infringement

Apple continues to take the fight to Samsung.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company today went before an Australian federal court, alleging that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as many of its smartphones, violate "at least 10" patents related to case design, according to Bloomberg, which was in attendance at the court hearing. Apple has so far issued only a notice of infringement but said it plans to file a statement of claim at a later time.

Bloomberg didn't say exactly what features in Samsung products might violate patents that Apple holds on case design.… Read more

The European Commission has put a temporary hold on its review of Google's proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility as it seeks more details about the deal.

The EC, which is the executive arm and the antitrust authority for the European Union , had originally intended to render a thumbs up or thumbs down on the deal by January 10. But the Commission halted its review on December 6, according to a notification on its Web site.

The Commission will continue the review after it has obtained "certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction," Amelia … Read more

As Cyber Monday draws near and debate continues about the Stop Online Piracy Act, the U.S. government has again seized a bevy of domain names it says belong to Web sites that deal in counterfeit goods.

Blog TorrentFreak ran a list of more than 130 domains it said were seized by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement division as part of "Operation in Our Sites." TorrentFreak called the move the largest such round of seizures to date.

Most of the domain names suggest sites that traffic in counterfeit … Read more

HP has won its latest patent infringement suit against several manufacturers who were producing their own HP-compatible inkjet cartridges and printheads.

In a ruling issued Monday (PDF), the U.S. International Trade Commission found that certain HP patents for inkjet cartridges and printheads had been violated by companies making and supplying their own copycat versions.

Specifically, the ITC agreed with its own earlier determination that Asia Pacific Microsystems (APM), a subsidiary of Taiwan-based United Microelectronics, infringed HP patents by making and selling inkjet printheads. The ITC also ruled that MicroJet Technology and PTC Holdings Limited both violated HP's patents … Read more

Though it won't reach store shelves until next month, Amazon's new Kindle Fire is already the target of a patent lawsuit.

A company called Smartphone Technologies filed the suit last Friday in Texas Eastern District Court accusing the Fire tablet of violating four of its patents.

Smartphone Technologies is owned by Acacia Research, a firm that buys and licenses patents and is seen by many as a patent troll. Acacia has kept the courts busy launching suits against the likes of Apple and Research In Motion.

The patents named in the suit against Amazon seem to include several … Read more

Intellectual Ventures, a controversial patent-acquisition firm founded by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, is suing Motorola Mobility for patent infringement.

The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, claims Motorola Mobility refuses to sign a licensing deal with Intellectual Ventures and thus violates several patents Intellectual Ventures holds related to a range of technologies, including one for a "file transfer system," and another that relates to "illumination device and image projection apparatus comprising the device." Intellectual Ventures has also taken aim at Motorola for allegedly violating a patent … Read more

Samsung is already moving to block the sale of the new iPhone 4S in Europe barely a day after Apple announced its new flagship phone.

In a blog post today, Samsung said that it is filing requests for preliminary injunctions both in Paris and in Milan, Italy, asking the courts to ban the sale of the new iPhone.

In filing the motions, Samsung plans to accuse Apple of two patent infringements related to wireless technology, specifically the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standard used on 3G phones. The mobile handset maker said it believes that Apple's violation of … Read more

Facebook's Timeline, the newest and most dramatic change yet to its famous profile pages, hasn't even rolled out publicly yet, but it's already under legal attack.

Timelines.com, a small Chicago based company, filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit yesterday against Facebook. Timelines.com, an online social-scrapbooking company, has been in business since 2008 and is claiming that Facebook's newest platform product could destroy its livelihood.

According to the complaint, which TechCrunch has embedded, the Chicago startup is seeking damages and an immediate injunction to prevent being "rolled over and quite possibly eliminated by the unlawful action … Read more

Apple is looking to put on hold two lawsuits involving Motorola, arguing that the handset maker has lost its patent rights as a result of its acquisition deal with Google.

The company filed motions in two separate U.S. District courts last Friday to delay the suits. Apple contends that under the merger agreement with Google, Motorola is limited in its ability to enforce its own patents or negotiate any legal settlements, explained Florian Mueller, founder of the Foss Patents blog..

In Apple's view, moving forward with the two lawsuits would potentially be a no-win situation for itself. If … Read more