Patent Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

HTC says its touchscreens don't violate Apple patents in UK court

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 19th, 2012)

Apple and HTC are exchanging blows in a London court case over claims the Taiwanese manufacturer infringes on four Apple patents, says a Bloomberg report. These patents cover various multi-touch gestures, photo zooming and scrolling, slide-to-unlock and the use of a multilingual alphabet when ...

Apple allowed to intervene in Lodsys patent case

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 13th, 2012)

Last year, patent holder Lodsys filed lawsuits against iOS developers including James Thomson, Patrick McCarron, IconFactory, Combay, Rovio and more. Apple stepped in and filed a motion to intervene on June 9, 2011. The motion was finally granted this week, says a report in FOSS ...

Patent for advanced authoring tool from Apple looks like what iWeb should have been

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Apr 13th, 2012)

Anyone remember HyperCard? I sure do. I miss HyperCard, an "authoring tool for the rest of us" that allowed mere mortals to make simplistic programs by ordering and linking "cards" and packing them up for users to try out on the Macs -- back in the 1980s, anyway. A patent unearthed by Patently ...

Qualcomm, Intel provide source code in patent battle

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 6th, 2012)

Apple has some unusual bedfellows, Intel and Qualcomm, in a patent infringement case that it's fighting with Samsung in Australia. According to a Bloomberg report, Intel and Qualcomm agreed to provide the Australian court with source code that'll prove Apple isn't infringing on patents held by ...

Apple drops alert patent in Chicago litigation against Motorola

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 6th, 2012)

Apple and other handset manufacturers are involved in so many lawsuits that it's difficult to keep up. Earlier this week, another infringement lawsuit in Chicago that's been around for a while resurfaced because Apple dropped a patent from the lawsuit. Apple was complying with a request from ...

EU launches antitrust probes against Motorola after complaints from Apple, Microsoft

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 3rd, 2012)

Apple and Microsoft filed separate complaints with the EU that accuse Motorola of using its essential, standards-based patents as weapons to curb competitor's products and advance their own, says a report in The New York Times. Under EU law, companies with patents essential to an industry ...

iTunes, Sony PlayStation Network targeted in suit

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 29th, 2012)

Another day and another patent lawsuit. Today, we have a new lawsuit from investor Benjamin Grobler who claims Apple's iTunes and Sony's PlayStation network induce customers to violate his "data vending system" patent, says a report in Computerworld. Grobler's US patent describes a data vending ...

Nokia will refuse to license 'essential' patents if Apple's nano-SIM standard is selected

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 28th, 2012)

The discussion over a new standard for SIMs is turning into an all-out war. Earlier this week, Apple agreed to offer its SIM patents royalty-free to competitors if two things happen. Specifically, if Apple's nano-SIM idea is adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) ...

Apple, Motorola discuss Xoom in Düsseldorf courtroom

by Mike Schramm (Mar 28th, 2012)

Apple and Motorola finally got to face each other in a German courtroom earlier this week, according to reports from Dow Jones. In this case, they're arguing over Motorola's Xoom tablet, and Apple is saying that it's too similar to the iPad. The judge in the courtroom meeting, however, ...

Apple granted patent on improved antenna design

by Steven Sande (Mar 27th, 2012)

If the news of Apple's newly-granted patent on a SIM tray wasn't enough to get you all excited this morning, here's some additional patent news that should have bouncing up and down with delight. OK, maybe not, but Apple did secure a second patent today -- Number 8,144,063, which was applied ...

Apple patents SIM tray amid nano-SIM battle

by Steven Sande (Mar 27th, 2012)

TUAW's been all over the nano-SIM battle being waged in the hallowed halls of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), pitching Apple against the evil triumvirate of Nokia, Motorola, and RIM. Now, just coincidentally, Apple has received U.S. Patent 8,145,261 for "Ejectable ...

Apple, Steve Jobs win patents for Shanghai Apple Store design

by Steven Sande (Mar 20th, 2012)

Apple is constantly adding patents to its portfolio of intellectual property, many of which are not directly associated with the design or operation of the consumer electronics products the company makes. Patently Apple reported today on a patent awarded to the company and late founder and CEO ...

German appeals court lets Motorola to continue push notification patent against Apple

by Mike Schramm (Mar 16th, 2012)

Germany has been the site of quite a few patent battles between Motorola and Apple in the past, and there's another crater on the landscape over there: One of the High Regional Courts in that country has made a decision on Motorola's ongoing challenge against Apple over push notifications, ...

German court halts Apple's second slide-to-unlock case against Samsung

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 16th, 2012)

The Mannheim Court in Germany has delayed Apple's second slide-to-unlock case against Samsung, says FOSS Patents. During this pause in proceedings, the German Patent and Trademark Office is examining the validity of Apple's slide-to-unlock utility model. A utility model is a quickly-approved ...

Apple denied request to continue litigation against bankrupt Kodak

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 9th, 2012)

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper said Thursday that Apple cannot pursue litigation against Kodak while the camera company is still in bankruptcy, says a Reuters report. The judge said it would be an "inappropriate way forward" to let Apple pursue current court cases or file new ones at this ...