legal

Angry Birds maker targeted in Lodsys suit

Lodsys, a group that's targeted companies big and small for infringing on its patents, has added five new defendants to a suit it filed back in May, including Electronic Arts and Rovio, the maker of the popular Angry Birds franchise.

In an amended complaint (PDF), filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and picked up by patent-tracking blog Foss Patents, Lodsys has added a number of gaming heavyweights including Atari, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive to the list of companies it says are violating patents it holds. That brings … Read more

Icahn pushing Motorola Mobility to sell its patents

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn thinks Motorola Mobility should sell its valuable patent portfolio.

Icahn disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today that he believes Motorola's patent portfolio has significant value. He said the company should start looking at ways to realize that value given the heightened demand for such intellectual property in the industry, which is Wall Street-speak for potentially selling the patent portfolio.

Motorola issued a statement saying it continuously reviews the company's strategic direction and opportunities, but added that its recent progress has been made partly on the strength of those … Read more

ITC says HTC violating two of Apple's patents

Apple scored a legal victory today when the U.S. International Trade Commission made an initial ruling that HTC had violated two of its patents.

The ITC administrative law judge's initial determination was that HTC infringed on two of the 10 patents Apple had filed a complaint over in March 2010, according to an HTC statement. The ITC still needs to make a final ruling on the complaint. A loss carries the threat that HTC's products would be banned from coming into the U.S., and Apple only needs to get a favorable decision on one of the … Read more

Amazon turns to voters on sales tax fight

Amazon is trying a new tactic in its bid to fight states that force online retailers to collect sales tax.

On Friday, the online retail giant filed a petition for a referendum with the California attorney general's office, the Associated Press is reporting. The referendum would ask voters to overturn a new California law that forces online retailers to collect sales tax there.

Amazon is especially concerned with one of the law's stipulations, which requires online retailers to collect sales tax if affiliates operating in California push customers to an online retailer's site to buy products.

Amazon … Read more

Apple tries to block four Samsung devices in U.S.

In the legal battle between Apple and Samsung, things just went from bad to bold.

Apple today filed a preliminary injunction against Samsung with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking to keep four of the company's latest mobile devices out of the U.S.

The filing, discovered by blog FOSS Patents this afternoon, asks the court for a preliminary injunction to keep Samsung from making, selling, and importing the Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, Droid Charge smartphones, along with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. Apple claims these products infringe on three of … Read more

Lawsuit: Sony knew its PSN security was at risk

Three men are suing Sony over April's massive data breach of the company's PlayStation Network and Sony Online systems, saying the company knew its security system was inadequate before the cyberattack.

The suit was filed earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, and unearthed by Reuters today.

The suit, which is asking for class-action status, was filed Monday on behalf of Felix Cortorreal, Jacques Daoud Jr., and Jimmy Cortorreal, all of New York. The trio alleges that Sony "knew that its inadequate security systems placed it at an increased … Read more

A brief history of Apple's mobile-tech patent battles

Apple's winning of a key touch-screen patent this morning could give the company some of its biggest ammo yet when it comes to both fending off and going after technology rivals in the courtroom.

Apple is no stranger to legal battles, but the company is a relative newcomer to the mobile-phone business, and has extended its reach into that space with mobile devices like the iPad. Apple's success has made it an increasingly larger target, and a player that needs to defend its turf. Patents make up a huge part of that.

Now's as good a time … Read more

Apple: Samsung request for iPad 3, iPhone 5 is harassment

It was easy to predict that Samsung's request to see early copies of Apple products as part of an ongoing legal dispute between the two companies wouldn't go over well with Apple.

Apple finally responded to Samsung's late May request to see the "final, commercial version(s)" of the "iPhone 4S," "iPhone 5," "iPad 3," "third-generation iPad," and their retail packaging. Yesterday, Apple filed a motion in the District Court for the Northern District of California asking the judge to deny Samsung's request.

The reason? Samsung'… Read more

Patriot Act renewed despite warnings of 'secret' law

news analysis The U.S. Congress has approved a four-year extension of the Patriot Act despite warnings from senators that the Justice Department has twisted the 2001 law into a "secret" surveillance mechanism far broader than Americans realize.

"I believe that when more of my colleagues and the American public come to understand how the Patriot Act has actually been interpreted in secret, they will insist on significant reforms too," said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who tried to block the renewal. Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, offered a similar warning.

The cautionary note … Read more

Seismologists face manslaughter charges for not predicting quake

I happen to live in something of an earthquake zone and it seems that these things do happen quite randomly, such as when you're sitting at home watching TV.

However, some in Italy feel that it's about time seismologists were held responsible for their supposed ability to recognize when a trembler is going to hit a certain neighborhood.

Science magazine reports that Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, and his fellow seismologists have been charged with manslaughter after they allegedly didn't alert the residents of L'Aquila in Central Italy … Read more