trial

Samsung to Apple: It's not copying, it's competing

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Samsung argued in court today that any similarities between its products and Apple's are just the result of doing business in the electronics industry.

"We're not standing here telling you ladies and gentleman of the jury that the iPhone wasn't commercially successful. It was an inspiring product to everyone, including the competition," Samsung's lawyer Charlie Verhoeven said. "But being inspired by a product and seeking to make better products is competition."

"It's not copying," he said.

Samsung's legal team proceeded to go into detail … Read more

Apple pitches its underdog cred in Samsung trial

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple began day two of the trial between it and Samsung with opening statements depicting it as an underdog that came into the phone industry and changed the game.

Harold McElhinny, a partner at Morrison Foerster representing Apple, kicked off the case by saying the company had bet the farm on the iPhone in 2007, and competitors (though particularly Samsung) proceeded to copy it, leading to big profits and lost sales on Apple's part.

"Apple had absolutely no name in the field, no credibility. (The iPhone) was an entry that had it gone bad, … Read more

Apple-Samsung trial gets its jury

SAN JOSE, Calif.--The first day of the patent infringement trial between Apple and Samsung wrapped up with a jury in hand.

After whittling down a pool of prospective jurors, the court now has its 10, which will hear testimony and decide the case.

On the way to that selection, potential jurors were asked myriad questions ranging from what gadgets they owned to whether they worked for either company. Such a question was an important one given where the trial is taking place. The U.S. District Court here in San Jose is just a few miles away from Apple'… Read more

Prospective jurors in Apple-Samsung trial quizzed

SAN JOSE, Calif.--"This will be a very interesting case," U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh told prospective jurors today, the first day of a trial between Apple and Samsung in a federal court here.

It's safe to say that's an understatement. While the trial, which is expected to run about a month, focuses mainly on patent infringement, it's at the center of a battle between two tech giants who hope to gain more of a foothold in the mobile device market and the electronics world at large.

The two sides are scheduled to … Read more

Former Apple designer: I won't testify at Samsung trial

Former Apple designer Shin Nishibori is playing hard to get at testifying in the patent showdown between Apple and Samsung.

Samsung had been counting on Nishibori to appear in court. While at Apple, he developed designs of a Sony-like iPhone, according to AllThingsD, reportedly at the behest of Apple's design guru, Jony Ive.

The maker of Android-based smartphones has been arguing that Nishibori's designs serve as evidence that Apple's iPhone was influenced by Sony. If proven to be true, those claims would help Samsung, which has been accused of copying the iPhone for its own Galaxy smartphones. … Read more

Apple and Samsung fail at making peace in patent war

As the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial rapidly approaches, settlement talks between the two companies still seem to be stymied, according to Reuters.

Apple CEO Tim Cook met with two of Samsung's top executives, vice chairman Choi Gee-sung and mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun, in an undisclosed meeting last week to see if the two sides could resolve the matter before trial, according to Reuters. But the talks were to no avail -- mediation between the two companies still seems to have fallen short.

The two tech giants became embroiled in this legal battle in April 2011 when Apple filed … Read more

Apple scores latest win in Motorola patent case

Motorola now has only one patent left to stand on in its ongoing infringement case with Apple.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Posner ruled in Apple's favor yesterday by dismissing Motorola's U.S. Patent No. 6,175,559.

Described in tech terms as a "method for generating preamble sequences in a code division multiple access system," the patent was seen by Motorola as essential to the company's 3G (UMTS) standard, according to Foss Patents' Florian Mueller.

But Apple had argued otherwise, and Posner agreed that the patent should be thrown out. The removal doesn'… Read more

Jury to hear No Doubt's case against Activision's Band Hero

No Doubt's lawsuit against Activision is going to be heard by a jury.

The pop rock band sued gaming giant Activision in 2009 on allegations that the company's game Band Hero lets players convert the avatars "into a virtual karaoke circus act." The case has been ongoing ever since, and today Superior Court Judge Ramona See ruled that the decision will now be up to a jury, according to the Associated Press.

The lawsuit was first brought when No Doubt claimed that Activision didn't tell the pop musicians that players would be able to unlock … Read more

Yahoo's 'resumegate' heats up

In today's show, Google takes the wheel, Microsoft listens to your movements, and 'resumegate' fires up:

Yahoo's "resumegate" has claimed it's first victim -- but it's not the CEO. Yahoo board member Patti Hart said she plans to not seek re-election to Yahoo's board. She's tied up in the drama because she was in charge of the search to hire the chief executive and vet his resume. The scandal, which has been developing for nearly a week now, surrounds Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson and his bios that claimed he had a computer … Read more

Oracle recalls Google engineer in trial's patent phase

SAN FRANCISCO--After previously testifying in the copyrights phase of Oracle v. Google in April, Google engineer Tim Lindholm was recalled to the stand at the U.S. District Court of Northern California here this morning as Oracle's first witness in phase two of the trial covering patent infringement.

Representing Oracle, Fred Norton of Boies, Schiller & Flexner repeatedly asked Lindholm questions along the lines of whether he was the only person responsible for work on Java virtual machines and related innovations, following up with the implication that Lindholm certainly couldn't have been the only one. Lindholm always concurred … Read more