Samsung has reportedly filed a new lawsuit in its home country against Apple regarding its iOS Notification Center. It says that the feature, which Apple introduced last year in iOS 5, infringes on one of its active patents.
Of course, patent lawsuits have become commonplace between the two tech giants in recent years. Typically, however, Samsung has used its standards-essential, hardware-related IP to go after Apple. But this time it’s software-related… Read More
Following Samsung’s motion asking Judge Paul S. Grewal for permission to amend its infringement contentions against Apple with the iPad mini, iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, Apple on Black Friday conveniently brought a motion seeking to add latest Galaxy devices to its California suit, including the Galaxy S III running Android Jelly Bean and the four-inch Galaxy S III Mini. The filing adds a total of six recently-released Galaxy gadgets to Apple’s ongoing patent lawsuit against Samsung… Read More
Bloomberg reports that a federal judge has ruled that Apple may add Jelly Bean, the latest and greatest version of the Android operating system powering smartphones and tablets, to its patent infringement claims asserted against Samsung. At the same time, the South Korean conglomerate was allowed to add the iPhone 5 to its suit as the company looks to retaliate for losing $1.05 billion in damages by targeting Apple’s latest handset. Though U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal allowed Apple to target the Jelly Bean software, the scope is limited to Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus devices… Read More
Apple’s just expanded its second lawsuit against Samsung, seeking to include the South Korean company’s 10.1-inch Galaxy Note tablet on a list of allegedly infringing products. In addition, the iPhone maker has alleged that Google’s Android version 4.1 software, also known as Jelly Bean, infringes upon its patents. This could be the first time Apple directly sued Android over alleged patent infringement, though it wasn’t immediately clear whether Apple’s complaint involved the entire Android OS or just Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay. The case is scheduled for trial in 2014. And so it continues… Read More
In a response to Motorola’s motion from yesterday seeking clarification on essential wireless patents (which include both cellular and WiFi standards), Apple has formally acknowledged its willingness to accept a license at a court-determined rate of up to $1 per iPhone through a license agreement on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The figure entails worldwide sales of covered products, the iPhone maker said. Apple’s position on FRAND licensing is that the industry should set FRAND rates in order to prevent companies asserting wireless standards-essential patents against its rivals by jacking up prices.
Motorola, which is now a wholly-owned Google subsidiary, wrote in the filing that Microsoft’s FRAND contract case had explicitly committed to the conclusion of a license agreement on court-ordered terms. Is there finally an end in sight to this patent mess? Read More
