Legal

During a testimony yesterday, a former Samsung manager admitted to leaking confidential information about the company providing components for Apple's first iPad roughly a month before the device was formally announced.

Bloomberg reports that Suk-Joo Hwang, who had worked at Samsung Electronics as a manager up until June 2011, disclosed information about supplying Apple with tablet-sized LCDs during a lunch with Global Research executive James Fleishman and a hedge fund manager in 2009. The testimony came as part of an insider trading trial targeting Fleishman.

In Hwang's testimony, he describes telling Fleishman and the unnamed hedge fund manager … Read more

Apple has sued Samsung in the U.K. courts, further expanding the myriad countries in which it has taken legal action against the Korean manufacturer over its Android products.

The suit was filed on Monday, Samsung told ZDNet UK, explaining that it was a countersuit against action Samsung filed with the High Court in June. Details of both suits remain sketchy, as the patents in question have not been identified in these cases.

Apple's U.K. action against Samsung takes to at least 20 the total number of patent suits between the two companies that are currently under way. … Read more

Apple is looking to put on hold two lawsuits involving Motorola, arguing that the handset maker has lost its patent rights as a result of its acquisition deal with Google.

The company filed motions in two separate U.S. District courts last Friday to delay the suits. Apple contends that under the merger agreement with Google, Motorola is limited in its ability to enforce its own patents or negotiate any legal settlements, explained Florian Mueller, founder of the Foss Patents blog..

In Apple's view, moving forward with the two lawsuits would potentially be a no-win situation for itself. If … Read more

A lawsuit filed last week by software company Droplets takes aim at Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and YouTube for infringing on its patented Web technology.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, the Droplets suit alleges that the group of tech giants infringe on one or more of two patents it holds "for developing and delivering highly functional and scalable applications over the Internet." The company seeks damages as well as future royalties on the use of those patents.

The two patents in question are United States Patent No. … Read more

Apple is asking a court in Japan to block the sale of certain Samsung mobile devices there.

In the latest shot fired in the ongoing patent war between the two companies, a lawsuit filed by Apple in Tokyo District Court seeks to ban sales in Japan of Samsung's Galaxy S and S II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet, according to Reuters.

Citing information from "sources close to the matter," Reuters reported that the first hearing took place yesterday. This latest legal squabble kicked off on August 23 when Apple filed the suit against Samsung in … Read more

An Arizona company that sued Apple over its use of the iCloud name seems to have changed its tune--and its name.

iCloud Communications, which alleged in a lawsuit filed in June that the name of Apple's online storage service copied its name and caused confusion over competing products, has withdrawn its claim. The company claimed in its suit that "the goods and services with which Apple intends to use the 'iCloud' mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since its formation in … Read more

In addition to being extremely touchy-feely, Apple can sometimes be just touchy.

So when my almost-regular reading of Go Cheng Doo brought up an example of Apple reportedly being a little upset, I wasn't entirely surprised.

In this case, the company is apparently objecting to the logo of the Sichuan Fangguo Food Co., Ltd. Naturally, it will be down to aesthetes and lawyers to decide just what resemblance this logo has with that of the world's most famous company.

But to some gazes, it might be LG, rather than Apple, which might ask a few questions. It really … Read more

Samsung has yanked its Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet from the show floor at the IFA consumer-electronics confab in Berlin after Apple received an injunction against the device to go with an earlier ban on sales and marketing of the larger Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.

Intellectual-property blog Foss Patents reported the news of the removal yesterday, speculating that it had to do with the 10.1 injunction or a newly issued ban specific to the 7.7. Bloomberg today confirmed the issuance of the 7.7 ban. The 7.7 had been on display at IFA on Friday … Read more

After CNET reported earlier this week that an unreleased iPhone had gone missing in a local bar, and that a nearby home had been searched in an effort to recover it, the San Francisco Police Department denied any involvement.

SFPD spokesman Albie Esparza was quoted as saying that "we don't have any record of any such an investigation going on at this point." Some bloggers went so far as to conclude--incorrectly--that the "San Francisco Police Department has no record of the search."

By last night, the SFPD had reversed its position. Spokesman Troy Dangerfield … Read more