January 2010

Apple Faces Competition for the "iPad" Trademark from Fujitsu

Submitted by patentadmin on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 09:04

January 31, 2010 - Taking a brief break from patent infringement news, we turn to a trademark matter. Now that Apple's tablet PC has finally been introduced to the public, a host of other products named "iPad" - including tablet computers from ST Microelectronics and Fujitsu, motors and engines produced by Siemens and even a padded bra from a Canadian lingerie company.

In Defense Of Lawyers

Submitted by patentadmin on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 10:45

Strange as it may seem, many (misguided) people dislike lawyers, deriding their character, disparaging their reputation for honesty and questioning their parentage. Such people are wont to collect and endlessly repeat stories about lawyers’ indiscretions – as if that really proved anything. They point, for example, to Scott W. Rothstein, accused of running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Picky, picky. Bernie Madoff ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme and he wasn’t a lawyer.

Alcatel Patent Trust Sues Disney, Fox and NBC in Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Submitted by patentadmin on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 00:00

January 21, 2010 - Multimedia Patent Trust, of which Alcatel-Lucent SA is a 99 percent beneficiary, has sued Walt Disney Co., Fox and NBC Universal Inc. for infringing its patents on video compression technology in DVD and Blu-Ray discs sold by the media companies.

The suit was filed in federal court in San Diego, Calif.

Shades of "Markman"

Submitted by patentadmin on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 11:26

Some patentees never give up; they persist in their efforts to enforce their patents against infringers, even to the point of petitioning the Supreme Court to change the existing patent law relating to the determination of patent invalidity due to obviousness. (Acushnet Company v. Callaway Golf Company)

Apple Files Trade Complaint with ITC Against Nokia

Submitted by patentadmin on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 00:00

January 18, 2010 - Previously in the smartphone war between Nokia and Apple, Nokia had filed a complaint in December with the International Trade Commission (ITC) which sought to ban the importation of Apple's iPhone, iPod and MacBook products.

Now Apple has followed suit by filing its own complaint with the ITC, seeking to block imports of Nokia's mobile phones.

Contradicting Conventional Wisdom

Submitted by patentadmin on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 17:16

Large businesses, especially those found guilty of patent infringement, malign N.P.E.s – which they call “trolls,” by claiming that the N.P.E.s are asserting invalid or trivial patents and are, thereby, perverting the patent system. Well, we now have a scholarly study, conducted by independent researchers, which refutes this rant. (Patent Trolls on Markets for Technology – An Empirical Analysis of Trolls’ Patent Acquisitions by Timo Fischer and Joachim Henkel of the Technical University of Munich.)

Cops and Patent Attorneys – You Can’t Find One When You Need One

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 17:07

Some weeks ago, we wrote about a suit seeking a declaration that patents on genes are unconstitutional and, in particular, violate the plaintiffs’ right of free speech - The ACLU – Fighting The Right To Life – And The Right To Patent It. At that time, the defendants – the USPTO and Myriad Genetics Inc. – had moved to dismiss the case because, inter alia, it allegedly failed to state a legally recognizable claim of any constitutional violation.

Kodak and Samsung Settle Patent Infringement Litigation

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 09:04

January 12, 2010 - Eastman Kodak Co. announced yesterday that they have signed a patent licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

The settlement ends 14 months of patent infringement lawsuits that the companies had filed against each other, as well as patent infringement proceedings before the International Trade Commission.

Charley McCarthy vs. Jerry Mahoney

Submitted by patentadmin on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 17:14

It is not often that a defendant in a patent infringement suit is able to win a summary judgment of non-infringement. Usually, the plaintiff is able to defeat a motion for summary judgment by producing a “declaration” (lawyerspeak for “a document ghost-written by lawyers”) of its “technical expert” (lawyerspeak for “degree-holding mouthpiece for the lawyers”) to raise a “substantial question of material fact.” Usually, but not always. (Intellectual Science And Technology, Inc. v. Sony Electronics, Inc. et al.)

Nokia Files Latest Complaint against Apple in Patent Infringement Lawsuit War

Submitted by patentadmin on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 09:27

January 5, 2010 - In October, Nokia filed a patent infringement lawsuit in federal court in Delaware, charging that Apple's iPhone infringes 10 Nokia patents. In December, Nokia filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC), requesting a ban on certain Apple devices.

Now Nokia has asked a federal court to ban the importation of almost all Apple hardware into the United States: iPhone, iPod and Mac products.