Law Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Samsung accuses Apple of 'free riding' its patent technologies

by Mike Schramm (Sep 23rd, 2011)

Samsung's head of global marketing has spoken with the AP recently, and says that he believes Apple is "free-riding" on the company's patents, building phones and touch devices that apparently are unduly influenced by Samsung's inventions. No more Mr. Nice Guy, though -- Lee Younghee, also a ...

SEC violated procurement law by purchasing Apple equipment

by Michael Grothaus (May 28th, 2011)

The Washington Post reports that the SEC violated procurement law when it purchased almost US$1 million in computer equipment from Apple in 2008. In a report released last week, the SEC's inspector general said that after the purchase the computer equipment "immediately failed" to work as ...

Apple a part of $75B civil rights, fraud lawsuit

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 14th, 2011)

Apple is a defendant in an unusual lawsuit that accuses the company of "outrageous and reckless and extreme acts against the plaintiff, with the massive theft of the plaintiff's copyrighted works, grossing millions if not billions of dollars." The plaintiff, David Louis Whitehead, filed his ...

Motorola sues Apple for 18 alleged patent infringements

by Mike Schramm (Oct 12th, 2010)

Motorola is the latest company to file a patent lawsuit against Apple, suggesting in court that Apple has infringed on proprietary Motorola technologies in its mobile devices. Motorola itself filed papers about 18 different infringements. Its subsidiary Motorola Mobility Inc filed three more, as ...

Investigation moves forward in Gizmodo iPhone leak case

by Chris Rawson (Jun 3rd, 2010)

Over a month ago, police seized a pile of equipment from Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's home in order to investigate the case of the misappropriated prototype iPhone. Gizmodo (and about ten million armchair lawyers on the internet) claimed the seizure was illegal because of "shield laws" intended to ...

One district attorney's journey to iPad happiness

by Lauren Hirsch (May 21st, 2010)

Let's face it. Apple and the legal profession have not always enjoyed a terribly close relationship. Since the advent of the word processor, being a lawyer practically required a PC. Lawyers' slavish dedication to Corel's Word Perfect, long after everybody else had stopped using it, is the stuff ...

Police launch probe into lost iPhone sale

by Mike Schramm (Apr 23rd, 2010)

It sure seemed like this whole "lost iPhone" saga might be over, but maybe things are just getting interesting: CNET is reporting that Silicon Valley police have launched a probe into the sale of the prototype iPhone left at a bar in Redwood City to Gizmodo.com. Apple has reportedly spoken to police ...

Apple C&Ds Gawker over bounty on tablet info

by Mike Schramm (Jan 14th, 2010)

Yesterday, as you might have heard, the blog Valleywag offered up a total of $100,000 in prize money for information on the rumored Apple tablet. They posted on their site that they were offering bounties for pictures, information, or eventually a full $100,000 for a hands on of the currently ...

Psystar gets countersuit dismissed, case heats up

by Cory Bohon (Nov 19th, 2008)

Yesterday brought about a bit of disappointing news for Mac-clone maker Psystar. Ars Technica is reporting that Psystar's countersuit, which alleged that Apple violated an anti-trust act by tying their operating system to hardware, was thrown out of court. US District Judge William Alsup made the ...

Apple settles out MacBook class action lawsuit

by Mike Schramm (Mar 26th, 2008)

Almost a year after those two photogs first tried to bring a class-action suit against Apple for supposedly underperforming colors on MacBook and MacBook Pro LCD screens, our own Mike Rose has been proven right -- Apple has "quietly settled" the suit, and presumably Apple didn't have to pay much: ...

Engadget begins iPhone litigation crash course series: part 1 - trademarks

by David Chartier (Feb 9th, 2007)

The litigation biz is a messy and complex one, which is why I'm thankful Engadget has rounded up law student members from the Columbia Science & Technology Law Review for a primer series covering the ins and outs of the potentially ensuing Apple/Cisco litigation. This first part covers ...

Welcome to Brooklyn -- now turn off that iPod

by Michael Rose (Feb 7th, 2007)

If a state senator from my home borough has his way, New York City and Buffalo police officers might soon be telling iPod users "Fuggeddaboutit!" if they try to cross the street while listening to music. Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, in response to two recent pedestrian deaths, has proposed ...

French 'DRM interoperability' law reverses stance, no longer forces Apple to open iTMS

by David Chartier (Aug 2nd, 2006)

Portions of France's copyright law that initially were going to force Apple to open the iTMS + iPod economy for interoperability have now been ruled as unconstitutional. In fact, these provisions have taken almost a complete 180, and they now provide for fining anyone who is caught ...

iPod factory admits to violating Chinese labor laws

by David Chartier (Jun 27th, 2006)

Sounds like things might not be so squeaky clean in the "iPod City" after all, as Engadget has dug up some dirt on the Foxconn factory's admission of breaching Chinese labor laws. Specifically, Foxconn has admitted their employees work about 80 extra hours each month - which is a tad above and ...

Norway takes iTMS ToS gripes to court

by David Chartier (Jun 7th, 2006)

A consumer advocacy group in Norway is apparently not too happy with the iTMS ToS (Terms of Service) and has won a preliminary ruling in an attempt to force Apple to make some edits. Specifically, the Norwegian group is attacking Apple's liability for any security breaches their software might ...