The news first got tweeted by Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman
This should make for some interesting discussion. Lee, who until May was in charge of Google's patent strategy, is on record criticizing the ease with which patent trolls have been able to file patent lawsuits. She has argued that the system is … Read more
Since the announced departure of Apple iOS chief Scott Forstall, much has been written about skeuomorphism -- the practice of designing things to look like their real-world counterparts. Apple has made a heavy practice of it in its software, and now the company has another part of that experience patented in the U.S.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week granted a rather noteworthy design patent for the digital equivalent of the page turn (PDF), that time-honored tradition of flipping pages while looking through a book, a magazine, or other stack of bound paper.
Apple filed for … Read more
Microsoft experienced an executive shakeup this week that surprised many.
Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive who turned the company's Windows franchise around and just led the effort to release Windows 8, left the company, effective immediately. Sinofsky, a controversial figure at the company, was reportedly warring with Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.
The company said the decision behind Sinofsky's departure was mutual, though the abruptness of the announcement might suggest otherwise. Some Microsoft watchers had pegged Sinofsky as a CEO-in-waiting, but he developed a reputation for being divisive and not working well with executives in other divisions.
In … Read more
The deal is sealed -- Apple has bought 1,024 patents and patent applications from the Rockstar Consortium.
According to Business Insider, the Rockstar Consortium has been quietly passing the patents to the tech giant over the past six months.
The announcement comes via Korean news agency Yonhap News, which reported that a Korean regulator confirmed that the patents and patent applications were transferred from the consortium to Apple. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database also confirms that the patents were transferred.
Rockstar Consortium is a group of companies -- Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion, and … Read more
Annoyed by that buzzing sound triggered by your phone's vibrate mode? Apple may one day provide a solution.
Dubbed "Vibration In Portable Devices," a patent filed today with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office details an Apple invention in which that annoying sound can be monitored and reduced.
Apple's technology would use sensors to detect the vibrations of the phone when in vibrate mode. If the sensors determine that the sound given off by the vibration exceeds a certain level, that noise is automatically toned down. The technology could also decrease the sound and even … Read more
Your iPhone or iPad may one day be able to resize its display based on the distance from your face.
Filed today with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a new Apple patent application dubbed "Scaling of Visual Content Based Upon User Proximity," details a method by which the display automatically scales as your face moves toward or away from the device.
The content on the display would initially size itself based on how near or far your face is. Moving your face (or the device) would then trigger the display to resize itself accordingly based on a different scaling factor.… Read more
Samsung's insistence that it has no plans to negotiate a settlement with Apple may simply be a head fake in a long-running legal game between the two companies.
It's foolish to rule out the possibility of peace between the two given how far the fight's gone and how much is still left to sort out legally,say intellectual property and legal experts.
"When it's all said and done, they have so many litigations, in so many geographies, with billions of dollars at risk," says Richard Ehrlickman, the president and founder of patent brokerage firm … Read more
SEATTLE--Microsoft will square off with Google's Motorola Mobility tomorrow in a federal court here, arguing over how much the software giant should pay the wireless technology company to use its patents.
The case pits the two tech titans against one another in an arcane but significant battle over reasonable fees companies can charge for use of technology based on patents considered essential.
Motorola wants royalties that Microsoft says could reach $4 billion a year to use video streaming and Wi-Fi technology that it has baked into Windows and its Xbox video game console. Motorola holds patents that are part … Read more
CNET Update starts the countdown:
Mark the calendar on January 30. That's when Research in Motion will launch the next BlackBerry phones. Also in Monday's tech news roundup:
- Facebook is testing out new features. Some users can reply directly to someone's comment on a post, according to Mashable. And VentureBeat reports Facebook is also testing notification sounds.
- A preview of the Skype app for Windows Phone 8 is now available to download.
- YouTube will cut funding to about half of the original shows it backed last year, according to Ad Age.
- Apple and … Read more
Apple's patent-licensing settlement with HTC might actually net the company some more cash.
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in a note to researchers today that he has spoken with industry sources who told him that Apple will generate about $6 to $8 in licensing fees for each smartphone HTC ships in 2013. Based on his estimate of 30 million to 35 million shipments, Wu believes that Apple will generate $180 million to $280 million in licensing fees.
Apple and HTC announced yesterday that they had inked a 10-year licensing deal to settle patent disputes. The companies said that … Read more
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