patent

Second push in Congress to force patent trolls to pay up

A couple of congressmen today reintroduced a bill that will likely command a standing ovation throughout Silicon Valley. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) are taking aim at so-called patent trolls with a proposal that would force them to pick up the tab for a defendant's legal costs if their patent lawsuit fails to prevail.

This is the second time around for the Saving High-tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes, or SHIELD Act. The co-sponsors first submitted the bill last August, but the provision withered on the political vine for a couple of reasons. The bill faced strong … Read more

VirnetX v. Apple judge upholds $368M patent suit verdict

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

Patent suit takes aim at Apple, Dell, others over encryption

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 patent filing may lead to iPhone that predicts your needs

Your iPhone could one day switch to vibrate mode, adjust its own volume, and wake from sleep mode without you lifting a finger.

A patent application published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suggests a phone or other device empowered with "situational awareness." Dubbed "Electronic device with automatic mode switching," the filing describes ways that the device can automatically perform certain tasks based on different conditions.

Filed in September 2011, the Apple patent application lays out the technology for a variety of devices, including mobile phones and media players. Using such embedded sensors, … Read more

Microsoft, Nikon ink patent deal for Android-based cameras

Microsoft has signed patent-protection deals with a number of PC and tablet makers in the past couple of years. Now it's also forging similar deals with more companies embedding the Android operating system inside consumer devices.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it has signed a patent-licensing agreement with Nikon. The agreement "provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for certain Nikon cameras running the Android platform," according to Microsoft's press release.

Microsoft and Nikon have agreed not to disclose specifics, but Microsoft is acknowledging that it will receive undisclosed royalties from Nikon as part of the … Read more

Judge orders Apple, Samsung to trim 2014 patent spat

A U.S. District judge today told Apple and Samsung that they need to whittle down a case against one another before it heads to trial early next year.

Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the major U.S. trial between the two companies last year, told both sides that they need to trim down the number of accused products and patent claims in the upcoming case.

"You've already been litigating this thing for a year; you must know something about what's your best case," Koh reportedly told lawyers from both sides.

The ruling, which was … Read more

Apple may be working on new e-book features for iOS

Apple may be working on some new search and highlight features for reading e-books on iPads, Patently Apple reported today.

The company filed a patent application for "creating and viewing digital note cards," according to the application published today (PDF below). The patent outlines technology for a new floating toolbar that allows users to do quick searches of text and enable highlighting and note-taking.

Users would be able to highlight text with various colors or by applying different fonts -- like strike-through font -- and add notes. In addition to text, these notes could include other media such … Read more

Microsoft to back Oracle in Java case against Google -- report

The legal war between Oracle and Google has been rather muted for the last several months, but there could be a major new twist in the case.

Reuters has reported that legal representatives for Microsoft told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a briefing yesterday that it would support Oracle.

We reached out to Oracle to confirm, but the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based corporation declined to comment.

Not many more details are available at this time, but it would seemingly line up with Microsoft's other patent-related lawsuits against Motorola Mobility, now a Google subsidiary. … Read more

ITC to review Apple victory in Motorola patent case

The U.S. International Trade Commission will review an administrative law judge's decision invalidating certain Motorola Mobility patents, which cleared Apple of infringement claims.

The ITC, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S., posted a notice (PDF) to its Web site today indicating it will take a second look at a decision issued in December by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender. Pender dismissed the claims after invalidating a Motorola patent covering proximity sensor technology.

The patent in question covers technology that automatically dims a handset's display when the phone … Read more