patent

Apple patents augmented-reality system

Before long, you might be able to point your iPhone or other device at an object and call up an overlay of information.

Awarded to Apple today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent dubbed "Synchronized, interactive augmented reality displays for multifunction devices" highlights an augmented-reality system that would capture a live video feed of a real object to display on a portable device. The technology would then overlay information about that object on the device.

In one example cited in the patent, a user could point the camera of a portable device at a … Read more

Nokia wins one against HTC in German patent case

Nokia has won a patent infringement suit in a German court, but the companies can't quite agree whether it's a major victory or not.

According to Foss Patents' Florian Mueller, the Mannheim Regional Court today ruled that HTC is infringing a Nokia patent related to saving battery life by identifying packets of data that can reconstructed through the use of only a part of an encoded message. According to Mueller, Nokia was awarded a permanent injunction, giving the company the opportunity to enforce the ban by posting a $6.5 million bond. Nokia can also request HTC recall … Read more

Intellectual Ventures sues Symantec over patents, again

Intellectual Ventures, the controversial patent and technology firm founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, has sued security company Symantec once again.

In a new complaint (PDF), filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, Intellectual Ventures accused Symantec of infringing on three of its patents in some of its products.

The complaint targets Symantec's Replicator, Veritas Volume Replicator, and ApplicationHA products specifically, and claims the company "actively, knowingly, and intentionally" infringed on IV's patents with those products.

"We have been unable to reach an agreement with Symantec, and, in addition to their infringement … Read more

Apple sued over sound tech by George Lucas' THX

The George Lucas-founded audio-and-visual tech firm THX has filed a patent suit against Apple for allegedly swiping speaker technology for the iPhone, iPad, and iMac.

The suit, filed Thursday in federal court in San Jose, Calif., involves a patent called "Narrow Profile Speaker Configurations and Systems," which essentially covers various setups for directing sound from a small speaker or speakers toward a narrow, slotted opening in such a way as to produce the best possible sound quality.

The abstract of the patent says the speaker units "may be integral with or attached to electronic appliances such as … Read more

Apple faces delay in decision over sales ban of iPhone, iPad

Apple and Samsung both have to wait a couple more months for the U.S. International Trade Commission to decide whether iPhone and iPad sales should be banned due to patent violations.

One of countless legal disputes between the two companies, this particular case kicked off in August 2011.

Samsung had filed a complaint with the ITC accusing Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch of violating four of its key patents. As such, the Korean phone maker requested that the products be banned from being sold in the United States.

Last September, a judge for the ITC issued a … Read more

Nintendo hit with $30.2M in damages over 3D patent suit

Nintendo was found liable of infringing on glasses-free 3D technology in a lawsuit that wrapped up today.

A New York federal jury concluded that the game maker used features of a patent developed by Seijiro Tomita in its handheld 3DS gaming device, according to Reuters. The jury awarded Tomita $30.2 million in compensatory damages.

"We are thankful to the jurors for their diligence and hard work," Tomita's attorney Joe Diamante told Reuters. "It has been a honor to represent Mr. Tomita and to protect his invention."

Tomita, who is a former Sony employee, said … Read more

A new dimension: Samsung Galaxy S4 may have 3D camera

3D hasn't really taken off in TVs, but Samsung may be inclined to give it a try in the Galaxy S4.

The Korean electronics giant has filed for a trademark for "2D 3D Movie & Still," and it also filed for a patent related to a panoramic imaging lens and panoramic imaging system.

Samsung noted in its trademark filing that the application covers software for smartphones, software for tablets, digital cameras, USB flash drives, mobile telephones, portable media players, portable computers, rechargeable batteries, smartphones, tablets, wireless headsets, and lenses for cameras. That's a pretty extensive list.… Read more

Abe Lincoln's patent for a river navigation device

On March 10, 1849, eight score and four years ago yesterday, a future president brought forth on this continent a new notion for improving river navigation.

That was the day Abraham Lincoln filed a patent application for his imaginative method of "Buoying Vessels Over Shoals."

At age 22, Lincoln had been a crewman on a flatboat that got stuck on a dam at New Salem, Ill., a bit of Lincoln folklore depicted in the 1940 film "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," with Raymond Massey in the starring role.

After another riverboat grounding incident in 1848 when he … Read more

HTC scores patent victory over Nokia in Germany

HTC and Android have both emerged as victors in a patent squabble with Nokia in Germany.

The District Court of Mannheim ruled today that HTC did not violate two Nokia patents in question, according to the IDG News Service.

The two cases stem from last May, when Nokia filed lawsuits against HTC, BlackBerry, and Viewsonic, citing 45 different patent violations among the three sued companies. HTC has been seeking licensing fees from the three companies for using the technologies described in the patents.

Nokia had accused HTC of infringing on its EP0812120 patent, which details a "method for using … Read more