Mar
26
Blu-ray, Razr under ITC investigation
Posted by Dirk Avery at 9:51 am under Litigation, Patent, Technology.
Thirty companies, including Hitachi, LG, Motorola, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, have been targeted by an ITC investigation. The investigation is the result of a complaint by Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, Gertrude Rothschild, which alleges her patent is infringed by such popular products as Sony Blu-ray players, Motorola Razr phones and Hitachi […]
Mar
25
Patents news: Guitar Hero and Rock Band
Posted by Dirk Avery at 2:35 pm under Litigation, Patent, Video games.
Gibson goes on suing spree
Hoping, perhaps, to dip into lucrative video game revenue, Gibson Guitar, maker of “real” guitars, is on a serious lawsuit binge. There are cease and desist letters, cross suits, failed negotiations, acquisitions and declaratory judgment actions.
Sometimes, maybe, moderate success is better than wild popularity. Activision’s Guitar Hero has […]
Mar
19
Why isn’t .xxx a good idea?
Posted by Dirk Avery at 11:21 am under Internet, Legislation, Litigation.
A new top-level domain dedicated to… um… pornography is a great idea. A new domain would allow segregation of content in a manner much like content is segregated in the “real” world. This would provide neat and easy control for those who wanted it. Schools and employers could simply not provide access […]
Mar
15
Judge Cacheris, Please Hurry
Posted by Keeley Vega at 10:58 pm under Litigation, Patent.
On February 8th, Judge Cacheris heard summary judgment arguments in the Tafas v. Dudas case involving the PTO’s Final Rules (docket available here). A review of the proceedings is available here.
The issues addressed are numerous: what is the extent of the PTO’s rulemaking authority? Are the Final Rules within this authority? Do the Final Rules govern the […]
Mar
14
Attention Litigators
Posted by Keeley Vega at 3:13 pm under Litigation.
While fishing for points on Lexis Nexis, I found the following interesting video. The point: shepardize everything.
My favorite quote: “Just an aside,” Judge Ito.
Mar
14
First amendment in the digital age
Posted by Dirk Avery at 7:42 am under Internet, Litigation, Technology.
Can an employee mouth off to his friends about something unrelated to work? Of course? What if his “friends” happen to be the worldwide readers of his blog? A couple of days ago, outed Patent Troll Tracker Richard Frenkel was sued for defamation based on comments he made on his blog. His employer, Cisco, was […]
Mar
13
ZapMedia Sues Apple
Posted by Keeley Vega at 12:48 pm under Litigation, Patent.
Yesterday, ZapMedia filed a suit accusing Apple of “illegally using a patented method for distributing digital media over the Internet.”
“The patents in question cover a way of sending music and other digital content from servers to multiple media players, a broad description that could also apply to a wide swath of other companies selling digital […]
Mar
13
Like many heroes, Guitar Hero in trouble
Posted by Dirk Avery at 11:32 am under Litigation, Patent, Video games.
Gibson Guitar, the famous maker of “real” guitars, is seeking an injunction against Activision which would prevent further sales of the popular Guitar Hero game. Gibson, which holds some 52 utility patents issued since 1976, has a patent (US Pat No. 5,990,405) on a “System and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical […]
Mar
4
Patently resolved
Posted by Dirk Avery at 9:13 am under Litigation, Patent.
Nokia wins Qualcomm patent suit in the UK. Bloomberg’s James Lumley has this:
Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, won a U.K. patent lawsuit filed by Qualcomm Inc. over patents related to GSM technology.
One of Qualcomm’s patents is invalid and another is partially invalid, Justice Christopher Floyd said at a hearing […]
Mar
1
eBay and Merc hug and make-up
Posted by Dirk Avery at 2:45 pm under Litigation, Patent.
InternetNews’s Kenneth Corbin writes:
eBay reached a settlement with MercExchange today [Feb. 28], putting to rest a long-running legal squabble that dates back to September 2001.
eBay said that it would purchase the three patents from MercExchange which had been at the center of a high-profile infringement case that eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. […]