PC Tech World: patents

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

ZTE licenses Microsoft's Android-related patents

Just last week Microsoft added Foxconn's parent company to its growing list of licensees for patents it asserts are key to Android, and now ZTE has inked a deal with Ballmer and Co. as well. Now that the pact is in place, Microsoft says it's struck patent accords with roughly 20 hardware makers, and that 60 percent of phones sold with Google's open source OS are covered by such licenses. With HTC and LG already paying Redmond royalties for devices using Android, that leaves the likes of Google, Motorola and Huawei as the odd manufacturers out. If Motorola has its way, however, that won't change.

Source: Reuters

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

HTC patents a dual-screen slider phone that you likely won't see

While HTC is certainly willing to accommodate multiple screen sizes and form factors with its phones, we suspect that some of its explorations won't go beyond the lab. If you'd like an example, see the company's newly obtained patent for a dual-screen slider design. Oh, it's clever: the mechanism gracefully moves a hidden second screen into place, tilting the unfolded arrangement to form one united display area. Like with other dual-screen patents, we're skeptical simply because of market realities. HTC's rocky financial position doesn't give it much room to take risks, and dual-screen phones need special software support that often makes them non-starters -- just ask any Kyocera Echo owner how that developer program is panning out. As a result, it may be more accurate to call the patent a vision of what might have been than any kind of roadmap.

Source: USPTO

Foxconn parent Hon Hai licenses Microsoft's patents for Android, Chrome devices

Microsoft and Foxconn Parent Hon Hai Sign Patent Agreement For Android and Chrome Devices
April 16, 2013
Agreement provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio to manufacturer of more than 40 percent of the world's consumer electronics.

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REDMOND, Wash. - April 16, 2013 - Microsoft Corp. and Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, signed a worldwide patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for devices running the Android and Chrome OS, including smartphones, tablets and televisions. While the contents of the agreement are confidential, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Hon Hai under the agreement. Hon Hai joins a growing list of contract manufacturing and original design manufacturing companies with Android and Chrome patent licenses.

"We are pleased that the list of companies benefitting from Microsoft's Android licensing program now includes the world's largest contract manufacturer, Hon Hai," said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of the Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft. "By licensing both brand name companies and their contract manufacturers, we have successfully increased the overall effectiveness and global reach of the program."

"Hon Hai is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer that holds more than 54,000 patents worldwide," said Samuel Fu, director of the Intellectual Property Department at Hon Hai. "We recognize and respect the importance of international efforts that seek to protect intellectual property. The licensing agreement with Microsoft represents those efforts and our continued support of international trade agreements that facilitate implementation of effective patent protection."

Microsoft's Commitment to Licensing Intellectual Property

The patent agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant technology ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 1,100 licensing agreements and continues to develop programs that open Microsoft's IP portfolio for customers, partners and competitors. The program was developed to provide access to Microsoft's significant R&D investments and its growing, broad patent and IP portfolio. Microsoft's specific patent licensing program for Android device makers has resulted in signed license agreements with numerous companies including Samsung, LG, HTC, Acer and Barnes & Noble.

More information about Microsoft's licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Source

By: Unknown On 11:16 AM

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Red sues Sony over patents, wants disputed F-series cameras 'destroyed'

Red sues Sony over patents, wants offending Fseries cameras 'destroyed'

We reported that Sony was going "Red hunting" with it's new F-series pro camcorders, but it looks like Red has flipped that scenario. It's suing Sony for allegedly violating two of its patents -- asking for an injunction to stop sales plus an award for damages, and even that that the F5, F55 and F65 models in question be "delivered up and destroyed." The Hobbit camera-maker claims the video cams have "resulted in lost sales, reduced the business and profit of Red, and greatly injured the general reputation of Red." The patents involve Red's implementation of RAW video, but no details were given as to how it thinks those processes were infringed. Anyway, you can now add high-end video cameras to the growing playbill of patent follies.

[Thanks, Andrea!]

Via: Sony Alpha Rumors

Source: Scribd.com

More Coverage: Deadline Hollywood

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Judge Koh finds Samsung infringement of Apple patents was not willful, won't triple damages

Judge Lucy Koh has decided on several post-trial motions from Samsung and Apple in their long running patent case, overturning one key element of the jury's ruling while upholding several others. What was overturned was the jury's ruling that Samsung's acts of patent infringement were willful, which meant Judge Koh could have tripled some parts of the $1 billion+ in damages granted to Apple. On the other hand, she also rejected Samsung's request for a new trial, and invalidated two claims a wireless patent it holds. AppleInsider posted the decision to Scribd, which you can find embedded after the break, hit the source links for a few other looks at the ruling and what this means going forward. Naturally of course, it's not over yet (it's never over) as each company can still appeal elements of the ruling, and other appeals in the case are already ongoing.

Orders on Motions for Judgment as Matter of Law by Mikey Campbell
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By: Dilusha On 9:02 PM

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Apple patents a method to refine curved glass for displays and beyond

The curved screens of Samsung's Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus helped them stand out in the smartphone crowd, but it's clearer than ever that the company doesn't have a lock on the idea. Apple is exploring the concept as well: it just received a patent for a technique that molds thin glass into bent or curved shapes without a drawn-out process or using risky chemicals. By having alignment tools shift along with hotter temperatures during a glass slumping process, where the material shapes itself around a mold, Apple can bend glass without any interference -- leading to curvy surfaces that are both quicker to make and higher quality. A patent doesn't mean that we'll see a curved iPhone in the immediate future, though. Apple leaves its options open and suggests that anything from mice to TVs could be candidates, should the company take action at all. If the patent ever applies to real-world products, however, we'll have an inkling as to how the bendy shapes came to be.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Peripherals, Apple

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Source: USPTO

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By: Dilusha On 9:06 PM

Sunday, December 23, 2012

European Commission accuses Samsung of misusing patents

Samsung may have dropped its injunctions just in time

On Tuesday, Samsung withdrew its requests for injunctions against the sale of Apple products in European countries such as Germany, Italy, and the U.K.

In response, the European Union's European Commission issued a statement on Friday, indicating its preliminary findings in its ongoing investigation of Samsung.

The EC claimed in its preliminary findings, Samsung's frequent injunction requests against Apple "amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU antitrust rules."

The statement of objections is a formal step in the Commission's investigation, though it admittedly has no bearing on the outcome of the case.

However, it does inform Samsung of the EC's findings, and allows the company to refute the claims presented in the statement.

Curiously, the timing of the EC's release of the statement paints Samsung's sudden decision to abandon its injunctions in Europe in a different light.

Whether or not Samsung was being honest in its claims of dropping the injunctions "in the interest of protecting consumer choice," or was merely trying to beat the EC to the punch remains to be seen.

Either way, Commission Vice President Joaquin Almunia firmly believes the use of injunctions in cases like this are clear violations of the European Union's antitrust rules.

"Intellectual-property rights are an important cornerstone of the single market," Alumnia said in the statement. "However, such rights should not be misused when they are essential to implement industry standards, which bring huge benefits to businesses and consumers alike."

"When companies have contributed their patents to an industry standard and have made a commitment to license the patents in return for fair remuneration, then the use of injunctions against willing licensees can be anticompetitive."

Samsung will have an opportunity to be heard in defense of the allegations the EC has presented in its statement.

The EC will only begin final deliberation on its findings after such an open hearing has happened, where it will decide whether or not to inflict a fine of up to 10 percent of Samsung's annual worldwide income.

These developments are only the latest in a long list of twists and turns in the ongoing battle between Samsung and Apple over alleged patent infringement.

More concrete decisions are expected to come in 2013, and it will be interesting to see just how the EC rules in this case.

Previously, the U.S. ITC awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages in its case against Samsung.

Via CNET

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Bankrupt Eastman Kodak to sell patents for $525 million

Kodak World Headquarters is pictured in Rochester, New York January 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Adam Fenster

View the original article here

By: Dilusha On 11:49 PM

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Apple's iPhone found to infringe Sony, Nokia patents

A federal jury in Delaware has found Apple’s iPhone infringes on three patents held by MobileMedia, a patent-holding company formed by Sony, Nokia and MPEG LA.

The jury’s verdict in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware was announced on Thursday and came after a seven-day trial and just a day of deliberations.

The jury found that the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 directly infringed claims in U.S. patent 6,070,068, which was issued to Sony and covers a method for controlling the connecting state of a call, U.S. patent 6,253,075, issued to Nokia and which covers call rejection, and U.S. patent 6,427,078, also issued to Nokia and which covers a data processing device.

A copy of the completed jury verdict form was seen by IDG News Service.

Apple had argued that all three patents were invalid, but the jury disagreed.

“We’re pleased that the court found infringement on all three patents and we think that it’s justified,” a spokesman for MobileMedia said by phone. He said the company plans to make a more detailed statement later.

Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

"What you've got here is a patent licensing company squeezing the last juice out of patents that have dates going back to the mid-nineties," said Christopher Carani, a shareholder at the law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy, who specializes in design patents.

Patent rights on U.S. patents last 20 years from the date of filing. Two of the patents in the case were filed in 1997 and one in 1998.

"When you have patent infringement there are basically two remedies," Carani said. "Damages and injunction."

Carani said he thinks MobileMedia stands a chance of being awarded damages, but only for reasonable patent royalties. An injunction or damages on lost sales are unlikely because the phones in question are old, and MobileMedia doesn't sell phones so can't claim lost sales.

The dispute dates back to March 2010, when MobileMedia filed its lawsuit against Apple.

The original complaint included 14 patents, including some claims against iPod media players, but most of those claims were dropped as the case progressed towards a trial. MobileMedia originally asked the court for an injunction against sales of infringing products and damages.

MobileMedia Ideas was formed in January 2010 when Sony and Nokia teamed with MPEG LA, a patent licensing organization, to better exploit some of the patents held by each company. A listing on MobileMedia's website of patents managed by the company includes around 125 current U.S. patents.

Carani thinks the victory against Apple could help MobileMedia in the future. The win could persuade other companies approached by MobileMedia to negotiate a patent license rather than risk a court case.

"Having a finding like this will fill the coffers of a company like MobileMedia, and they will continue their campaign. In the past, they've gone against RIM and HTC. This is their M.O. (modus operandi)," Carani said.

The case is MobileMedia Ideas v. Apple, 10-cv-258, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Updated at 10:35 a.m. PT and again at 1:30 p.m. PT with more details about the ruling and comments from MobileMedia and analysts.

View the original article here

By: Dilusha On 1:59 PM