Aereo files 2nd countersuit against Fox, PBS for right to transmit broadcast TV

March 20, 2012 1:07 PM Meghan Kelly
Meghan Kelly

Aereo, which streams local broadcast television to your mobile devices, has filed a second countersuit against PBS, Fox, and two New York broadcasters already embroiled in legal battle with the entertainment tech startup.

Aereo allows people to receive broadcast TV …

Foxconn won’t sue for damning radio episode, Steve Wozniak supports Mike Daisey

March 19, 2012 1:32 PM Meghan Kelly
Meghan Kelly

Chinese manufacturing company Foxconn will not seek legal action against radio program This American Life or actor Mike Daisey for a controversial and recently retracted segment about the factory’s working conditions.

“Our corporate image has been totally ruined,” said Simon …

Path, Apple, Facebook named in mobile privacy class-action lawsuit

March 17, 2012 1:28 PM Meghan Kelly
Meghan Kelly

A class-action lawsuit was filed against 18 high-profile mobile application companies this week, resulting out of recent reports that these companies “steal” user address books.

The 13 individuals are bringing Path, Twitter, Apple, Facebook, Beluga, Yelp, Burbn, Instagram, Foursquare, Gowalla, …

Aereo says people have a legal right to rabbit ears and DVRs, countersues the big TV networks

March 13, 2012 7:59 AM Ben Popper
Ben Popper

Aereo, the New York startup that is building a new system for streaming and recoding live TV, is countersuing the big TV networks that filed a lawsuit against it at the beginning of this month. The company, which is backed …

Here are the 10 patents Yahoo is using to sue Facebook (and what they really mean)

March 13, 2012 5:02 AM Ben Popper
Ben Popper

Editor's Pick

With Facebook getting ready for its IPO, Yahoo has decided to sue over patent infringement. Yahoo used the same tactic against Google in the run up to their IPO, pocketing a helping of the search engine’s pre-IPO shares.

Yahoo’s new …

Bankrupt Bitcoin exchange Tradehill suing red hot payment startup Dwolla for $2M

March 7, 2012 5:08 AM Ben Popper
Ben Popper

One of the reasons that small startup are loathe to announce big funding rounds is that plaintifs and patent trolls always come out of the woodwork. Payment startup Dwolla, which recently closed a $5 million round of funding led by …

Clash of the titans! Infamous patent troll Intellectual Ventures sues AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile

February 16, 2012 9:57 AM Ben Popper
Ben Popper

Intellectual Ventures is suing AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, accusing them of infringing on 14 separate patents. In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware today, Intellectual Ventures, a private company that has made a business of producing, collecting, …

Not total bunk, case of “stolen” Twitter followers moves forward

February 3, 2012 11:32 AM Jennifer Van Grove
Jennifer Van Grove

The case of the “stolen” Twitter followers may or may not have merit, but its claims passed a second litmus test this week.

In the matter of PhoneDog versus Noah Kravitz, a U.S. district court judge ruled to allow the …

Apple’s “thermonuclear war” against Android is an expensive dud

January 24, 2012 4:56 AM Ben Popper
Ben Popper

This morning, Reuters reported Apple lost an appeal to ban Android tablets in the Netherlands. It’s another failure for an expensive legal strategy that has done nothing to stem the growth of Android’s marketshare in the smartphone and tablet space.…

Creepy Steve Jobs action figure canceled after Apple lawyers step in

January 17, 2012 7:46 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

The Chinese company that planned to manufacture a life-like Steve Jobs action figure has scrapped its plans after Apple lawyers and Jobs’ family asked it to stop.

The somewhat creepy 1-foot-tall Jobs doll was unveiled by Chinese toy company In …

LCD display makers to pay $553M in price-fixing conspiracy case

December 27, 2011 1:18 PM Heather Kelly
Heather Kelly

Seven major LCD display makers have agreed to pay more than $553 million for illegally conspiring to fix prices of thin film transistor (LFT) LCD panels used in television, computer and laptop screens. Samsung Electronics, Sharp and Chimei Innolux are …

HTC testing new phones to work around Apple patent violation

December 21, 2011 9:03 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

After taking a major hit in court this week from an Apple patent lawsuit, HTC is already in the process of testing new devices and software that workaround the patent violations.

Two days ago, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled …

British Telecom targets more than Android in patent suit against Google

December 19, 2011 8:46 AM Devindra Hardawar
Devindra Hardawar

Yet another major company has jumped into patent squabbles with Google. British Telecommunications filed suit against the search giant on Thursday for infringing on six patents.

BT is aiming higher than most other companies targeting Google — which at this …

Motorola wins latest patent spat against Apple in Germany

December 9, 2011 4:15 PM Heather Kelly
Heather Kelly

A German court sided with Motorola in a patent lawsuit against Apple today, granting an injunction against the iPad and iPhone maker. Apple said it plans to appeal the decision.

Motorola’s lawsuit, which was filed in April 2011, accuses Apple …

FCC Chairman Genachowski seeks hearing on AT&T/T-Mobile merger

November 22, 2011 4:33 PM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski has requested a trial-like hearing for the proposed AT&T and T-Mobile merger after deciding that the deal would hurt consumers.

The FCC’s hearing would be yet another roadblock to the beleaguered telecom merger. On …

Oracle accuses HP and Intel of secretly keeping dead Itanium chip alive

November 20, 2011 3:21 PM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Oracle filed court documents late last week contending that Hewlett-Packard and Intel have secretly been keeping the unpopular Itanium server chip alive, even though no one wants to buy it.

“HP has secretly contracted with Intel to keep churning out …

Porn bigwigs get their panties in a twist over .XXX domain

November 18, 2011 11:19 AM Chikodi Chima
Chikodi Chima

Manwin Licensing is going to court to make the world safe for porn peddlers.

Specifically the Luxembourg-based company that operates YouPorn and Playboy.com wants to block the adoption of the .XXX domain and alleges that the Internet Corporation for Assigned …

Samsung gives up the fight against iPhone 4S in South Korea

November 14, 2011 7:39 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has decided not to pursue a lawsuit to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in South Korea, as it apparently feared backlash from Korean consumers wanting to get their hands on the latest Apple device.…

Judge orders alleged Facebook co-founder Ceglia to return to U.S. to hunt for evidence

November 3, 2011 12:35 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Paul Ceglia, the man who last year claimed he owned 84 percent of Facebook, has been ordered to return to the U.S. to unearth the one piece of physical evidence that could settle the court case.

Ceglia, who is currently …

Google vs. Oracle trial delayed, but it’s no threat to Android, spokesperson says

October 19, 2011 2:17 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

The judge in the ongoing Google/Oracle lawsuit over Android and its use of Java has issued a stay. That means the trial will be delayed, and no new date has yet been set.

Sources close to the matter tell us …