uspto

Sales injunctions against products found to infringe on patents may not always be in the public's interest and should be employed in very rare instances, the Justice Department and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recommended today.

The departments' joint policy statement echoes the position of the Federal Trade Commission, which last week ruled Google must stop blocking the use of standard essential patents by competitors. The FTC said in June that such bans on imports could cause "substantial harm" to consumers, competition, and innovation.

Companies that hold patents deemed to be industry essential are expected … Read more

One of Apple's broad patents covering touch-screen technology is under fire by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, following a re-examination.

The USPTO ruled this week that all 20 claims included in the patent are invalid, according to a filing spotted by blog Foss Patents.

The decision, which was handed down Monday, is not final.

It's the second such Apple patent to be deemed completely invalid following a re-examination by the USPTO. A similar decision for an Apple patent covering the company's rubber-banding bounce effect came in late October, and is also subject to an appeal. … Read more

Apple's effort to trademark the term "Multi-Touch" in the United States has been denied.

MacRumors posts the decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office dated from last week, wherein the governing body denied Apple's application, saying that the term is merely descriptive of how people interact with its products.

"Thus, from the foregoing, we find that 'multi-touch' not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device," the filing from the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board reads. "Based on the evidence discussed … Read more

We celebrate the patent wars with Zynga while Google's stock gets downgraded. TV Studios think its a good idea to pull back their content on the Web and if you've ever faked a phone call on your cell phone, you're not the only one.

With a lull in the battle of words between Google and Microsoft over patents held by tech giants, Apple today has been granted 20 new ones, including patents that cover integrated touch screens and parts of the visual voice mail tool found on the iPhone.

The full list, dug up today by Apple patent tracking blog Patently Apple, is definitely on the technical side, including printed circuit boards, metadata processing, and a system for estimating where a computer is located to improve online shipping experiences.

Of special interest though is one for an "integrated touch screen." The system, … Read more

Apple's winning of a key touch-screen patent this morning could give the company some of its biggest ammo yet when it comes to both fending off and going after technology rivals in the courtroom.

Apple is no stranger to legal battles, but the company is a relative newcomer to the mobile-phone business, and has extended its reach into that space with mobile devices like the iPad. Apple's success has made it an increasingly larger target, and a player that needs to defend its turf. Patents make up a huge part of that.

Now's as good a time … Read more

Microsoft has once again filed opposition to Apple's efforts to trademark the phrase "App Store."

In a new reply filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to get Apple's trademark application refused, Microsoft rebutted Apple's rebuttal from earlier this month. This is the same one Microsoft knocked for breaking the rules by being too long and using a smaller font size to get in more of an argument.

"The undisputed facts establish that 'app store' means exactly what it says, a store offering apps, and is generic for the retail store services … Read more

Apple has fired another legal salvo over the use of the term "app store," this one targeted at adult app store MiKandi.

Last week, MiKandi received a cease-and-desist order from Apple over the use of the term "app store," company co-founder Jennifer McEwen confirmed today to CNET.

In an interview with GeekWire published yesterday, fellow MiKandi co-founder Jesse Adams said that Apple specifically asked the company to stop billing itself as the "world's first app store for adults" and to stop using the term "app store" in describing its own free … Read more

As the holder of more than 25,000 patents and pending patent applications in the United States, Microsoft knows a thing or two about getting them. And a long history of litigation is further proof of its intent on defending such intellectual property.

But in a post yesterday by Senior VP and General Counsel Brad Smith and VP and Deputy General Counsel Horacio Guitierrez on the company's Microsoft on the Issues blog, the pair outlined some things about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that the company believes could use some work.

"In our view, the … Read more