lawsuit

The social media analytics company PeopleBrowsr won a victory against Twitter in court today.

Federal District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled that the case was to remain in San Francisco Superior Court. While this doesn't seem like a big deal, it is actually quite significant because it means that PeopleBrowsr's service won't be shuttered during litigation.

The lawsuit between the two companies is complicated, but it basically boils down to Twitter restricting access to its tweets and data -- which PeopleBrowsr needs for its service.

According to PeopleBrowsr, it paid Twitter $1 million a year for the … Read more

Just when it seemed like the Facebook shareholder lawsuits were easing up, the social network has been hit with a new IPO suit.

Investor Gaye Jones filed a new case against Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and the company's underwriters today, according to Reuters. Like several other investors that have sued Facebook, Jones claims that the social network knew about its weak revenue trends before its IPO but failed to disclose this information.

"The defendants were unjustly enriched because they realized enormous profits and financial benefits from the IPO, despite knowing that reduced revenue and earnings forecasts for … Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The settlement that will give some iTunes customers a refund for in-app purchases made by minors marched one step closer to approval today.

The two sides met in a federal courthouse here to hash out some final details before it's passed along to a judge for approval early next week.

As part of the proposed settlement, Apple will be required to pay out $5 in iTunes credit to those who say purchases were made on their device by a minor, and without them being aware of it. The company plans to send notices to more … Read more

A U.S. District Court has upheld an earlier decision by a federal jury last year to award intellectual property and patent holding firm VirnetX more than $368.2 million, after Apple was found to have infringed patents related to the networking technology used it its FaceTime video chat service.

Meanwhile, as first noted by Seeking Alpha, Apple must award VirnetX more than $330,000 per day until the case is settled, forcing the companies to hammer out agreements between themselves.

VirnetX, known for going after major tech companies on patent infringement claims, believes Apple infringed four networking patents designed … Read more

A security group has taken aim at some of the biggest computer and software makers, claiming their products infringe on one or more of its patents.

Maz Encryption Technologies, a Delaware company made up of two former employees of Maz Technologies, filed suits last week against Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Lenovo, and Research In Motion (now BlackBerry).

In seven separate complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Maz accuses the companies of infringing on one or more of its three patents covering encryption and user authentication technologies -- low level security found in … Read more

Apple has settled a lawsuit over the unauthorized use of in-app purchase in games and apps sold through the App Store.

As part of a preliminary deal that has yet to be finalized by a U.S. district court judge, Apple will pay those eligible class members a $5 iTunes gift card. Users that spent more than $30 can choose to get a cash refund, as long as they meet a handful of requirements, including filling out a form that details what apps the charges originated from.

The 2011 suit stemmed from parents who complained that it was far too … Read more

Apple could be facing a lawsuit in Brazil for updating the third-generation iPad so fast last year.

According to a report from Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Comércio, the Brazilian Institute of Politics and Law Software (IBDI) has targeted the iPad maker for what it says were unfair business practices with the release of the fourth-generation iPad model five months after launching the third-generation model in the country.

In a follow-up, Brazilian news site O Hoje adds that the suit wants Apple to give those who bought third-generation models with the latest versions and/or give buyers half of … Read more

A federal judge said today he sees merit in an activist hedge-fund manager's lawsuit against Apple but did not issue a ruling on whether to block next week's shareholder vote on a proxy proposal.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan declined to immediately rule on a request by Greenlight Capital to stop a February 27 vote because he wasn't sure the plaintiff would suffer "irreparable harm" if the vote was allowed to be held as scheduled.

"Candidly, I do think the likelihood of success is in favor for Greenlight," Sullivan said today in … Read more

Zynga and Electronic Arts have agreed to drop their lawsuits against each other, according to a court document filed today.

The two gaming companies had been throwing legal punches since August, when EA accused Zynga of ripping off one of its social games. Zynga countersued EA shortly thereafter, accusing EA of unfair hiring practices.

Both parties have decided to dismiss their cases with prejudice, according to the document, which means they can't file future lawsuits about the same accusations. The companies are picking up the tabs for their own legal fees.

Zynga confirmed that the suits were resolved but … Read more