Inside these posts: Patents

Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.

 

Motorola, Huawei settle patent suit

Motorola Solutions Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. said Wednesday they have agreed to settle all pending litigation between the companies. Get the full story »

Nokia files new case against Apple with ITC

Nokia on Tuesday filed another complaint with the U.S. trade panel (ITC) alleging that rival Apple infringes its patents in iPhones, iPads and other products. Get the full story »

Panel says Apple did not infringe Nokia patents

Apple won a round in its patent battle with Nokia on Friday as a U.S. trade panel ruled that the U.S. company did not violate any of five Nokia patents. Get the full story »

Smartphone rivalry plays out in patent suits

Competition among smart phone makers is heating up at retail, in advertising and, increasingly, in the courtroom as handset and software makers wield patent lawsuits to protect their turf and slow down their rivals.

Though Apple’s iPhone changed the categoryin 2007 and still leads the market, there are a flood of rivals and copy cats making it difficult for smart phone makers to stand out to consumers or persuade them to pay more for their devices.

In turn, that has prompted a slew of patent disputes over all aspects of basic phone use, from the way a user swipes a touch screen to perform an action to the method a phone uses to extend battery life. Nokia is suing Apple, Apple is suing HTC, Microsoft is suing Motorola and more. Get the full story »

Firm sues Groupon claiming patent infringement

From Bloomberg News | Tampa-based Ewinwin Inc., which maintains a site where businesses promote their products and set prices based on the number of customers who place orders, has filed suit again Chicago-based daily coupon site Groupon, claiming it is infringing on four of its patents. The four patents were issued in 2006, 2007, and in March and April. Get the full story>>

Motorola countersues Microsoft on patents

Motorola Mobility, the division of Motorola Inc. that makes mobile devices and television set-top boxes, has countersued Microsoft Corp. over patent infringement. Get the full story »

Microsoft sues Motorola over Xbox patent issue

Microsoft Corp stepped up its legal battle with Motorola Inc on Tuesday, as the software company accused the phone maker of charging excessive royalties on network technology used in Microsoft’s Xbox game system. Get the full story »

Apple sues Motorola over smartphone software

Apple Inc. sued Motorola Inc., alleging that the company’s smartphone lineup and the operating software it uses infringe on the iPhone-maker’s intellectual property.

The two lawsuits came after Motorola sued Apple in October for patent infringement and were the latest skirmish in a long-running series of disputes in the fiercely competitive smartphone industry. Get the full story »

Local firm sues Martha Stewart over bedbug product

Martha Stewart is getting under the skin of a Northbrook-based company.

JAB Distributors LLC , which markets patented mattress products under its Protect-a-Bed name, on Thursday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. over a bedbug-fighting product. Get the full story »

Microsoft founder suing Apple, Google, OfficeMax

A firm run by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen is suing Apple Inc., Google Inc. and 9 other companies alleging they are violating patents developed at a Silicon Valley lab Allen financed more than a decade ago.

Allen, 57, Friday through his firm Interval Licensing LLC filed suit in federal court in Seattle asserting the companies are using technology from his laboratory. Named in the suit, along with Apple and Google, are AOL Inc., eBay Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc., Office Depot Inc., OfficeMax Inc., Staples Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Google’s YouTube subsidiary. Get the full story »

Aircell wins patent suit over Internet system

The company Aircell said Thursday that it has settled remaining claims in a patent lawsuit brought against the company over its in-flight Internet system.

The settlement news comes three weeks after a Massachusetts jury found that Aircell had not infringed on a patent owned by Ambit Corp., a technology company based in Massachusetts. Get the full story »

Brinks Hofer lays off 18 more staffers

Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione laid off 18 people Tuesday, including seven lawyers, its second round of cutbacks in eight months.

Fifteen of the 18 were based in the home office in Chicago, said Gary Ropski, president of the firm that specializes in intellectual property law. The layoffs affected 4.5 percent of the firm’s workforce of about 400. Get the full story »

Motorola settles ITT GPS patent suit

ITT Corp. has settled its patent dispute with Motorola Inc., after claiming the mobile-phone maker incorporated global positioning systems in its devices that infringed ITT rights.  The manufacturing conglomerate said it was pleased with the outcome, although details of the settlement weren’t disclosed except to specify that it resolved all issues between the two over the claim. Get the full story »

High court rejects 1 method patent case — not all

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected Monday an effort to patent a way to smooth energy costs, but pleased some high-tech industries by saying the current test for business method patents may be too narrow.

The case had been closely watched by a wide range of interests.

Some software and biotechnology companies wanted a broad definition of what can be patented because they license processes. Others, such as some financial institutions, wanted restrictions on business method patents to avoid lawsuits. Get the full story »