apple patent

Apple, Samsung damages do-over trial set for November

Judge Lucy Koh, who has presided over the Apple v. Samsung patent spat, has given a management order that a new trial will focus on recalculation of the $450.5 million award given to Apple in August.

Due to begin November 12, the new trial will decide whether the damage award was incorrectly given by the jury in the original patent dispute, according to a court filing. Koh has previously stated that the jury's damage award was incorrectly calculated in part, and only a new trial will determine the final amount to be awarded to the iPad and iPhone … Read more

Apple challenging $368M verdict with VirnetX

Apple is challenging a verdict from a Texas court last November that left it on the hook to pay security software company VirnetX $368.2 million in damages.

The news came tucked inside Apple's quarterly report, which was filed earlier this week, Computerworld notes.

"The Company is challenging the verdict, believes it has valid defenses and has not recorded a loss accrual at this time," Apple said in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The original complaint, which was filed in August 2010, accused Apple of infringing on four of VirnetX's patents … Read more

Apple requests $85M damages against Samsung be reinstated

Contending that the judge presiding over its patent lawsuit against Samsung erred, Apple has asked that $85 million in dismissed damages be reinstated.

In a March ruling in the landmark case, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh cut damages on some Samsung products found to infringe Apple's patents, carving $450.5 million off the original $1.05 billion judgment and calling for a new trial on the damages to recalculate them. However, Apple has complained that Koh made a mistake in reducing at least part of the damages by excluding two devices.

In an effort to get those … Read more

ITC says Samsung text-selection feature infringes Apple patent

A U.S. trade agency judge has decided the text-selection feature Samsung has on its mobile devices infringes an Apple patent. If upheld, the ruling could stop Samsung from sending devices to the United States.

The International Trade Commission judge also decided that Samsung did not infringe on the Apple patent that covers how a device detects if a microphone or other device is plugged in to its microphone jack, Reuters reported.

If the commission agrees with the judge on the text-selection issue, the ITC can stop Samsung from importing the several infringing products, including the Galaxy, Transform, and Nexus … Read more

German court invalidates Apple slide-to-unlock patent

In a legal victory for Google and Samsung, a German court has reportedly invalidated all patent claims related to Apple's "slide to unlock" user interface.

Today's ruling by Bundespatentgericht, Germany's federal patent court, is a setback for Apple, which has pressed the patent against Google's Motorola and Samsung in courts across Europe in attempts to secure injunctions preventing the companies' devices from being sold. However, the decision is appealable, according to Foss Patents blogger Florian Mueller, a paid consultant for several tech companies who was first to report on today's ruling.

The ruling, … Read more

Apple patents way to show info to callers on hold

Waiting on hold may not be so dull if a newly patented Apple technology ever ends up a reality.

Granted to Apple today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent called "Communications system that provides user-selectable data when user is on-hold" envisions a system for showing useful and interesting information to mobile phone callers waiting on hold.

The information being displayed would be adaptive and contextual, according to the patent, meaning it would vary depending on the caller, the caller's location, the date and time, and other items. As one example, the caller might … Read more

USPTO reaffirms invalidation of Apple patent in Samsung suit

The damages Samsung owes Apple in their landmark patent lawsuit could be reduced even further after a recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decision.

The USPTO issued a First Office Action last October that tentatively rejected all claims of Apple's '381 patent after a federal jury had deemed that it was valid and that Samsung had infringed on it. As part of its re-examination of the patent, the USPTO issued a Final Office Action, according to a Samsung filing late today with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (see below).

Apple accused more … Read more

Apple lands in Chinese court to battle Siri patent suit

Apple is now squaring off against another legal adversary in China.

The iPhone maker appeared today at a Shanghai court hearing for a case in which it's accused of copying the voice-recognition software used for Siri, AFP reported.

Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology has charged Apple with patent infringement, claiming that it holds the rights to the software in question.

Zhizhen says it patented its "Xiao i Robot" software, which is a "type of instant messaging chat bot system," back in 2004. Siri was developed in 2007. Apple bought the technology in 2010 and unveiled it … Read more

Apple: Judge was off by $85M in cutting Samsung damages

Apple is trying to show Judge Lucy Koh the error of her ways.

On March 1, Koh removed $450.5 million from the original $1.05 billion judgment against Samsung and called for yet another trial to recalculate the damages.

But now Apple is crying foul, saying that the judge made a mistake in reducing at least part of the damages that Samung was ordered to pay following last year's patent infringement trial.

In challenging the judge's action, Apple says that two Samsung smartphones -- the Galaxy S II from AT&T and the Infuse 4G -- … Read more