10
Jan
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[Update: It's Back] 'GameStick' Is Now The Subject Of An Intellectual Property Dispute And Has Been Suspended From Kickstarter

Posted by in News

Remember GameStick? Well, it was just removed from Kickstarter as a result of an intellectual property dispute. That in itself means Kickstarter is legally obligated to "remove the project from public view until the process is complete or the dispute is resolved," which has been done. That doesn't necessarily mean that the project has been cancelled just yet – GameStick has 30 days to resolve the issue. If it hasn't been sorted out by that time, Kickstarter will then have to cancel it, making GameStick nothing but a memory.

Update: Turns out this is less of an issue that we originally thought.

14
Nov
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After A Brief Scare, CyanogenMod's Website Is Back In Order, No Hostages Taken, Nor Money Extorted

Posted by in News

Earlier on Wednesday, there was a bit of a scare when CyanogenMod wrote a blog post instructing users to transition to cyanogenmod.org instead of the .com address the group has used up until now. As the story goes, a member of the team donated the domain back in the early days and had managed it ever since. Until recently when control of the domain was in question during a dispute with said user. According to the original post, this person was asking for a substantial fee for the address, as well as access to Google Apps accounts that managed a number of public-facing email accounts.

26
Oct
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Apple Publishes A Statement On Its UK Website Saying That Samsung Did Not Copy The iPad, But Only Because Their Products Aren't As Cool As Ours

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

After months of media hype and courtroom battles, Samsung was finally ordered to pay Apple $1.05 billion by a U.S. court a couple of months ago, for infringing the company's design patents. On the other side of the pond, however, things haven't been quite as clear cut, with a UK judge ordering Apple to publish ads stating that Samsung did not copy the iPad at all.

Today, Apple has posted a statement on its UK website saying just that, but its PR team has also taken the opportunity to say a few more words about Samsung as well.

After noting that "the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No.

30
Aug
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Tokyo District Court Delivers Win To Samsung, Dismissing Apple Patent Claims And Call For ¥100 Million Damages

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

A court in Tokyo returned a favorable ruling for Samsung Friday, finding that Samsung's mobile devices were not in violation of an Apple patent related to inter-device media transfer.

This news comes one week after Samsung lost in what was (and continues to be) one of the most compelling trials tech has seen in a long time, with a San Jose jury ruling that Sammy owed Apple over $1 billion in damages over various trade dress and patent claims levied by Apple. By contrast, the jury awarded no damages to Samsung, finding that Apple didn't violate any of Samsung's patents and that all of Apple's patents retained validity.

26
Aug
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Most Patent Claims 'Don't Relate To The Core Android OS' Says Google, Samsung Releases Own Memo

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

The reading of Friday's verdict was no doubt an intense moment for just about everyone interested in the mobile tech world. Apple swept up decisions for $1.049 Billion in damages, Samsung was denied its claims against Apple across the board by the nine-person California jury, and both sides immediately released impassioned responses to the decision, calling on the feelings of spectators and case-long mantras that kept onlookers from both sides in rapt attention.

Google, which has stayed mum throughout most of the Apple v Samsung proceedings, spoke up today. The Mountain View giant released a statement significantly more even-handed than that of either Samsung or Apple, though from Google's perspective, the decision is (rightly) perceived as an entirely non-cataclysmic event.

24
Aug
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Samsung Reacts: 'Today's Verdict … A Loss For The American Consumer. It Will Lead To Fewer Choices, Less Innovation' [Update: Apple's Response]

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

There's no question – today's verdict dealt Samsung a heavy blow. The massive $1.04 billion sum Samsung will now be responsible for paying Apple in damages aside, the trial will undoubtedly have an effect on the rest of the industry.

GalaxyBleed_Large

Being all too aware of this fact, Samsung has already issued an official response to the verdict, stating that the verdict is not a win for Apple, but a loss for consumers and a blow to innovation.

Here's the statement:

Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices.

24
Aug
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Jury Awards Samsung $0 In Damages, Finds Apple Not Infringing On Any Patents

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

If you're anything like us, you've been closely eyeing the Apple v. Samsung verdict as it was just read (a bit sooner than expected). While Apple won just under half its requested sum in damages, and swept up a handful of patent infringement victories, Samsung had some patent-related bones to pick with Cupertino.

In a broad motion, the jury found Apple not to be infringing on any of Samsung's purported patents, awarding Sammy a grand total of $0.00 in damages to be paid by Apple. Samsung's patent claims were primarily against the iPhone, iPhone 3G/s, and the iPod Touch, including the '711, '893, '406, and '516 patents.

26
Jul
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Samsung Says It Didn't Mean To Remove Universal Search From International Galaxy S III, Will Put It Back Soon

Posted by in Galaxy S III, Legal, News

Well, this is awkward. While it was recently reported that Samsung removed the universal search feature from its international Galaxy S III devices, it turns out Samsung didn't mean to. Oops. According to the Korean manufacturer, the company only intended to remove the feature from certain US variants of the handset. Samsung told TechRadar, a UK-based tech publication, that the feature would be returning to the UK variant of the Galaxy S III. It's unclear if this means that it will only be returning to the UK variant, or if Samsung is simply informing TechRadar and the BBC of the versions relevant to their readers.

19
May
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Orders For T-Mobile's HTC Amaze 4G Delayed, Possibly Due to Apple Patent Dispute

Posted by in Amaze 4G (Ruby), Legal, News, T-Mobile

In a somewhat unexpected turn of events, it seems that at least one customer ordering an HTC Amaze 4G from T-Mobile.com has been alerted that shipments of the device have been delayed "due to an unforeseen issue with receiving the product from the manufacturer." It looks like T-Mobile is sending out emails to customers informing them that  they have no "estimate as to when the product will be available," and suggesting that customers explore other options in the meantime.

Of course, with the recent shipment halt of AT&T's One X and Sprint's Evo 4G LTE, one is tempted to speculate that this delay may be due to HTC's current patent spat with Apple, but no one (outside T-Mobile or HTC) knows if that's the case just yet.

19
Apr
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Google Wrests Controls Of GooglePlay.Com From Squatter

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News

After what was a pretty obvious application of the ICANN anti-squatting policy, it seems Google has now gained control of GooglePlay.com from an ad-serving Japanese squatter. Google filed a complaint under ICANN anti-squatting regulations, and after the case's short stint at the National Arbitration Forum (a non-court but legally binding decision-making body in the US), Google now shows as the registrant of GooglePlay.com.

A quick 'whois' of the domain yields the following:

Registrant Name: DNS Admin
Registrant Organization: Google Inc.
Registrant Street1: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Registrant Street2: 
Registrant City: Mountain View
Registrant State: California
Registrant Postal Code: 94043
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: 16506234000
Registrant Fax: 
Registrant Email: dns-admin@google.com

While the page in question still loads, it shows that the domain has been seized (according to Google Translate), and a change in registrant information usually indicates that either the squatter has given up the domain freely, or a decision has been reached and the domain seized by ICANN, beginning the process of transfer of ownership.