lawsuit - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

ASUS Announces Class Action Settlement, Transformer Prime (TF201) Customers Can Get $17 And A GPS Dongle

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in ASUS, News

The Transformer Prime (or TF201 if you're nasty) had its share of GPS problems when it first came out. So much so that the company began sending out dongles to fix the issue. Well, that didn't prevent a class action lawsuit from being filed and, as a result, ASUS has settled the case. What does that mean for you? Well, if you purchased a TF201 between December 1, 2011 and February 19, 2013 and you didn't get a refund, then you qualify to receive $17 and a free GPS dongle.

If you want to get in on this class action, you need to submit a claim by May 31st.

Dec

Lawsuit Claims Airpush Ads Responsible For Shady Premium Rate Charges

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News

As if you needed another reason to hate the very concept of Airpush ads in Android apps, there is now a lawsuit alleging that these ads have been used to bilk consumers out of some real cash. The class-action complaint, filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado takes aim at developer GoLive Mobile and the Airpush ad network. If the claims are accurate, there has been some seriously seedy stuff going on.

Maybe you've never seen an Airpush ad on your device, but plenty of users have. Airpush basically sticks ads in your notification area that often look like real system notifications.

Nov

Samsung Adds New iPad, iPad Mini, And iPod Touch To Its Current Lawsuit Against Apple

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Legal, News

It was bound to happen. Really, it was inevitable at this point, however today we've gotten official word that Samsung is requesting to add the newest iPad, the iPad Mini, and the latest iPod Touch to its lawsuit against the Cupertino company. This isn't shocking so much as it is entirely expected. Still, while HTC and Apple are busy settling their differences and the patent wars seemingly cooling off—if only a bit—this is a solid reminder that the two manufacturers with the most to gain (and lose!) from this fight aren't backing away from each other.

No new patents are being added to the case, so it's simply a matter of including as much ammunition as possible to lob in Apple's general direction.

Nov

Apple Adds Note 10.1 And Galaxy Nexus Jelly Bean Update To Lawsuit Against Samsung

Posted by David Ruddock in Jelly Bean 4.1, Legal, News

In a request to amend its second California lawsuit against Samsung today, Apple asked a judge to the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and Android 4.1 as it appears on the Galaxy Nexus.

At first glance, it may seem like Apple is now drawing in the entire Android operating system into the suit, but really, it's been like this from the beginning. The Galaxy Nexus was accused from the date of filing in this lawsuit of infringing eight Apple software patents, and today is still accused of infringing those 8 even with its update to Android 4.1. The most we can glean from this is that Google apparently didn't take very convincing steps to avoid any of Apple's software patents in Android 4.1.

Oct

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 John Thompson 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.

Oct

Apple's Patent-Based Injunction On The Galaxy Nexus Overturned By US Appeals Court

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Galaxy Nexus, News, Samsung

Justice may be sweet, but when it comes to patents, it's not usually swift. In the case of Apple's multiple, far-reaching patent disputes with Samsung, it took them a few weeks to get an injunction on the Galaxy Nexus based on the controversial results of the billion-dollar patent infringement suit. After Samsung took its case to the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, the higher judiciary power has sided with the Korean manufacturer. The judge in the case accepted their claims that the relatively low sales numbers of the Galaxy Nexus didn't pose a threat to Apple's business, and that sales of the device couldn't be directly connected to the offending patent feature (universal search).

Oct

Motorola Pulls All Android Devices Except Upcoming RAZR i And RAZR HD From German Website, Patents To Blame?

Posted by David Ruddock in Legal, Motorola, News, RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD, RAZR i, RAZR M

Update: AllThingsD, reaching out to Motorola, and received the following response:

“As we have previously stated Motorola Mobility is focusing on fewer mobile devices ... As a result we have phased out some of our lower tier devices in Europe/Germany.”

Motorola spokeswoman

Sounds like we won't be seeing any of those devices return.

-- Original Story --

I haven't been following Motorola's ongoing patent spats in Germany particularly closely in the last year, but I do know the company hasn't been doing well there. Failures to assert standards-essential patents against the likes of Microsoft and Apple (though Apple can't use push email in Germany because of Moto), as well as a number of losses in countersuits resulting in injunctions, have probably set back Motorola's ambitions in Deutschland.

Oct

Is This A Nexus LG HTC Samsung Apple Patent Key Lime Pie 5.0 10 7 4G LTE Google Lawsuit Galaxy? Click To Find Out

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features

The rumor mill churns and, having churned, moves on. The big story today is that according to sources familiar with the matter, reports have leaked that lead us to believe that an employee who asked to not be named has told Digitimes that sources say the next Nexus may have already been patented by Apple as the subject of the latest lawsuit to come out of Cupertino.

According to the sources, LG, HTC, and Samsung are all working on their own Key Lime Pie-based variants of the Nexus Google Experience Galaxy 10 7 4G LTE series. Early reports peg these devices as being faster than the old versions and also thinner, and probably bigger, but definitely expensive.

Oct

Samsung Adds iPhone 5 To Lawsuit Complaint: The Patent Wars Are Far From Over

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, Samsung

If you hate to read these stories, imagine how much we hate to write them: yet another volley has been tossed in the patent battle between Samsung and Apple. This time it's the Korean manufacturer taking its intellectual property guns out against Apple, claiming that the shiny new iPhone 5 violates eight of its software patents.

Samsung claims six utility patents and two standard essential patents. The later (USPTO filings 7,551,596 and 7,756,087) have to do with data transfers on mobile networks, while the former (USPTO 7,672,470, 7,577,757, 7,232,058, 6,292,179, 6,226,449, and 5,579,239) are more varied, ranging from audio streaming and control to keyboard and voice inputs.

Aug

Samsung Is Working With US Carriers To Strip Phones Of Features Infringing Apple's Patents

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung

According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung isn't wasting time on keeping the eight smartphones Apple is demanding injunctions against on store shelves. And no, I'm not talking about an appeal.

Samsung is currently working with the carriers selling at least five of those phones in order to strip them of the features described in the software patents they were deemed to infringe as part of Friday's verdict in Apple v. Samsung. This includes things like scroll bounceback, tap-to-zoom, and multitouch scrolling.

The problem? It may not help at all. Apple is just as (if not more so) entitled to injunctive relief under the design patents Samsung was deemed to infringe, so these efforts may be for naught.