A U.S. trade panel judge found Motorola Mobility infringed a Microsoft patent in making its Android cellphones, the companies said. The patented technology makes it possible for users to schedule meetings using mobile devices. However, the U.S. International Trade Commission judge found there was no violation of six other patents that remained in the dispute.
One of the owners of three of the largest Internet poker companies pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of deceiving U.S. banks over the processing of gambling proceeds. Absolute Poker co-owner Brent Beckley, 31, admitted in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet.
Gilberto Sanchez, who uploaded a pirated copy of Fox's superhero movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," was sentenced to one year in federal prison. Sanchez, 49, pleaded guilty in March 2011 to uploading a "workprint" copy of the film to the site Megaupload.com in March 2009, approximately a month prior to the film's theatrical release.
With the House Judiciary debate over online piracy legislation now expected to extend into the new year, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative provided copyright and trademark holders with fresh evidence to demonstrate the scope of online infringement they face from pirates and counterfeiters based offshore. USTR released a new report outlining the most notorious infringers based outside the United States.
Two senior lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are urging the Commerce Department to try to delay the rollout of a program that could dramatically expand the number of Internet addresses. The latest criticism comes from Judiciary Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., a senior Judiciary member and the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Recording Industry Association of America claims Google hasn’t been keeping its promises when it comes to fighting online piracy. “Google, as the overwhelming market leader in search and online advertising, has a special responsibility to lead and create a safe and secure Internet experience that works for consumers and the creative community,” the RIAA said in its report card.
Apple Inc., which on Dec. 9 lost a bid to keep Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet out of Australia, claims the case for the device and cases for Samsung phones infringe its patents and registered design. Apple issued the notice of infringement to Samsung in Australia over the cases, and will file a statement of claim, Apple’s lawyer Stephen Burley said at a hearing in Sydney.
Two prominent members of the Senate antitrust subcommittee are urging federal regulators to investigate whether Google unfairly promotes its own properties in search results. Committee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent a five-page letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz calling for "serious scrutiny" of Google's business practices.
In a closely watched case, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Taiwanese cell phone maker HTC is violating an Apple patent and ordered an import ban on some of the company products. The organization found that HTC devices infringed on two claims related to an Apple patent.
Samsung Electronics has filed new claims in its patent war with Apple Inc over alleged patent infringements in Germany, a spokesman for the company said. The tech giant added four patents to its ongoing infringement case related to the telecommunications standard technology WCDMA for 3G mobile handsets, which was filed in April, the spokesman said.
Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine, was sued by British Telecommunications Plc for allegedly infringing six U.S. patents for mobile-device technology. BT, based in London, is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages against Mountain View, California-based Google, according to a complaint filed Dec. 15 in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Yahoo! Inc., accused by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. of reproducing news content without its permission, denied infringing the city-state’s copyright laws and countersued the newspaper publisher. The articles that Singapore Press claimed were reproduced without authorization were insubstantial and insignificant, Yahoo’s Southeast Asia unit said in a defense filed in the Singapore High Court.
In one of the more unusual cases involving gripe sites, two companies are attempting to force PissedConsumer.com to revise the way it encodes reviews in order to make them less prominent in search engine results. The companies -- software developer Ascentive and mattress manufacturer Classic Brands -- alleged in court papers that their trademark was violated by PissedConsumer because it used their companies' names in URLs like “ascentive.pissedconsumer.com.”
Facebook has landed in some legal hot water over its use of ads that snatch the names of members of the social network to promote a product or business. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., denied Facebook's request to dismiss a lawsuit over the practice of so-called sponsored stories. Such "stories," which started popping up this past January, create an ad based on the "likes" of a member's Facebook friends.
A federal jury failed to reach a verdict in a company's $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. in a case so important to the computer giant that it put Bill Gates on the stand for two days last month. Novell Inc. of Utah sued the software giant in 2004, claiming Microsoft duped it into developing the once-popular WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own product.
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it will review in part an initial decision by an administrative law judge who in October ruled that Apple Inc. didn't violate four of HTC Corp.'s patents. The latest ITC statement came in days ahead of another, much-awaited ruling, in which Apple complained against HTC on some patents.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will collect bids from some of the world's top defense companies, including Lockheed Martin Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., to update and expand the alliance's cybersecurity abilities. The €32 million ($42 million) contract, although valued at less than the price of one fighter jet, holds great significance because it cements the alliance's role in protecting cutting-edge infrastructure, say NATO officials.
Faced with scandals and complaints involving teachers who misuse social media, school districts across the country are imposing strict new guidelines that ban private conversations between teachers and their students on cellphones and online platforms like Facebook and Twitter. But the stricter guidelines are meeting resistance from some teachers because of the increasing importance of technology as a teaching tool and of using social media to engage with students.
A key House vote on controversial anti-piracy legislation has been delayed. The House Judiciary Committee adjourned without deciding on whether or not to send the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act to the House floor.
Facebook has threatened to sue Mark Zuckerberg, an Israeli entrepreneur who recently took the social network founder’s name. The new Zuckerberg, born Rotem Guez, legally changed his name Dec. 7.
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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.