spat

Judge orders Apple, Samsung to trim 2014 patent spat

A U.S. District judge today told Apple and Samsung that they need to whittle down a case against one another before it heads to trial early next year.

Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the major U.S. trial between the two companies last year, told both sides that they need to trim down the number of accused products and patent claims in the upcoming case.

"You've already been litigating this thing for a year; you must know something about what's your best case," Koh reportedly told lawyers from both sides.

The ruling, which was … Read more

ITC to review Kodak's claim against Apple, RIM

The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided that it will review Eastman Kodak's patent infringement complaint against Apple and Research in Motion.

The move, which was reported by Reuters this afternoon, marks the latest step in Kodak's mission to get Apple and RIM to pay royalties for allegedly illegally using its intellectual property. The patent in question deals with an image-previewing system for cameras.

Back in January, an ITC administrative law judge had said that Kodak's technology was not being used illegally in Apple's iPhone, or RIM's BlackBerry devices, which prompted the ruling to … Read more

Apple sues Amazon over 'App Store' trademark

Apple is once again protecting its trademark turf, this time with a suit against Amazon.com that takes aim at the Web retail giant's use of the term "App Store."

The suit, which was filed last week and first reported by Bloomberg this afternoon, goes after Amazon's use of the "App Store" name, which Apple filed a trademark for following the release of the iPhone 3G.

The suit seeks to prevent Amazon from using the phrase on its site or in marketing materials, according to Bloomberg. Apple is also seeking damages.

Amazon spokesperson Mary … Read more

Microsoft knocks font size in 'App Store' trademark spat

Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is a big fan of typography. Before dropping out of Reed College and starting Apple, Jobs took a calligraphy class that he's since attributed to the inclusion of various fonts that are a part of the Mac OS. As it turns out, Microsoft is pretty interested in fonts, too, so much in fact, that font size has become a point of contention in the legal spat between the two companies over Apple's attempts at trademarking the term "App Store" as its own.

In a motion filed this morning with the … Read more

Microsoft: Google's Bing test was 'good subterfuge'

Microsoft wants to make it very clear that Bing is no copycat.

"I want to make sure you understand that we were not copying results from any of our competitors, period," Bing Director Stefan Weitz told CNET in an interview this afternoon. "It's almost insulting a little bit, because we've got all these guys and gals that are working their butts off to do this, and it's categorically not accurate. It's an illogical statement to make," he said.

Following yesterday's claims by Google that Microsoft had been copying the company's … Read more

Argument clinics: Where I Stand and UberSpat

When I talked to Opposing Views CEO Russell Fine in preparation for my review of the site a week ago, I asked him if he honestly thought that his service, which recruits experts from both sides of contentious issues, would actually change anyone's mind. The question comes from my observation that the profusion of contemporary media choices--by which I mean talk shows and blogs--allows users to easily associate themselves with content that fits into their own particular views. And that it's so much easier to read people with whom you agree than it is to open yourself up … Read more