13
Jun
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Apple Opted Not To Delay Samsung Galaxy S III Launch... So That The Case Goes To Trial Sooner

Posted by in Galaxy S III, News

According to the always sometimes occasionally reliable FOSS patents, Apple made a conscious decision to allow Samsung to launch the Galaxy S III on time... so that the case could go to trial sooner. Apple had the option of filing a temporary restraining order to potentially stop the shipment of the SGSIII, but doing so would've been a risk for a few reasons.

Because Apple and Samsung are still in litigation over the Galaxy Nexus, Apple could attempt to stop shipment of the GSIII using a temporary restraining order (TRO). In order for the TRO to be granted, Apple would have to prove that there aren't enough technical differences between the two phones; consequently, by their logic, the GSIII should be tied up as well.

08
Jun
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Judge Throws Out Apple's Patent Lawsuit Against Motorola, Says Neither Party Can Prove Any Real Damages

Posted by in Legal, Motorola, News

The presiding judge in the Motorola v. Apple case in Illionois, Richard Posner, has just handed down an order dismissing all claims of both parties in the case, just as it was set to go to trial on Monday. Posner's preliminary order (he'll be writing a full decision soon, which I can't wait to read) basically says neither party was able to show that the infringement of patents by the other resulted in the production of evidence that said infringement actually caused them any harm.

Posner goes even further, in fact, and declares that Apple (and Motorola's) requests for injunctive relief are simply not tenable in a case where the patents in question are such small parts of much larger products:

Because the parties believe that damages are an adequate remedy for the alleged infringements (though they failed to present evidence on damages strong enough to withstand summary judgment), and because injunctive relief would impose costs disproportionate to the harm to the patentee and the benefit of the alleged infringement to the alleged infringer and would be contrary to the public interest, I cannot find a basis for an award of injunctive relief.

06
Jun
galaxy-s-iii-pre-orders-pop-up-on-amazon-blue-and-white-models-available-for-799-and-up_thumb

[Update: Samsung Responds] Apple Amends Lawsuit Against Samsung To Include Galaxy S III, Requests Preliminary Injunction

Posted by in Galaxy S III, Legal, News, Samsung

Update: It should come as no surprise, but Samsung has responded to Apple's attack on the Galaxy S III, saying it will "demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S III is innovative and distinctive."

Apple and Samsung's ongoing litigation in California federal court has become something of a three-ring circus. Back in December, the presiding judge denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against a wide variety of Samsung products. Apple has since filed for more such injunctions on newer products, and the newest is the Galaxy S III.

s3

Apple claims the devices infringes the same "data tapping" patent it has accused HTC (again today) and Motorola of infringing - which it is now extending to the core Android long-press action dialogue menu for URLs (eg, links in Gmail, browser, etc).

06
Jun
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Apple Renews ITC Complaint Against HTC For Data Tapping, Now Says Android Itself Infringes With Long-Press URL Dialogues

Posted by in Android OS, HTC, Legal, News

Apple has filed a new complaint with the ITC against HTC over the same data-tapping patent that caused a substantial disruption of HTC's supply line into the United States, and resulted in delayed or stifled launches for a number of phones.

After removing the multi-option dialogue that appeared upon pressing a phone number in an email or webpage from its devices, HTC proclaimed it was clear of Apple's patent on data-tapping techniques. Apple seems to think they're wrong - and is now claiming that a core Android functionality (long-press URL action prompting a multi-selection dialogue) is infringing on the patent.

05
Jun
Android-Money

Oracle Wants Some Karma Back, Sues Patent Troll Lodsys, Wants All Its Patents Invalidated

Posted by in News

What an interesting turn of events - Oracle just sued a notorious patent troll Lodsys, seeking invalidation of four of Lodsys' patents. In fact, these are all the patents Lodsys owns - if Oracle wins, Lodsys will have nothing to threaten innocent developers with.

If you haven't been following the Lodsys drama for the past year+, let me step back for a brief history lesson. Lodsys LLC, a Texas patent troll shell corporation, has been harassing various developers since early 2011, including many with Android apps in the Play Store. The patents Lodsys used to threaten Android developers, large and small, are 7,222,078, to which everyone refers to as simply "078" and 7,620,565 ("565").

31
May
google-android-oracle

Judge: Oracle's Java APIs Are Not Copyrightable As Asserted, Copyright Claims Against Android Dismissed

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News

We're hearing via The Verge that Judge William Alsup has just handed down his decision on the copyrightability of Oracle's 37 Java API's, asserted by Oracle as having been infringed by Google in the Android operating system. This is probably the most important issue of the entire case. While a jury decided that Google did infringe Oracle's APIs as asserted by Oracle, that decision hinged on the assumption that the APIs were in fact copyrightable in the way Oracle had insisted they were.

Alsup determined that Oracle's API's are not, in fact, copyrightable in their "sequence, structure, and organization," and the related infringement claims against Google have been dismissed.

23
May
courtroom

Jury Finally Decides: Google Did Not Infringe Oracle's Patents With Its Use Of Android

Posted by in Google, News

Google and Oracle have been going at it for weeks now over both patent and copyright infringement claims made by the latter company. At least one issue is settled, though, as the jury on the case has decided that Google did not infringe any of Oracle's patents with Android. This is only a small part of Oracle's assault on Google. The larger issue is on the matter of copyright infringement, but at least on the patent issue, Google seems to be in the clear.

It's been a long road to get here, as the jury has been debating the matter for at least a week.

22
May
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Google And Motorola's Shotgun Wedding Is Final - And It's Definitely Going To Change Things For Android

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Google, Legal, Motorola, News

Today, Google announced that its acquisition of Motorola Mobility had officially closed. Make no mistake, this merger is something of a shotgun arrangement - and the offspring conceived out of wedlock is Android. So, how did we get here, two and a half years after the first DROID?

A Brief History Of Motorola And Android

Motorola was once Google's model manufacturer partner. At least in the US, it produced what was the most popular "first generation" Android smartphone, the original Motorola DROID. The OG DROID was responsible for "hooking" many people on the operating system, whether through endlessly modifying and tweaking the device, or simply for its stellar build quality and reliability (those things were little tanks), it was truly the work-horse that first brought Android into the hands of a large number of people here in the US.

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.

18
May
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Microsoft Wins Order To Ban Import Of (Some) Undisclosed Motorola Android Smartphones Into US

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, Motorola, News

According to an exclusion order issued by the ITC, some of Motorola Mobility's smartphone devices are in violation of four claims in a Microsoft patent related to scheduling meetings in a calendar. The specifics really aren't important - basically, the ITC found that Motorola infringed a Microsoft patent related to mobile software for creating and sending meeting invitations.

Motorola and Google had argued that an exclusionary order banning the import of offending Motorola devices wasn't in the public interest, but the judge didn't buy it. More importantly, it's unclear exactly which Motorola devices fall under the scope of the exclusionary order, which should go into effect roughly 60 days from now.

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