdict was read that essentially knocked the wind out of Samsung while Apple suffered no damage whatsoever – needless to say it’s Samsung in that case that’s seeking the case to reach a higher court.

In this case it would appear that the case vs Motorola will not reach a verdict any time soon. Apple, Motorola, Microsoft, Samsung, and essentially every other tech company on the market are in court battles across the country and the world on a basically non-stop basis regarding patents, so have no illusions about this type of event disappearing any time soon.

According to the sources, most of the FTC’s five commissioners are in favor of a lawsuit. The final decision on the matter isn’t expected to be made until after the elections on the 6th. Google’s issues revolve around the patents it acquired after taking over Motorola. The company is trying to block Apple and Microsoft products that it says infringe on its patents.

The patents concern 3G, wifi, and video streaming technologies, which are standard-essential. Motorola was originally slinging around lawsuits, which Google received after acquiring the company, and it has elected to carry on those suits. If allowed, the blockage would affect such devices as Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s Xbox.

The FTC has declined comment. Google’s spokeswoman, Niki Fenwick, however, stated, “We take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms very seriously and are happy to answer any questions.” Google is also being probed into whether its advertisement, search, and mobile are harming competitors, with sources saying that the FTC has also recommended a lawsuit over that issue.

[via Business Week]

Back in October 2000, SurfCast filed for patent # 6,724,403 and was issued in April 2004. SurfCast describes the feature as tiles that “can be thought of as dynamically updating icons. A Tile is different from an icon because it can be both selectable and live — containing refreshed content that provides a real-time or near-real-time view of the underlying information.” This more or less describes what Microsoft’s Live Tiles are.

SurfCast says that because Microsoft provides ways for developers to create app tiles that can display information on the homescreen, they are also infringing upon its patent. The company says that the patent infringement affects all versions of Windows 8 and Windows RT, but not Windows Phone 8.

SurfCast requests that orders are submitted showing that Microsoft has directly infringed, and are also ordering Microsoft to “account and pay to SurfCast all damages caused to SurfCast by reason of Microsoft’s patent infringement.” However, a lot of legal experts are saying this is simply a troll maneuver, and that SurfCast –while owning three patents– have not made or sold anything of its own since they were founded in 2001. So, it’s very possible that Microsoft will reach a settlement and that the suit won’t carry on for much longer.

[via The Next Web]

There are two separate patents at the center of this debate, both owned by Samsung in Japan. One deals with technology for downloading apps that bring increased functionality to the phone, while the other is for Airplane mode. Samsung said that the iPhone 4 and 4S were infringing on both of these patents, and naturally, Apple disagreed with that assertion. It seems that The Tokyo District Court is siding with Apple, as it said in a ruling that Apple isn’t infringing on Samsung’s first patent because the “app technology” on the iPhone is different than the tech on Samsung’s phones.

That ruling was handed down on September 14, whereas on October 11 the court decided that there wasn’t any infringement as it relates to Airplane mode on the basis that Airplane mode isn’t a new technology. So, that’s two Samsung patent claims that were denied by the Tokyo District Court. Elsewhere in the world, Samsung has been winning its claims, while in other places, the Korean company is coming up a bit short.

Still, the war between these two continues on, with no real end in sight. At this point, we’re thinking that both of these companies will continue fighting for as long as they have the money to hire lawyers, and indeed, these patent suits have apparently had a negative effect on Apple and Samsung’s manufacturing relationship. More details on these courtrooms brawls will undoubtedly be coming soon, so keep it tuned right here to SlashGear.

Samsung’s response to all of this? It wants a new trial, or at the very least for its damages to be reduced. The Wall Street Journal reports on Samsung’s claim that a “reasonable jury” wouldn’t have reached the decision the jury in San Jose made, and that a new trial should be held so that each company has ample time to present their cases – Koh only gave each company 25 hours to convince the jury they were in the right. When it comes to award reduction, Samsung argued that the jury made some bum calculations in a few cases. If Samsung gets all of the reductions its asking for, the damages is has to pay could be reduced by $35 million – a drop in the bucket compared to the $1.05 billion the jury says it must pay.

The two are set to go before Judge Koh once again on December 6, and since the jury found that Samsung committed willful infringement, Judge Koh could potentially triple the damages owed to Apple. The $707 million extra Apple is looking for is based on Samsung’s willful infringement of its designs and utility patents, with a portion of that figure requested as supplemental damages. Regardless of whether or not these additional damages are awarded, Samsung will still need to pay out a lot of cash (provided Judge Koh doesn’t go along with the company’s request for an entirely new trial).

Samsung has other ways of biting back, though, as it has said multiple times that it plans to add the iPhone 5 to an upcoming case between the two tech giants. This new case focuses on more recent products and patents, but won’t go to trial until March 2014. That’s quite a ways down the road, so for now, we wait. As stated above, the two are scheduled to go before Judge Koh for her final decision on December 6, so it won’t be too much longer before we know which way Judge Koh will ultimately sway. Stay tuned.

That’s an assertion that the court agrees with, and you may be wondering why Microsoft has only brought this case against Motorola when there are plenty of other Android manufacturers out there with this tech built into their phones. Motorola and Google are the target of this lawsuit because every other Android manufacturer is paying Microsoft a royalty to use the tech. Since Google refused to pay up, Microsoft took it to court, and now we know the result of that patent suit.

By now, you know the drill: Microsoft posts a bond – $61.4 million in this case – to get the infringing devices banned from sale in Germany. Motorola has the chance to appeal, so the sales ban won’t go into effect until the results of that appeal are known. In addition, Google and Motorola will have to pay Microsoft damages, and if Google doesn’t want to remove the tech from Android, it will have to begin paying Microsoft a royalty.

When everything is added up, this is Microsoft’s third patent win against Motorola in Germany. Motorola has been hit hard in Germany lately, much to what we imagine is Google’s chagrin. After all, one of the reasons the search giant bought up Motorola Mobility is so it could access to its extensive patent portfolio. Instead of coming out on top, however, Google has been stuck paying the bill for Motorola’s own infringement, so it’s hard to believe that the executives at Google are happy at the moment. Stay tuned – we’ll bring you more details as they develop.

[via ComputerWorld]

Since the jury found that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 wasn’t infringing, Samsung naturally wants to get the injunction lifted so it can continue selling it in the US. That will probably happen, but it isn’t going to happen now. Judge Lucy Koh has denied Samsung’s request to lift the ban, writing in a Monday ruling that she can’t lift it at the present moment because Samsung decided to appeal the injunction with a different court. Since Samsung went that route, jurisdiction no longer rests with Koh, so she can’t lift the ban even if she wanted to.

It seems that she does want to though. She wrote in her ruling that if jurisdiction was with her court, the court would likely lift the ban, based on the fact that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 isn’t infringing on that design patent. She also doesn’t want to lift the ban during the appeal, only to have to impose the injunction again later, should Apple’s motion for a permanent ban on the device eventually succeed (as it potentially could). So, it sounds like Samsung will be able to get the injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 lifted eventually, but it won’t as soon as Samsung probably wants.

For now, we play the waiting game. Both parties are scheduled to go before Judge Koh and December 6, and it’s then that Apple will attempt to secure sales bans on 8 Samsung devices. Samsung, obviously, will be fighting for the right to keep selling the devices in question, so even though the jury has delivered its verdict, some of the biggest decisions in this case have yet to be made. Stay tuned, because things will only get more interesting from here.

[via FOSS Patents]

Most of us are familiar with the effect, but thanks to this decision, it may not be long before Motorola users have to go without. Since Apple has won this case, it can post a €25 million bond to gain an injunction against the infringing devices. You can bet that Apple will put up the money for such an injunction, but if Apple posts another €10 million, it can force Motorola to destroy the infringing devices. It doesn’t stop there though, as Apple can force Motorola to recall the infringing devices with another €10 million. This is all on top of the damages that Motorola will be obligated to pay.

Since Apple can be pretty aggressive when it comes to patents, it wouldn’t surprise to see the company pay the full €45 million. Then again, since Motorola’s market share isn’t all that big in Germany, it may choose to go with just the injunction. The injunction is permanent, but Google (Motorola’s owner) does have the ability to appeal the decision, something that will definitely happen. Naturally, this decision only applies to Germany, but with Apple recently winning a similar claim against Samsung here in the United States, it could eventually spell bad news for Android and the rubber-banding effect.

This is the third Apple patent that Motorola has been found to be infringing. The first was Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent, while the second was its flip-to-navigate photo gallery patent. Luckily, Motorola has something it can fall back on now that it can no longer use the rubber-banding effect in its phones – base versions of Android come with a special glow effect which alerts users that they’ve scrolled as far as they can possibly scroll. Have a look at our timeline below for the latest on Apple’s courtroom battles.

Samsung has a significant number of of LTE patents at its disposal, whereas Apple had none. That has all changed, however, as it’s been revealed that Apple has bought up a ton of LTE patents (and even developed some of its own) in anticipation of such a lawsuit and/or the launch of the next iPhone. The Chosen Ilbo reports that last year, Apple didn’t have any LTE standard patents registered. Now that number has grown to 318 according to Korea Intellectual Property Office, meaning that Apple has 4.9% of all LTE patents – enough for Apple to become one of the top 10 LTE patent holders worldwide.

Of those 318 patents, Apple developed 44 on its own. The rest were purchased from Nortel and Freescale at some point last year. Furthermore, Apple owns a majority stake in Rockstar Bidco, a company which holds another 116 LTE patents, bringing Apple potential LTE patent portfolio up to 434. Samsung, by comparison, holds 819 LTE standard patents, so Apple has just over half as many LTE standard patents as Samsung.

That could provide a layer of defense should Samsung decide to take Apple to court citing its LTE implementation, but some are wondering just how much defense it will provide. The Chosen Ilbo points out that undisclosed commercial patents would prove to be a better defense than disclosed standard patents, so Apple may still have a fight ahead of it. We shall see, because regardless of whether or not Samsung will take it to court, the next iPhone appears to be on the way. Stay tuned.

It isn’t any surprise that Apple is doing such a thing. Apple won the trial, and now it wants to move as quickly as possible to get a sales ban on the devices that were declared to be infringing. Samsung is looking to have a sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 lifted after the jury said that the tablet wasn’t infringing on any of Apple’s patents, and the hearing to determine the fate of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is scheduled for September 20. Apple is now asking that its own motion for injunction take place before the hearing for Samsung’s motion, and it’s pretty easy to see why.

One of the reasons Apple would want its preliminary injunction hearing moved up is because that may prevent Samsung from selling those infringing devices during the holiday season. Just like Samsung did throughout the trial, Apple is calling for the equal treatment of both parties, claiming that its request for injunction is more important than Samsung’s request to reevaluate the ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple has also filed a “Rule 50″ motion to overturn the jury’s ruling on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, so preventing the dissolution of the injunction on the device altogether is another top priority for the company.

It’s difficult to say at this point which way Judge Koh will sway. She may give into Apple’s request based on the call to treat both parties equally, but on the other hand, she may feel uneasy granting a new round of injunctions when one current injunction may have been unfairly ordered. We shall see in the coming days and weeks, but for now, have a look at our story timeline for the latest on the Apple-Samsung patent trial.

Thus far Apple has won over $1 billion USD in damages from Samsung in the USA case which has had a verdict read just days after the month-long trial took place. The results of the trial are currently set for appeal per Samsung’s request, and no cash has been exchanged thus far. The newest additions to the list of Samsung products in the trial include several of Samsung’s newest hero products. The full list of devices Apple has suggested should be included in the list of devices that have infringed upon their patent rights is as follows:

“the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S III – Verizon, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II – T-Mobile, Galaxy S II – AT&T, Galaxy Nexus, Illusion,Captivate Glide, Exhibit II 4G, Stratosphere, Transform Ultra, Admire, Conquer 4G, and Dart smartphones, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and Galaxy Player 5.0 media players, and the Galaxy Note10.1, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets.”

These devices have been specified as being “imported into, offered for sale, or sold in the United States.” Apple has added that Samsung has “continued to flood the market with copycat products,” since the first filing of the case that’s just been completed – so to speak. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus specifically was a device Apple was able to get a temporary injunction against earlier this year – Samsung was granted a stay pending appeal which has allowed the device to continue to be up for sale throughout the USA today. The complaint in that case had to do specifically with Apple’s ’604 “Unified search” patent.

Check the timeline below for more key points in this trial since its first verdict reading. Also stay tuned as Samsung and Apple continue to kick back and forth until they’re satisfied in the legal realm or one of them gets knocked out of business entirely. In other words, expect yourself to be watching this story for some time to come!

[via Apple Insider]

The reports at hand note that the Tokyo District Court has made it clear in its verdict reflects Apple’s accusation that Samsung infringed upon a patent of theirs that covers music and video data with a server. The verdict appears at the moment to say that Samsung has not been found guilty of said infringement and that they’ll owe no damages to Apple at the present time. This verdict also appears to be a partial reading while other matters are being released at a later time.

It’s important to know that each of the cases currently going on around the world that involve Samsung and Apple do not necessarily connect to one another. There was a case in South Korea recently that had both Apple’s iPad and iPhone ranges banned from sale entirely due to infringement found on technology owned by Samsung in the country. A similar infringement was up for trial in the recent Apple vs Samsung trail in the United States and Apple was found to have done no wrong, with Samsung’s ownership of the technology being covered under fair use laws, this allowing Apple to utilize without acquiring a license from the other company.

This case in Japan is a different matter entirely. With Samsung appearing to be free of patent infringement in this one matter across their entire Galaxy line of Android devices, we’ll likely see similar verdicts for whatever else Apple is claiming in the patent universe as well. Stay tuned as the Japan bit of this worldwide set of court cases between these two tech titans continues!

[via Engadget]

The Korea Times reports that Samsung has confirmed it will take Apple to court “immediately” if the iPhone maker releases a new device with LTE capabilities. Of course, Apple already has a device with LTE capabilities on the market – the iPad – but Samsung would presumably wait until a new iPhone is released before filing a lawsuit. Data from Thompson-Reuters cited in The Korea Times write-up pegs Samsung as owning 12.2% of all LTE patents.

So, Samsung has a pretty extensive LTE patent portfolio that it could dip into if Apple launches an iPhone with LTE capabilities. The next iPhone, which is expected to be revealed on September 12, is rumored to come complete with LTE functionality, so if Samsung is actually planning to take Apple to court over LTE implementation, the two could be duking it out in the courtroom once again pretty soon.

Just because the patent trial is over doesn’t mean that business is finished between Apple and Samsung, though. Apple is requesting that 8 Samsung devices be banned from sale in the US, and Judge Lucy Koh will be holding a hearing on December 6 to decide if any preliminary injunctions are in order. Will Samsung stick to its word and sue Apple over LTE implementation? That’s hard to say, but it sure does sound like Samsung has it out for Apple. How about it – are you ready for another legal battle between Apple and Samsung?

According to what the Korean Times notes is an official from Samsung’s telecommunications division, “Samsung has been in talks with major U.S. carriers to jointly develop modified design technology. This will be effective, though we can’t unveil more details for the time being.” This of course means that Samsung will update the software they’ve got on devices affected by their recent court case with Apple. They’re also hoping to avoid any and all sale bans on their devices in the United States (and abroad, too, but most notably inside the USA.)

You’ll notice this week that Samsung has released a couple of devices running Microsoft’s newest mobile operating system Windows Phone 8 as well as their tablet-based PC software Windows RT. Have a peek at our Samsung ATIV Tab hands-on as well as our Samsung ATIV S original announcement to see what these devices are all about. The ATIV S has not yet been shown off with Windows Phone 8 running on it, but will be out very soon – it’s also the first Windows Phone 8 device to be officially announced for the market – that’s big news!

Samsung also spoke up at IFA 2012 on the situation via their CEO who noted:”“Regardless of any hindrance, we will continue to provide the best product in the industry”” Another comment recently appeared coming from Samsung on the possible banning of their devices in the USA as well: “We will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products on the U.S. market.”

Have a peek at recent post-trial events in the timeline below and let us know what you think Samsung should do with their US-based mobile device lineup at this time. It’s not going to be a pretty picture for them when it comes to legal battles with Apple from here on out, that’s for certain – but they’re resilient!

Of course Apple already had one ban put in place via this same trial, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 still currently banned from sale here in the United States. This new set of bannings includes Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 (AT&T), Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 (T-Mobile), Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail. A couple of these devices are either no longer on the market or are nearly gone from stores anyway, but the Galaxy S II lineup would be a significant cut from Samsung’s current USA market offerings.

Samsung let it be known that they would make sure their collection of devices named would stay on the market in the USA:

“We will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products in the U.S. market.” – Samsung

The company is also seeking to have its Galaxy Tab 10.1 released from the ban it’s currently under because it was not found to infringe on Apple’s products in the trial. It’s currently being banned with a pre-trial injunction set in place because Apple and Judge Koh agreed that it was significantly similar to the iPad to the point that it was likely to be ruled as hurting sales.

[via USAToday]

This case between Motorola and Apple echoes the recently-ended patent suit between Apple and Samsung. Apple came out on top in that case, and things are looking pretty good for the iPhone maker in Germany now as well. Standard-essential patents must be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND), so now the two companies are trying to work out those terms. If Motorola and Apple can’t agree on a suitable FRAND rate, then the royalty Apple will be paying Motorola will be decided by the German court.

Naturally, this licensing deal only applies to Apple devices sold in Germany, so elsewhere in the world, the legal battle rages on. Motorola might have a difficult time moving forward with its case, as FOSS Patents points out that now Motorola will have to rely on non-standard-essential patents to try to get what it wants out of Apple. In that case, the worst Google and Motorola will probably be able to do is pump up the royalty rate Apple would have to pay.

It’s worth pointing out that essential patents don’t always stand up well in court. Samsung pointed to several of its essential patents in the trial against Apple, but that strategy didn’t work out as the jury found that Apple wasn’t infringing on them. Will Motorola and Google get what they want out of this case? That’s still hard to call, but with this licensing deal in Germany, it might make it difficult for Motorola to continue on. Stay tuned.

Hogan spoke with Reuters earlier this month with similar words for the public. Saying that the jury essentially wanted to punish Samsung for the infringement of patents at hand – that said, he noted that the jury didn’t quite feel that Apple deserved everything they were asking for. Have a peek at the new interview from Bloomberg here:

The was a note in the instructions for the case that made it clear that any penalties the jury issued should not be a “punishment” but rather simply “compensation.” That note read as follows:

“The amount of those damages must be adequate to compensate the patent holder for the infringement. A damages award should put the patent holder in approximately the financial position it would have been in had the infringement not occurred, but in no event may the damages award be less than a reasonable royalty. You should keep in mind that the damages you award are meant to compensate the patent holder and not to punish an infringer”

This set of revelations should come gift-wrapped to Samsung as they set themselves up to access any and all available means for appeal in the coming weeks. Samsung’s current penalty is above $1.05 billion USD while their push to counter-sue against Apple ended up with not a dollar to its name. Have a peek in the timeline below for other key moments in this trial as it continues well past the final verdict.

[via Bloomberg]

The full list includes the Galaxy S 4G, each of the Galaxy S II devices that’ve been released in the USA over the past year, and the Droid Charge, Galaxy Prevail, and Galaxy S Showcase. These devices were each found “guilty” so to speak of patent infringement in one way or another in the 3-week court case that had its verdict read at the end of last week. This Apple vs Samsung trial has been what many have labeled the most important technology-related legal trial of the year as both sides of the battle are major players in the ever-growing mobile gadget market.

• Galaxy S 4G
• AT&T Galaxy S II (AT&T)
• Galaxy S2 Skyrocket
• T-Mobile Galaxy S II
• Galaxy S2 II Epic 4G
• Galaxy S Showcase
• Droid Charge
• Galaxy Prevail

We’ve had hands-on looks and reviews done of many of the devices you see above, each of their linked names leading to a post containing said material. These devices appeared in the full Amended verdict that was released over the weekend as well. The Samsung Galaxy S II line has been on the market for over a year with the international version of the original device not appearing here as it’s not sold inside the states. Similar trials are happening currently in several countries around the world.

A similar case in Korea recently results in not only Samsung smartphone bans, but the banning of Apple products as well. This South Korean case banned the iPhone, the iPad, and the Samsung Galaxy S II from being sold inside the country until further notice. Back in the USA, only one device is currently banned from Samsung’s sales lineup, and it’s about to be on appeal since it was not found to infringe on Apple’s patents in the case at hand: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Have a peek at our timeline below to see other key points in this trial and stay tuned to the main news feed to see if Apple does indeed get a court order on Samsung to stop the sales of their best-selling smartphones. Note also that the Galaxy S II lineup is still in stores as the Galaxy S III is now Samsung’s hero lineup – also available in stores across the USA right this minute.

It’s not just Apple that Google’s Android has had trouble with over the past few months, and this situation is providing that company with a large opening in the “trust” element of the market. While Microsoft remains a litigator, rather than the litigated, in the patent universe, Android appears to be on the wrong end of the law more often than not. Google maintains here that the case at hand – Apple vs Samsung – is not about the core system that Google itself created, but Samsung’s additions.

“The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system and several are being re-examined by the U.S. Patent Office. The mobile industry is moving fast and all players–including newcomers–are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.” – Google

Google had to have made a response such as this – it’s beyond nonsense that they would not have responded to the case in one way or another due to the major impact Android has had on both Samsung and Apple. Now that Android is the bones inside the beast Samsung has created – and is thriving with – they’ve got to keep their shields up when it comes to legal battles of all kinds. Each time a manufacturer takes a hit while they contain Android, Google has a sort of phantom reaction: we can’t really even see it in stock prices here while other companies are very visibly jolting, but they’ve got to keep long-term effects in mind.

Google’s response is short and smart. Google P.R. is clearly keeping their swords in check while the businesses related to them bring the guns out daily. Will Google become involved when their stocks start to show loss – will they ever even be on the losing end of a trail when they themselves don’t technically manufacture any Android devices as such?

We’ll be seeing very soon. Keep your eyes on the Nexus 7 and the Nexus Q – if the latter ever gets released beyond its first half-step that remains in developers’ hands today.