Microsoft just scored a coup on the patent royalty front, with a new deal with Taiwanese phone maker, Hon Hai, which owns Foxconn. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will get paid a flat fee per Android and Chrome-based device that Foxconn makes. And there are a lot of those. A whopping 40 percent of the world’s phones come from the firm’s China-based factories. Foxconn is an ODM… → Read More
HTC has something else to worry about: it’s facing the prospect of having to fork out for damages if it loses a patent litigation court case to haptics company Immersion. Immersion had been content to stay its U.S. lawsuit against HTC — in order to wait for the completion of an ITC patent investigation — but has now asked for the stay to be lifted so it can seek immediate damages. → Read More
The U.S. judge in the Apple vs. Samsung court battle that’s being played out in the district court of Northern California has denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction on Samsung devices, Reuters is reporting. This follows Cupertino’s $1.05 billion damages award against Samsung this summer when the jury in the case ruled that multiple Samsung smartphones infringed Apple patents. → Read More
In the latest episode of the Apple vs. Samsung legal drama that’s been playing out in the U.S. district court of Northern California, the pair met again at an appeal hearing on Thursday to argue their respective corners. Judge Lucy Koh is reviewing the jury’s $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung. → Read More
Editor’s note: Brian J. Love is an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, where he teaches courses in patent law and remedies.
On the heels of losing a jury trial and a billion-dollar verdict to Apple in August, Samsung must now attempt to persuade U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh not to issue an injunction banning sales of phones found to infringe Apple’s patents. → Read More
Swedish telecoms kit maker Ericsson has filed suit against mobile maker Samsung in the US for patent infringement. The move follows nearly two years of negotiations to renew a FRAND patent licensing agreement between the pair, according to Ericsson. It’s unclear exactly which patents are involved but Ericsson said they relate to “a crucial system for technology sharing” for mass market comms. → Read More
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles by Brad Woodcox that explores the patent system for entrepreneurs. The first examined the basics of the system.
Now that you have background knowledge of the patent system (at least within the U.S.), we can analyze probably the most difficult question: “Should you pursue patents for your company or invention?” → Read More
A U.S. court has ordered Apple to provide Samsung with details of a licensing deal it reached with HTC earlier this month, as part of ongoing patent battles between Cupertino and the Korean mobile maker. Apple and HTC settled their remaining lawsuits on November 10, agreeing a 10-year licensing deal — the terms of which have not been publicly disclosed. → Read More
Editor’s note: Brad Woodcox is a technical specialist focusing on startup development for Novak Druce + Quigg, an intellectual property super boutique law firm.
Patents. A single word that incites a fervor in the online tech blogging realm, perhaps only behind the emotional responses with the iPhone vs. Android battle or TechCrunch using expletives in an article title. → Read More
Editor’s note: Colleen V. Chien is an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law. Stefani E. Shanberg is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
It’s no fun receiving a patent demand, but rest assured, you are not alone. When that dreaded “invitation to license” or, worse, “complaint” arrives at your doorstep, what should you do? → Read More
A company that has acquired 100% ownership of a patent for an off-site transcription system — United States Patent 6,298,328 — in order to, in its words, “effectively administer certain patents for technology”, says it will be seeking residual royalties from Apple, for its Siri voice assistant, and Google, for the Voice Recognition technology in its Android 4.1 release, along with “many other… → Read More
As expected, Samsung has filed a lawsuit against Apple’s latest iPhone — the iPhone 5 — alleging the smartphone infringes patents it holds. Commenting on the action in a statement given to Reuters, Samsung said: “We have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights.” → Read More
The Northern District Court of California has overturned a sales ban against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple in patent litigation against Samsung, Reuters is reporting.
This follows a ruling at the end of last month by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh could decide whether or not to lift the ban on U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab… → Read More
There’s no question that the cost of patents is rising. Google is paying $12.5 billion for Motorola mainly for its huge mobile patent portfolio. In July, an anti-Google consortium raised $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patents (and they overpayed). Interdigital, Kodak, and others are looking to sell their patent portfolios. As my colleague Erick Schonfeld wrote recently, we are in the midst of a patent… → Read More
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