February 2, 2012 - Motorola filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the iPhone 4S and iCloud service violate six Motorola patents between them. Two of the patents are allegedly infringed by the iPhone 4S and four by the iCloud.
January 31, 2012 - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by Frankie Sullivan, co-founder of the rock group Survivor, for unauthorized use of the group's song "Eye of the Tiger" on the campaign trail.
January 26, 2012 - As Kodak attempts to use its valuable patents as collateral in securing financing, Apple is attempting to block those efforts by claiming that at least one of those patents was wrongfully obtained and actually belongs to Apple (and is at the center of an unresolved patent ownership dispute).
January 19, 2012 - As part of its ongoing struggle to avoid going out of business, Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This move will allow Kodak to restructure its debt while it fights patent battles in several different lawsuits.
At the same time, Kodak has also secured a $950 million line of credit from Citigroup that it will use to "enhance liquidity and working capital."
January 16, 2012 - An administrative law judge at the International Trade Commission ruled that Motorola Mobility does not violate any of the three patents it was accused of infringing in the lawsuit Apple filed in October 2010.
The decision is only an initial ruling, however, which will be reviewed by a six-member ITC panel in March. That panel will deliver the ITC's final ruling.
January 16, 2012 - Eastman Kodak Co. filed a patent lawsuit on January 13 against Fujifilm Corp., alleging that certain Fujifilm digital cameras infringe five Kodak patents on digital imaging technology.
The lawsuit closely follows another in which Kodak sued Apple and HTC on January 10.
January 13, 2012 - A company called Paqits LLC has sued Activision Blizzard Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for patent infringement. Paqits alleges that certain social networking features on Activision's website infringe its patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,010,599.
The patent was issued in 2006, and Paqits is the assignee. The case is Paqits, LLC v. Activision Blizzard, Inc.
January 12, 2012 - On January 10, Kodak filed suit against Apple and HTC in U.S. District Court in New York, alleging infringement of four patents that cover aspects of sending photos directly from smartphones and other mobile devices. Kodak claims the technology is used in the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Kodak has already licensed some smartphone makers, including LG, Motorola, Nokia and Samsung, and plans to pursue legal action against Research in Motion for infringement of the same patents.
January 9, 2012 - Apple settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Elan Microelectronics, a Taiwanese company, for $5 million.
Elan sued Apple in 2009, claiming that its patents on touch-based technologies were infringed by the iPhone, iPod Touch and MacBook, and requested that the International Trade Commission (ITC) ban imports of the potentially infringing Apple products.
January 6, 2012 - St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants Inc. filed patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung Electronics USA Inc., Motorola Mobility Inc. and LG Electronics Ltd. St. Clair claims that the three companies' smartphones and tablet PCs infringe six patents, most of which relate to computer power management.