02
Nov
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Patent Trolls: What Is Lodsys Actually Asking App Developers To Pay? You Might Be Surprised

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Legal

OK, before I even get into this post, let me be clear: this is based on old news. However, it was news that no one seemed to pick up at the time, and when we discovered it, we thought it was quite interesting.

If you're unfamiliar with Lodsys, let's start with a history lesson. They're better known as the shell corporation offspring of a company called Intellectual Ventures LLC, a patent clearinghouse owned by a group of, shall we say, enterprising individuals. Their purpose? Buy as many viable tech patents as possible, and force major corporations into licensing (paying royalties) deals when infringement on any of these patents, which is actively searched for, is discovered.

25
Oct
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Apple Granted Slide-To-Unlock Patent, Bearing On Android Yet To Be Seen

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News

Well, it happened - the slide-to-unlock patent Apple has been requesting was granted this morning by the US Patent & Trademark Office, meaning almost any device in America using a sliding unlock mechanism is now infringing on Apple's patent unless otherwise ruled.

apple-patent-7657849-swipe-to-unlock-drawing-001

While the timing may seem a bit suspicious, Apple originally filed for the patent in 2005. Have a look at this excerpt from the granted patent document:

A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on the touch-sensitive display. The device is unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device.

24
Oct
Android-Money

Microsoft Getting Royalties From Over Half Of All US Android Phone Sales, Plus: An Interesting Android Licensing Infographic

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News

Yesterday, Microsoft announced its latest Android licensing deal with Taiwanese manufacturer Compal, marking the company's tenth such agreement to date. While such a small manufacturer in terms of market share makes little overall difference in Microsoft's profits derived from Android, its deals with HTC and Samsung, combined with various smaller manufacturers like Compal, means it now receives royalties from over half of all Android smartphones sold in the US (the figure may be even larger on a global scale).

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The major holdouts on the graphic above are Motorola Mobility and LG, though Moto is obviously the majority of that 47% chunk of green.

20
Oct
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Samsung Decides Galaxy Nexus Was Not Actually Designed To Avoid Apple Patents, "Doesn't Know" How That Rumor Got Started, Nothing To See Here

Posted by in Android OS, Galaxy Nexus, Legal, News, Samsung

Uh-oh. Sounds like Samsung's lawyers heard about Samsung Mobile President Shin Jong-kyun's little statement that the Galaxy Nexus was designed such that no "known" Apple patents were used or infringed on by the phone. This was probably, to be frank, a very stupid thing to say. Aside from basically challenging Apple to take a closer look at the Galaxy Nexus, there's also the fact that, if Jong-kyun's statement was actually correct and Samsung did design the Galaxy Nexus to avoid Apple patents, that Apple's lawyers would love to quote it at various patent infringement trials around the world. 

This could be introduced to a jury as evidence that Samsung had reason to believe, at the point the Galaxy Nexus was designed, that their other products could be infringing on Apple patents.

01
Oct
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Court Accepts Verizon And T-Mobile Briefs Supporting Samsung, Denies Apple's Request To Respond

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

When Verizon and T-Mobile filed amicus curiae briefs in favor of Samsung in the company's ongoing patent litigation against Apple in the Federal Court for the Northern District of California, we cheered inside a little. It's always nice to see Android and its handset partners have friends in high places.

However, the question of how the court would respond to these briefs remained - as the decision is an entirely discretionary one. Yesterday, the judge hearing the case accepted both Verizon and T-Mobile's briefs, in full, into consideration regarding Apple's proposed preliminary injunction which would seek to ban the import of certain Samsung Android handsets.

29
Sep
Android-Money

Editorial: Is Samsung's Patent Licensing Deal With Microsoft The End Of Royalty-Free Android?

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, HTC, LG, Motorola, News, Samsung

It certainly seems like it. Yesterday, Microsoft announced via blog that it had concluded negotiations with Samsung and reached a licensing deal for the same seven patents it previously licensed to HTC for Android (along with other, smaller Android manufacturers). There were rumblings about just what royalty rate Samsung is paying, but the guess is anywhere from $5 to $15 per handset (it's likely on a percentage-of-MSRP basis - so think about 1-3% per $500 MSRP phone).

When it comes to royalty agreements, rates are usually internally fixed regarding certain categories of IP to avoid confusion about damages in lawsuits, but when there are allegations of continued infringement, the game changes.

28
Sep
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T-Mobile Follows Verizon's Lead, Tells Court Not To Allow Apple To Ban Import Of Samsung Android Devices

Posted by in 4G, Android OS, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

Everyone's getting on the peace train, it seems. T-Mobile, in concert with Verizon's filing last week, submitted an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief to the Federal Court for the Northern District of California this morning in regard to the ongoing patent and trademark suit between Samsung and Apple. Its contents? Basically the same thing Verizon's said - that denying Americans their 4G Samsung devices just for some silly little patent infringement will hurt 4G deployment in the US and decrease access to high-speed mobile broadband. T-Mobile actually refers to Verizon's brief in their own document, basically saying "Yeah, whatever he said, too."

tmo

After T-Mobile's statement regarding the fact that it still doesn't have the iPhone earlier this week (as though customers needed a reminder), this brief is a pretty logical step for the company to take.

24
Sep
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Verizon To Apple: Banning The Import Of Samsung Android Devices Is Not Something We're OK With

Posted by in News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events. In Samsung and Apple's ongoing attempts to sue the pants off one another in every court conceivable, an unlikely player has stepped into the arena as a voice of reason (sort of).

Verizon Wireless, the US's largest wireless carrier, has requested permission to file a brief in the Federal Court for the Northern District of California on the part of Samsung in one of the many lawsuits it is involved in with Apple. Apple filed a motion previously for a preliminary injunction, asking the court, in light of Samsung's alleged patent infringement, to ban the import of four Samsung Android devices (the Infuse 4G, the DROID Charge, the Galaxy S 4G, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1).

16
Sep
billl1

America Invents Act Now Law, Brings Biggest Changes To US Patent Law In Over 50 Years

Posted by in News, Off-Topic

If you've watched or read any of the major American news outlets today, you might have heard a solid 15 second mention about a little piece of legislation known as the America Invents Act. You probably heard that it brings the most sweeping changes to American patent law in the last half-century, and that it should ease the burden of patent filing for both inventors and the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).

You also know patent litigation is a major part of life as an Android fan, so your interest was probably at least piqued by the passage of this bill.

14
Sep
motorola-red-logo

Editorial: Was Google's Purchase Of Motorola More About Damage Control Than Patent Woes?

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Motorola

If you head over to FOSSPatents this morning, you'll find a rather lengthy article about Google's acquisition of Motorola that ends with the following conclusion:

Google bought MMI to prevent the worst for Google's strategy, not to make things better for everyone else.

In a way, the $12.5 billion price represents protection money. But not in the way most people seem to think.

FOSSPatents

This statement is obviously contrary to the heaps of coverage the Motorola-Google deal received from  major news outlets, blogs, and Android enthusiasts. Us included. This deal was to protect Android from the evils of Apple and Microsoft, with patents.

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