From time to time, we like to check in on the Lodsys lawsuit - which, if you'll recall, was one of the most high-profile patent infringement suits filed in 2011. So what's new with Lodsys and the dozens of app developers and big tech companies it sued?
July 31, 2012 - Yesterday ten jurors were chosen to hear the much-awaited trial between Apple and Samsung. The patent infringement lawsuit centers on Samsung's alleged infringement of at least 17 patents related to the iPad and other Apple products, and Apple's alleged infringement of five Samsung patents.
July 31, 2012 - The National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan sued Apple for patent infringement, claiming that the iPhone's Siri speech recognition feature infringes two of its U.S. patents on speech-to-text technology.
If your patent is in reexamination, be forewarned: It's up to you to prove that any relevant prior art isn't enabling or anticipatory of your patent claims.
Antor Media Corp. owns a patent (the ’961 patent) relating “to a method and apparatus for transmitting information recorded on digital disks from a central server to subscribers via a high data rate telecommunications network.” Antor sued several companies for patent infringement, resulting in a number of ex parte reexamination requests that were merged into a single reexamination.
Inc. magazine writer Jeff Haden interviewed Alexander Poltorak for an extensive article on protecting intellectual property, whether by trade secrets or patents. Dr. Poltorak discusses what inventors and business owners can do to enforce their IP - and when it's time to call in the experts. In the snippet below, he speaks about the doctrines of laches and estoppel and how they can derail patent enforcement efforts.
July 26, 2012 - Apple's request to transfer its patent ownership dispute out of U.S. bankruptcy court and into a federal court was denied by U.S. District Judge George Daniels, because the bankruptcy court judge has not had a chance to address the motion himself.
Judge Daniels said in his ruling that Judge Allan Gropper of the bankruptcy court should have "an opportunity to render a decision on the motion and to have an opportunity to control and move forward the process."
Apple has just been granted a touchscreen patent that is so inscrutable it's potentially very broad - and according to GPC's Alexander Poltorak, it fits the profile of a classic "submarine" patent. ("Apple Granted Patent for High-Concept Input Techniques" Wired.com - July 24, 2012)
The International Trade Commission delivered bad news to Kodak when it ruled that a key patent on camera preview features is invalid. Alexander Poltorak commented on how devastating that ruling could be for Kodak's desired patent sale. ("ITC Ruling Could Be Nail In Kodak Patent Sale's Coffin" Law360 - July 23, 2012)
Last week we reported on the courtroom verdict equivalent of a backhanded compliment (see "Adding Insult to Victory"), when Judge Colin Birss ruled in London court that Samsung's Galaxy tablet PCs do not infringe Apple's iPad design - because they are just not as understated and "cool" as the iPad.
July 15, 2012 - Research in Motion's financial problems were already fueling speculation about its future. Now more bad news has come RIM's way in the form of a $147.2 million jury verdict in a patent suit.
A jury in Northern California found that RIM infringed Mformation Technologies' patent on a remote management system for wireless devices.
Research in Motion may have just had its last annual meeting with shareholders, if the many dire predictions about its fate come true. Alexander Poltorak commented on what went wrong with a company whose shares are currently 95 percent lower than they were at their peak just four years ago. ("Reasons to Doubt Research In Motion's M&A Prospects" TheStreet.com - July 10, 2012)
July 11, 2012 - DigiMedia Holdings Group LLC asked for the federal judge presiding over their patent suit to lift a stay, alleging that the defendants are biding their time until the patents expire.
Samsung won a patent infringement lawsuit this week in a UK court. However, the verdict was (basically) noninfringement due to a lack of coolness. Ouch!
Apple had sued Samsung in the UK, claiming that the Galaxy tablet PCs infringed the iPad's design. Judge Colin Birss ruled against Apple, because he found that Samsung's tablets "do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."
The judge who threw out Apple's patent lawsuit against Motorola Mobility (and, by extension, against Google) has spoken - and he's not a fan of what he calls the "proliferation of patents" in some industries. (Although he finds the lawsuits...amusing?)
July 8, 2012 - Facebook and Yahoo announced on July 6 that they ended their patent lawsuit and have agreed to cross-license their patent portfolios, with no money changing hands. The two companies are also forming an ad sales partnership in which Yahoo will be allowed to reach out to Facebook users by showing "Like" buttons in its ads.
As Samsung faces a temporary injunction on U.S. sales of its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC and Apple posted a $2.6 million bond to enforce that injunction, speculation is running high about what each side (and the judge) will do next. GPC's Alexander Poltorak was the IP expert consulted for an article examining Samsung's options in its ongoing patent war with Apple.