Posts Tagged ‘patents’

Apple awarded limited patent on pinch-to-zoom

Boom: Apple was just awarded a patent on pinch-to-zoom for multitouch displays. That's the first directly applicable patent we've seen on the gesture since we first started looking during the Apple / Palm war of words in January 2009, and it certainly gives Apple some potent ammunition against its competitors -- although there are some specific limitations on what Apple's been granted that will prove to be important

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Motorola is ‘open’ to developing Windows Phone 7 devices, but only if the OS proves compelling

In case you somehow missed it, Microsoft lodged a complaint with the ITC on Friday, alleging Motorola's Android smartphones infringed on nine of its precious patents. You might imagine that'd sting the pride of Moto's chief exec Sanjay Jha , but nothing could be further from the truth. Describing such turf wars over intellectual property as "part of business," Sanjay explains that his company is willing to work with Microsoft on developing a handset based around its new OS, so long as the offering is "compelling." He notes that the first call he received upon becoming co-CEO and handset division chief back in 2008 was from none other than Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft's failure to deliver a new OS in '09 is what compelled him to go the Android route (we doubt he regrets doing it, mind you!)

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Apple loses, challenges patent verdict surrounding Cover Flow and Time Machine

Remember that one random company who sued Apple back in March of 2008 for ripping off its display interface patents? Turns out it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a hotbed for patent trolls who know that they stand a better-than-average chance of winning simply because of where their issues are being taken up.

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NTP awakes, sues Apple, Microsoft, Google, HTC, LG, and Motorola over wireless email patents

Remember NTP ?

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Nokia sells wireless modem business to Renesas in order to focus on core business

Nokia just announced a $200M-ish deal to sell its wireless modem business -- a business it entered just a few years ago -- to Japan's Renesas Electronics Corporation . The deal is part of a broader alliance to develop HSPA+ and LTE modem technologies while working together to research future radio technologies.

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AUO scores patent lawsuit decision over LG Display

LG Display may want to be more careful where it aims those patent lawsuits next time, after a dispute it kicked off with AUO has lead to a finding by a U.S. District court that it actually violated AUO's patents and not the other way around.

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Microsoft says Android infringes on its patents, licenses HTC

The lawyers up in Redmond seem to have been woken from their slumber with the sudden realization that -- oh look! -- Google's Android OS infringes on Microsoft's boatload of software patents. How specifically it does so is not identified, but Microsoft believes that elements from both the user interface and the underlying operating system are in violation of its rights. This is very much in keeping with the Windows maker's crusade to assert patent claims over Linux , which in the past has garnished it with cross-licensing deals with Amazon and Xandros , as well as a settlement from TomTom .

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Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI

The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a "contiguous background" that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored "mixed-media" elements being littered atop it -- all of which is to be served on a "media-playing device." That should sound pretty familiar, given that it's the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD , and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness

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Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown

Apple suing HTC over 20-odd patents before both the US District Court and the International Trade Commission has certainly caused some chaos this morning, but we thought we'd take a quick breath now that we have the complaints and tease out exactly what patents are at stake here. Of note, most of the patents were granted in the past year, but overall they span a range from 1995 to February 2. Yes, last month

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Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit

There's no delicate way to put this: at least part of Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC appears to be a proxy fight for a larger issue with Android as a whole.

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