FOSS Patents

Five 'FOSS Patents' stories June 2011 - April 2012

Apple and Samsung CEOs to meet in court for patent dispute settlement talks within 90 days

Jordan Kahn Apr 17 2012 - 12:20 pm PT

According to a report from Foss Patents (and confirmed by Reuters), Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Samsung Chief Executive Officer Gee-Sung Choi will meet within the next 90 days for settlement talks over ongoing patent disputes. Judge Lucy Koh, who is presiding over the two cases in California, initiated the meeting after ordering the companies to submit their CEOs and legal counsels to an Alternative Dispute Resolution.

“As directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference with Judge Spero as mediator. At Apple, the chief executive officer and general counsel are the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Apple during the upcoming settlement discussions. At Samsung, the chief executive officer and general counsel are also the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Samsung during these settlement discussions.”

The report called the talks “semi-voluntary,” because the companies did not have to submit to the Alternative Dispute Resolution. However, as pointed out by Foss Patents, “if only one of them had made the CEO available, the other one would have appeared to be less than constructive.” Apple and Samsung executives will meet in San Francisco with U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero sometime over the next three months:

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USPTO rejects Oracle’s patent claim on Google Android

Élyse Betters Dec 26 2011 - 2:31 pm PT

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The United States Patent and Trademark office delivered a final rejection to Google at the expense of Oracle.

According to Groklaw, the USPTO issued the rejection Dec. 20 in the reexamination of Oracle’s U.S. Patent No. 6,192,476. Each claim of the patent was subject to reexamination, including Claim 14, which was the only claim asserted by Oracle in the litigation.

The USPTO rejected 17 of the 21 claims in the patent of discussion, including seven of the patent’s independent claims. Any response by Oracle seeking an appeal or reconsideration of this action is due Feb. 20.

Continue reading past the break for more background information on the Oracle vs. Google patent claims.

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British Telecom sues Google over six US patents

Élyse Betters Dec 19 2011 - 9:58 am PT

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British Telecom is suing Google over six alleged infringements that affect its services in a plethora of areas, including Android Market, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Music, Google Places, Google Offers, Google Plus and location-based advertising.

According to Florian Mueller’s news blog Foss Patents, the lawsuit was reportedly filed in the U.S. district court for Delaware.

BT is seeking damages and an injunction, and its complaint indicates Google refuses to pay. The second sentence of paragraph 21 in the action states: “BT brings this action to recover the just compensation it is owed and to prevent Google from continuing to benefit from BT’s inventions without authorization.”

Google contacted the Wall Street Journal Dec. 19 and issued a statement regarding the recent patent infringement allegations.

“We believe these claims are groundless and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them,” said Google to WSJ.

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Shocker: Google has been developing a lead Android device for two years

Jake Smith Sep 7 2011 - 3:20 pm PT

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A new report by Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller this afternoon implies that Motorola will be given the lead to innovate with new versions of Android and be able to issue the lead device, before any Android OEMs get the chance. The report comes after an internal document (seen above) was published to the public by the judge of the current Oracle vs Google proceedings. This Verizon/Motorola lead device is the XOOM tablet. The next one will be Samsung. Anything beyond that is speculation.

Hasn’t Google been developing a lead Android device for the last two years — aka Nexus and Nexus S?

With Gingerbread, Google released the updated OS on the Nexus S before it was given to any other OEM. They picked a specific OEM, in this case Samsung, to begin working on a device they pictured to be ideal for this version of Android to run on. Same with the original Nexus, which Google picked HTC.

All of this worry comes after Motorola was acquired by Google. Many analysts, speculators, and journalists assume that Google will turn to Motorola as being the one stop for releasing their new versions of Android. Compare this to what Apple does: one device that rules them all.

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Apple adds a dozen more Samsung products to its compliant, including Nexus S 4G and “showcase” Galaxy S

9to5 Staff Jun 17 2011 - 7:50 am PT

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Apple is applying more oomph to copycat claims against its key supplier Samsung. Just days after it wrote in court documents that Samsung was “harassing us”, Apple yesterday amended the filing with more intellectual property rights against more products – even re-phrasing accusations more strongly. The legal maneuver comes on the eve of today’s court hearing where the judge will decide about granting each party access to the other’s unreleased products. FOSS Patents spotted the updated complaint:

The original complaint specifically accused the following products of infringement: “the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smart phones and the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.”

The amended complaint accuses all of the above plus the Droid Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S (i9000), Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II (aka Galaxy S 2). It also specifies the accusation against “Showcase” products, naming the Showcase i500 and Showcase Galaxy S.

Per rephrased wording, Samsung “has been even bolder” than other companies by putting out “products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple’s products to capitalize on Apple’s success”. The company claims that the F700 released in 2007 was the first Samsung phone to “copy the clean flat clear surface of the Apple iPhone Trade Dress and the Apple iPhone/iPhone 3G/iPhone 4 Trade Dress”. Apple also points out that its products and brand have been featured in credible newspapers and magazines and even points out the #1 position it took in the BrandZ index. In Apple’s words, this is why iPhone is an iconic product:

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