patents

Apple predicted to generate up to $280 million a year in HTC deal

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

Apple, HTC announce global settlement of patent disputes

Apple and HTC announced a wide-reaching patent licensing agreement this evening that includes settlement of all current litigation between the two companies.

The two companies, which have been locked in a series of bitter patent disputes over the last two years, agreed to a 10-year joint licensing agreement for all current and future patents from both companies, according to a brief statement issued this evening. Financial terms of the settlement were not released.

The chief executives of both companies issued statements welcoming the settlement.

"We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC," Apple CEO Tim Cook … Read more

Apple loses bid to nix patent troll's 'screen rotation' suit

You might think it's obvious that when an iPhone or similar device is placed on its side, what's displayed on the screen should rotate as well.

But CNET has learned that a federal judge in Delaware yesterday rejected Apple's attempt to throw out a lawsuit over screen rotation brought by a holding company, MobileMedia Ideas, which has been dubbed "a classic patent troll."

U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson said the suit could proceed, ruling that the question of whether iOS devices infringed on the patent, No. 6,441,828, was "suitable for determination … Read more

The man with the election's winning numbers

Besides President Obama, the big winner on Election Day was big data.

Big data's patron saint -- FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver -- won the battle to predict the outcome of the contest between Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Where breathless pundits brandishing equivocating polls shouted from the rooftops over the last few weeks that the race for the White House was a "toss-up," or "too close to call," Silver and other poll aggregators sat back and calmly told anyone who would listen that the math told another story: Obama's re-election was never … Read more

In your FaceTime: Apple gets sued by VirnetX -- again

VirnetX, which has already won $368.2 million in damages, isn't quite done with Apple.

The patent holding and security software company, which earlier this week won an earlier suit against Apple in a Texas court, has now slapped the electronics giant with a new lawsuit. As in the prior complaint, VirnetX is accusing Apple of infringing four of its networking patents through the use of FaceTime.

Those patents, Nos. 6,502,135, 7,418,504, 7,921,211 and 7,490,151, cover advancements for secure communication over the Internet. That includes technology for creating a virtual private … Read more

Judge to review whether foreman in Apple v. Samsung hid info

Federal District Judge Lucy Koh will "consider the questions" of whether the jury foreman in Apple v. Samsung "concealed information" during the jury selection process and whether there was misconduct.

Koh said she will look into the matter during a December 6 hearing. As part of her inquiry, Koh said she will require Apple to disclose what information the company's lawyers knew about the jury foreman.

Samsung is trying to get the $1 billion patent judgment that a San Jose, Calif. jury awarded Apple in August thrown out. Apple filed suit against Samsung last year … Read more

Olympus gives in, settles with Intellectual Ventures

Intellectual Ventures, the giant patent-holding company that's become synonymous with the term "patent troll," says it has settled a contentious infringement suit with camera-maker Olympus.

The suit, filed in Sept. 2011 against Olympus and fellow camera-maker Canon, claimed the companies infringed on nine image sensor patents, the first of which was filed in 1995 and granted three years later. Intellectual Ventures, founded by ex-Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, is still pursuing the case against Canon, as well as a similar suit, filed a month later, against Nikon.

Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. But the deal highlights … Read more

Apple patent could transform headphones into loudspeakers

Apple has cooked up a design for headphones that can also serve as external loudspeakers.

A patent filed today with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a "dual-mode headphone" that could deliver sound whether you wear them around your ears or place them on a surface, according to Patently Apple.

The headphones would include circuitry to detect their position. They'd sense when they're around or near your ears so that you're not blown away by the sound.

A built-in amplifier would pipe up the audio to deliver higher output when the headphones are … Read more

Apple walloped with $368M in damages in VirnetX patent suit

A Texas court ordered Apple to pay $368.2 million in damages to the patent holding and security software company VirnetX today. According to Bloomberg, which broadcast the news on Twitter, Apple is being fined over infringement of VirnetX's network patents.

In the suit, VirnetX claimed that Apple integrated these network patents into its products like FaceTime, according to 9to5Mac. Originally VirnetX was asking for $900 million, but apparently the jury decided $368 million was enough.

VirnetX is well known for going after major tech companies for patent infringement. In its early days, the company aggressively patented technology that … Read more