Patent

Apple offered Samsung a cross-licensing deal prior to trial

As the wave of injunction motions and appeals requests continue in the aftermath of this summer's high-profile Apple vs. Samsung trial, another interesting tidbit has been brought to light.

According to recently-filed court documents, it looks like Apple tried to offer Samsung a cross-licensing deal involving 3G/UMTS patents back in April, hoping to avoid at least some litigation...

Lawsuit against Apple’s Passbook is Lodsys redux

Apple is again in the sights of a company with patents and an itchy trigger finger. The iPhone's Passbook feature, which allows consumers to store tickets, loyalty cards, coupons and such digitally, is the target of San Diego-based Ameranth. The company is seeking triple damages, claiming in the lawsuit that the Cupertino, Calif. technology giant willfully infringed on Ameranth patents on wireless mobile payments.

The company has already sued the likes of Hilton, Marriott and Ticketmaster and gotten 14 other companies to ink licensing pacts. TechCrunch spoke to the CEO of one of the companies who'd rather pay than suffer some long drawn-out legal fight. The interview is enough to send cold shivers up Apple developers who survived the 2011 patent uproar from Lodsys...

Apple could have wireless Lightning adapter in the works

Apple's new, miniaturized dock connector that debuted on the iPhone 5 under the Lightning moniker so far proved an annoyance as customers with legacy 30-pin dock accessories are required to purchase Apple's pricey adapter. Worse, as Apple's cable has an authentication chip, it has been concluded that third-party alternatives offered by places like Alibaba.com won’t work.

But as a patent filing indicates, Apple is researching an interesting solution that could help ease Lightning woes with  a universal adapter for iOS devices which facilitates, as Apple wrote, "the transmission of wireless data to any accessory"...

Apple asks for another $707 million in damages from Samsung

While fans from around the world were out trying to score the new iPhone 5 yesterday, Apple was busy filing its motions for the final judgement in its high-profile patent trial with Samsung.

As most of you know, a jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's patents last month, ordering it to pay more than $1 billion in damages. But Apple doesn't think that's enough...

Samsung may add iPhone 5 to US patent infringement lawsuit

If you thought the legal wrangling between Apple and Samsung was settled with August's patent-infringement jury decision, you were wrong. In a patent infringement lawsuit filed in February in the same San. Jose, Calif. courthouse that awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages, the two rivals are preparing for a grudge match. Now the Wall Street Journal reports the South Korean smartphone maker "anticipates" it will add the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 4S in its list of allegedly infringing devices.

Apple researching face unlock for iOS devices

Google with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich introduced a new way to unlock a device using facial recognition technology. It doesn't always work as intended (especially in low-light situations), is taxing on resources and can be hacked. Still, face unlock is one of the "wow" capabilities Android phone owners like to brag about.

Samsung took facial recognition to the next level with the Galaxy SIII smartphone. The device tracks eye movement, preventing the screen from going dark when you’re looking at it. According to a patent filing published Thursday by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), Apple is researching automatic facial analysis to automate locking and unlocking of future iPhones, iPads and iPods...

Apple to seek $3B in damages from Samsung

Apple will seek $3 billion in damages from Samsung when the two companies meet in court on Friday, a Korean newspaper reports Wednesday. The amount is triple that awarded in August, when a California jury ruled the South Korean firm violated Apple's patents.

According to the Korea Times, citing a "reliable source," Apple will ask for the $3 billion because the iPhone maker "wants to quickly address the harm that Samsung's infringing products are said to be causing." If granted, the $3 billion would mark a record reward for technology patent lawsuits...

Judge denies Samsung’s motion to dissolve Galaxy Tab ban

US District Court Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's motion to lift the injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 last night. The decision comes in response to Samsung's August 27 request to dissolve the sales ban against its tablet.

Back in June, Koh granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the Tab due to patent infringement. But after the jury in last month's trial found that the tablet didn't infringe on Apple's IP, Samsung wanted the decision overturned..

ITC judge says Apple’s devices don’t infringe on Samsung’s patents

US ITC Judge James Gildea has ruled today that Apple's products did not violate Samsung's patents. This is the second US victory for Apple over Samsung in the last month.

Samsung originally filed the complaint with the International Trade Commission back in June of last year, complaining that Apple mobile devices violated four of its patents...

Apple wins preliminary sales ban against Motorola devices in Germany

Hot on the heels of their big victory against Samsung here in the United States, Apple's legal team has just won another important decision against Motorola in Munich, German.

The German court has just awarded the Cupertino company a preliminary sales ban against Motorola's phones and tablets in the country, ruling that they infringe on Apple's patents...

Apple and HTC in ongoing settlement talks over patent dispute

In December of last year, Apple won an ITC case against HTC. The International Trade Commission ruled that HTC's Android products infringed on Apple's '647 patent on "analyzing and linking data structures," and banned many of them from the US.

Though HTC has since developed a workaround, Apple brought its complaint back to the ITC this summer. But at least this time they're willing to talk about it. A new report says the two sides are in ongoing settlement talks regarding the dispute...

Apple’s chief counsel is ‘field marshal’ in Android battle

If Apple's "thermonuclear war" on Android had a leader, it would be Noreen Krall, chief litigator for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker. Indeed, Bloomberg's profile of Krall describes her as Apple's legal "field marshall."

"Krall has become a familiar sight in courtrooms around the world as Apple’s chief litigation counsel," Bloomberg writes. Even before Apple won a $1.05 billion patent-infringement decision (now being appealed) against Samsung, Krall thanked junior members of the legal team for all the hard work...