infringement

Microsoft cleared in Xbox patent spat with Google

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday said it won't review a final ruling that found Microsoft to be in the clear of infringing on patents held by Motorola Mobility, which Google acquired last year.

The ruling (PDF) follows an initial determination in favor of Microsoft on March 22 of this year, as well as a final initial determination from last month from an ITC administrative law judge.

At stake were potential future sales of the console in the U.S., which could have been halted if Motorola had won.

"This is a win for Xbox customers … Read more

Allure Energy latest to file infringement suit against Nest

Allure Energy sued Nest Labs yesterday, claiming that the company's much-celebrated Nest Learning Thermostat infringed on its patent.

Filing the suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Austin, Texas-based Allure alleged that its patent for the invention of an "Auto-adaptable energy management apparatus" trumped Nest's right to develop, market, and sell a smart thermostat.

Allure said it first began designing its product, which is known as EverSense, in 2009, and filed it patent application in 2010. The company said in a release that it also got a patent for &… Read more

Prince to Twitter: Take down those vines

Twitter has taken down eight Vine videos associated with the artist Prince, after his record label sent a letter warning of copyright infringement.

The notice, posted on Chilling Effects last week and noticed by The Next Web today, described the Vines in question as "unauthorized recordings" and "unauthorized synchronizations." The label, NPG Records, requested that Twitter immediately remove the Vines and any future Vines featuring Prince. The Vine is a mobile service that allows people to create and share short, looping videos.

The links to the Vines in the request no longer work. A Twitter spokesman … Read more

MP3 resale violates copyright law, court rules

A court ruling has put the kibosh on reselling digital media.

In a lawsuit between Universal Music Group's Capitol Records and MP3 reseller ReDigi, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan has sided with the record label and said that reselling songs bought on iTunes, Amazon, or other digital music venues is akin to copyright infringement.

"The court grants Capitol's motion for summary judgment on its claims for ReDigi's direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement of its distribution and reproduction rights," Judge Sullivan wrote in a summary judgment filed Saturday. "The court also denies ReDigi's … Read more

Apple: Judge was off by $85M in cutting Samsung damages

Apple is trying to show Judge Lucy Koh the error of her ways.

On March 1, Koh removed $450.5 million from the original $1.05 billion judgment against Samsung and called for yet another trial to recalculate the damages.

But now Apple is crying foul, saying that the judge made a mistake in reducing at least part of the damages that Samung was ordered to pay following last year's patent infringement trial.

In challenging the judge's action, Apple says that two Samsung smartphones -- the Galaxy S II from AT&T and the Infuse 4G -- … Read more

Monoprice: A tech consumer's best friend? Or a copycat?

Reviewers have fawned over surround-sound speakers from Energy, a unit of the Klipsch Group.

Two years ago, CNET's Matt Moskovciak dubbed the Energy Take Classic 5.1 system "the best budget speaker system we've reviewed." The sound from the speakers is incredible, he wrote, and the $399 price tag unbeatable.

It was, anyway. A few months ago, upstart online retailer Monoprice debuted its 5.1 Hi-Fi Home Theater Satellite Speakers & Subwoofer system at $249. The speakers aren't just similar to the Energy system, and they don't just have the same dimensions and sound … 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

Samsung increases spending on U.S. lobbyists to $900K

As Samsung products continue to be used by U.S. consumers at a growing rate, the company faces more competition from U.S. tech companies and a higher potential for legal battles. This means that the South Korean company must work to win the trust of U.S. lawmakers.

Apparently, Samsung has worked pretty hard at this over the last year. According to Bloomberg, the company spent a record amount of money on Washington, D.C. lobbyists.

In 2012, Samsung spent $900,000 on lobbyists, according to Bloomberg -- this is up from the $150,000 it spent in 2011. … Read more