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‘patent’ Stories

Samsung under EC antitrust investigation over 3G patents

Chris Davies, Jan 31st 2012 Discuss [0]

Samsung is the subject of a new antitrust investigation, with the European Commission confirming that it is formally looking into whether the Korean company misused essential 3G/UMTS patents it holds. Tipped back in November, the investigation will look for evidence that Samsung has refused to license its wireless telecoms patents – deemed “essential” to European standards – under “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) terms. Samsung has cited the patents in recent lawsuits against Apple, among other rivals.

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Samsung’s second 3G patent strike against Apple rejected

Chris Davies, Jan 27th 2012 Discuss [0]

Samsung's second 3G/UMTS patent strike against Apple has been thrown out of court, with a German judge apparently deciding the Korean firm had no leg to stand on in its claims that the iPhone and other devices infringed its patented technology. Judge Andreas Voss did not explain his reasoning for rejecting the suit, FOSSPatents reports, though the justifications are expected to be in line with the last week's ruling. Read The Full Story

Microsoft’s so-called “avoid ghetto” GPS app draws controversy

Mark Raby, Jan 26th 2012 Discuss [0]

A recently uncovered Microsoft patent is already generating a bit of controversy even though it could be years before any sort of product actually materializes from it. The patent is for an app that uses GPS technology to deter drivers from entering neighborhoods that are deemed unsafe. Of course, the conditions that are evaluated to determine whether or not a particular street is dangerous are coming under scrutiny. Read The Full Story

Intel buys RealNetworks patents and next-gen video codec

Chris Davies, Jan 26th 2012 Discuss [0]

Intel has snapped up around 190 patents and 170 patent applications from RealNetworks, along with the company's next-gen video codec software, with the two firms pledging to work together on future multimedia codecs. The deal, worth around $120m, will see Intel acquire RealNetworks' "foundational streaming media patents" though the company will be licensed to use the patented technology moving forward. Read The Full Story

Samsung’s first 3G anti-Apple patent suit rejected in Germany

Chris Davies, Jan 20th 2012 Discuss [0]

The first of Samsung's seven patent infringement claims against Apple in Germany has been rejected by the courts, though it's unclear at present what impact the decision could have on the Korean company's remaining cases. Centered around 3G/UMTS wireless standards patents Samsung holds, the case alleges Apple has released products such as the iPhone without licensing the tech appropriately. At this stage, though, we don't know if the Mannheim Regional Court decided Apple escaped on a technical reason, FOSS Patents reports, or if it decided that the Cupertino company did indeed have a license. Read The Full Story

Siri’s next move is online store purchases, so says Apple patent

Chris Burns, Jan 19th 2012 Discuss [12]

This week the inevitable appears to be revealing itself, that being Apple's plan for Siri, currently on the iPhone 4S exclusively, to be updated to work with online stores for completely voice-only purchases. This would be a gigantic step forward for the futuristic interface that the iPhone 4S currently holds above the heads of the rest of the smartphone world, especially in that it was the first thing we'd hoped it would do when it was launched - it at least expected to be able to do eventually. This future plan comes in the form of a patent discovered by AppleInsider titled "Intelligent Automated Assistant." Read The Full Story

Apple demands Galaxy phone/tablet ban as Samsung seeks iPhone chip contracts

Chris Davies, Jan 17th 2012 Discuss [18]

Apple and Samsung are back at each other’s throats today, with Apple filing ten injunctions against the Korean company’s smartphone range in Europe, while Samsung is demanding access to Apple’s contract with Qualcomm. Samsung has been accused of violating Apple design patents with ten handsets and five tablets, the Dusseldorf, Germany court confirmed to Bloomberg today, with the Cupertino company hoping to block all fifteen devices from sale in Europe.

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Pantech next to pay Microsoft over Android patents

Rue Liu, Jan 16th 2012 Discuss [6]

Microsoft has successfully sought royalty payments from a number of Android device makers and the next company that will likely pay up is Pantech, South Korea's third largest handset manufacturer. According to Yonhap News, Pantech is currently in talks with Microsoft regarding the patent usage in its Android smartphones but the details have not been finalized yet. Read The Full Story

Nokia hawks 450 patents for wireless and video to Sisvel

Shane McGlaun, Jan 16th 2012 Discuss [3]

Nokia has taken 450 of the patents that it holds and sold them off to another firm called Sisvel. The patents that were sold have to do with wireless and video technology. Sisvel is an Italian patent licensing firm. It's more than a little interesting that at a time when many other tech firms are buying patents, Nokia is selling. Read The Full Story

Apple loses Motorola patent strike in preliminary ruling

Chris Davies, Jan 14th 2012 Discuss [5]

Apple's patent violation claims against Motorola Mobility have been rejected in a preliminary ruling, with the US ITC suggesting that none of the infringements alleged by the Cupertino company hold water. Although still relatively early in the process - with a final decision yet to be settled upon by the US International Trade Commission - the preliminary ITC ruling [pdf link] indicates that Motorola hasn't overstepped the mark with regards to three patented technologies Apple claims have been infringed by the DROID line of devices. Read The Full Story

Apple exploring motion-controlled 3D GUI for iOS

Rue Liu, Jan 12th 2012 Discuss [5]

A new Apple patent application has surfaced today at the US Patent and Trademark Office, revealing that the company is exploring 3D user interfaces for its iOS devices that are controlled by motion. Now this isn't the illusion of 3D created by two different images sent to each eye, instead this is the illusion of 3-dimensional space within the screen more similar to this concept. Read The Full Story

Microsoft goads Google over Android patent deals

Chris Davies, Jan 12th 2012 Discuss [46]

Microsoft isn't content to pick up a few dollars on each and every Android handset sold by Samsung, HTC and now LG; it wants Google to eat its words about "dubious" patents being a "tax" on innovation. Shortly after announcing its patent licensing deal with LG earlier today, some of Microsoft's senior execs took to Twitter to needle Google about the so called "patents-as-weapons meme." Read The Full Story