Legal

France’s watchdog fines Apple 25 million euros over iPhone throttling

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 7, 2020

Apple was blamed for supposed planned obsolescence of its products before, but nothing like when it was discovered that an iOS software update intentionally slowed down older handset models with worn-out batteries. The technology giant was sued over the practice in multiple courts and now a French consumer fraud group has fined the company 25 million euros, or about $27.5 million, because it had failed to properly inform its customers that iOS software updates might cause their iPhone to run slower than usual.

Anti-robocall bill passes House, heads to Senate

Peter Cohen ∙ December 5, 2019

Tired of dealing with robocall spammers and scammers? Legislative relief to U.S. consumers could be coming soon. Anti-robocall legislation was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this week with almost unanimous support, and is expected to be taken up by the Senate in the next couple of weeks, according to a new report from The Hill.

$5 billion class action over sale of Apple Music data tossed out of the window

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 26, 2019

In a judgment Monday at the Northern Court of California, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup dismissed a $5 billion class action complaint over alleged sale of Apple Music data.

Apple admits U.S. sanctions violations in settlement over Slovenian developer

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 26, 2019

Apple paid a heft fine after it voluntarily disclosed that it had violated US sanctions by inadvertently allowing a Slovenian developer's apps into the App Store for more than two years even though they were blacklisted by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

U.S. appeals court vacates VirnetX’s $503 patent win against Apple

Evan Selleck ∙ November 22, 2019

How long can a single trial go on for? Well apparently Apple and VirnetX want to find out, as yet another decision out of a United States appeal court will undoubtedly fuel things along.

Apple, Intel team up against SoftBank-funded patent troll

Peter Cohen ∙ November 21, 2019

Patent trolls are a scourge for technology companies like Intel and Apple. Now the two tech giants have teamed up to take down one of the biggest, Softbank-financed Fortress Investment Group. Intel and Apple have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fortress, alleging the company has stockpiled patents expressly for the purpose of suing companies like Intel and Apple to extract profit, according to Reuters.

U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear University of Wisconsin’s appeal in patent fight with Apple

Evan Selleck ∙ October 7, 2019

The University of Wisconsin has been in a long-standing legal battle with Apple for years, but the United States Supreme Court has just decided to not hear an appeal from the educational body.

Apple being sued for listing ‘Memoji’ as a registered trademark in the U.S.

Evan Selleck ∙ September 30, 2019

Memoji has been around for quite some time already, but despite the fact that Apple has tried to nail down the trademark registration in the United States, that hasn't panned out for the company.

A new class-action lawsuit targets Apple over storing some iCloud data on servers run by Amazon, Google and Microsoft

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2019

A new class-action complaint filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California accuses Apple of false advertising, basically arguing that the Cupertino company is misleading customers as to where precisely their iCloud data is stored.

Japan’s FTC is probing Apple over the way it sells iPhones in the country

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2019

Apple is under investigation for iPhone supply deals in Japan.

Apple’s iPhone deal with Amazon scrutinized by FTC over potential competition violations

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 2, 2019

Apple's expanded deal with Amazon that permits the online retail giant to carry the iconic smartphone could be in violation of the United States competition laws because the agreement is now reportedly being scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Eight US states could separately launch antitrust investigations of Apple & others

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 26, 2019

Following the unusual step of announcing a broad antitrust review of major Silicon Valley platform giants on part of the United States Department of Justice, a new report released Friday alleges that eight US states could separately probe the tech giants.