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Samsung, Google benefit from ruling in patent fight with Apple – The China Post

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A German court’s recent decision to ban the sale of Apple products in Germany dealt a blow to the U.S. tech giant, while offering a positive outlook for Google’s Android alliance.

Munich-based patent expert Florian Mueller said the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany on Friday barred Apple from selling any mobile devices infringing on two Motorola Mobility patents in the country — the single largest market in Europe.

The court also determined that Apple owes Motorola Mobility, which is now owned by Google Inc, damages for past infringements since April 2003, and Apple may be banned from selling wireless devices until the court reaches a second decision, Mueller wrote on his blog “FOSS Patents.”

via Samsung, Google benefit from ruling in patent fight with Apple – The China Post.

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Google agrees to privacy audits for 20 years – chicagotribune.com

October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google Inc. agreed to submit to third-party privacy audits for the next 20 years to settle allegations it misused users’ personal information.

The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission would resolve the agency’s complaint over Google Buzz, a social notification service the company built last year into Gmail. The feature allowed users to share photos, videos and updates with friends but attracted controversy when the automatically enabled service effectively made users’ email contacts public.

Under the proposed settlement, Google would prominently disclose when it transfers user information to third parties, identify the kind of third parties receiving the data and explain the purposes of sharing the data. The disclosures would come apart from the company’s standard end-user license agreement.

The agreement also requires biennial assessments of its privacy safeguards by an independent third-party professional.

via Google agrees to privacy audits for 20 years – chicagotribune.com.

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HTC Sues Apple Using Google Patents Bought Last Week as Battle Escalates – Bloomberg

September 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

HTC Corp. (2498), Asia’s second-biggest smartphone maker, is using nine patents bought from Google Inc. (GOOG) last week to pursue new infringement claims against Apple Inc.

Google had taken ownership of the patents less than a year ago, with four of the patents originating from Motorola Inc., three from Openwave Systems Inc. and two from Palm Inc., according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records. Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, wouldn’t discuss reasons for the nine transfers to HTC.

HTC now has more ammunition in its fight to fend off multiple patent-infringement claims lodged by Apple that contend phones running Google’s Android operating system copy the iPhone. Google’s involvement in aiding HTC represents a new front in an industrywide dispute over smartphone technology that has also ensnared Android customers Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

via HTC Sues Apple Using Google Patents Bought Last Week as Battle Escalates – Bloomberg.

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Microsoft Says Motorola’s Android Phones Infringe Its Patents – Bloomberg

August 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, began arguing its U.S. trade case that Android- based smartphones made by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. use technology derived from Microsoft inventions.

In a trial that began today before the International Trade Commission in Washington, Microsoft accused Motorola Mobility of infringing seven of its patents and requested a halt to imports of certain Motorola phones. The ITC has the power to stop imports of products that violate U.S. patent rights.

The case is the first smartphone dispute to be heard by the agency since Google Inc. (GOOG) said Aug. 15 it would buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion to obtain patents that could be used as a bulwark against a surge of lawsuits targeting handsets and tablet computers that use Google’s Android operating system.

“We have a responsibility to our employees, customers, partners and shareholders to safeguard our intellectual property,” David Howard, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, said in an e-mail. “Motorola is infringing our patents and we are confident that the ITC will rule in our favor.”

via Microsoft Says Motorola’s Android Phones Infringe Its Patents – Bloomberg.

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Patents ‘Gumming Up’ Innovation: Google – Bloomberg

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google Inc. General Counsel Kent Walker said the smartphone industry is using patents in an arms race that hurts consumers, leaving the company trying to “sort through the mess” of litigation.

“It’s hard to find what’s the best path — there’s so much litigation,” Walker said in an interview. “We’re exploring a variety of different things.”

Google is seeking to buy patents that would put it on a level plane with its rivals, and the company will continue to push to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office take a closer look at issued patents that are being used in litigation, Walker said. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission also need to do more to rein in software patents and lawsuits, he said.

“The tech industry has a significant problem,” Walker said. “Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation.”

Google, which had $39.1 billion in cash and short-term investments as of June, put in an initial $900 million offer to buy the patents of bankrupt phone-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. It was outbid by a group that includes Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd., which all make devices that compete with phones running Google’s Android operating system.

via Patents ‘Gumming Up’ Innovation: Google – Bloomberg.

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Google Says It Rejected Sun’s $100 Million Java-Android Deal – Bloomberg

July 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google Inc. rejected an offer by Sun Microsystems Inc to pay $100 million in royalties to use Java in its development of the Android operating system before Sun was acquired by Oracle Corp. (ORCL), a Google lawyer said.

Robert Van Nest, Google’s attorney, said yesterday at a hearing in federal court in San Francisco that the proposed $100 million three-year “all-in” deal in 2006 was for a technology partnership to jointly build Android, rather than for just a patent license.

Separately, Oracle won permission yesterday to question Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page in a deposition about his knowledge of the search-engine company’s alleged infringement of patents that Oracle got when it acquired Sun.

Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, is seeking as much as $6.1 billion in damages from Google in a lawsuit that claims Android software uses technology that infringes Oracle’s patents. Google denies infringing and asked U.S. District Judge William Alsup at yesterday’s hearing to throw out Oracle’s damage estimate.

Alsup said it appeared that Google “has a product out there that is in direct violation of these patents,” and pressed Van Nest to explain why the Mountain View, California- based company discussed a license with Sun.

“There wasn’t any specific discussion of patents,” Van Nest said. While a few lines of code in Android are “identical” to Java, that code probably came from a third party, he said. “We are investigating that,” Van Nest said.

via Google Says It Rejected Sun’s $100 Million Java-Android Deal – Bloomberg.

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Google’s antitrust probe drives speculation – The China Post

July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

he U.S. antitrust probe into Google Inc. could hem in its growth ambitions for years, even if regulators do not unleash their most formidable weapons: Seeking a breakup of the Internet giant or exerting control over its cherished search algorithm.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) probe into business practices at Google, announced last month, puts it in the company of Microsoft Corp., IBM and other businesses that landed in the government’s crosshairs. In perhaps the most drastic case, the process led to the breakup of AT&T Corporation.

Some analysts and investors believe Google will strike a settlement with the government to avoid the distraction and business risk that would come with a prolonged court fight.

But they also note that a worst-case outcome could curtail Google’s growth prospects and undermine its position at the top of an increasingly competitive Internet industry.

David Balto, a former policy director for the FTC, said government efforts to oversee Google’s day-to-day operations could cramp its ability to innovate.

“It would be like putting mittens on Da Vinci’s hands,” he said. “We’d still get paintings but they would be nowhere as brilliant.”

via Google’s antitrust probe drives speculation – The China Post.

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Microsoft gets antitrust approval to buy Skype | Reuters

June 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy the Internet phone service Skype, the Federal Trade Commission said in a website posting on Friday.

Microsoft announced in May it was buying Skype for $8.5 billion, its biggest-ever acquisition, placing a rich bet on mobile and the Internet to try and best rivals such as Google Inc.

The approval was announced in a listing of deal approvals that comes out several times a week.

via Microsoft gets antitrust approval to buy Skype | Reuters.

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Google Sued by PayPal Over Claims It Stole Trade Secrets – Bloomberg

May 30, 2011 By 2 Comments

Google Inc. was sued by PayPal Inc., the fastest-growing unit at online marketplace EBay Inc. (EBAY), over claims it misappropriated trade secrets from PayPal’s mobile- payment business.

Osama Bedier, a former PayPal executive now at Google, stole PayPal’s confidential information, the company said in the lawsuit filed yesterday in state court in San Jose, California. Stephanie Tilenius, another ex-PayPal executive now at Google, violated contractual obligations by recruiting Bedier, PayPal said.

Bedier “is now leading Google’s efforts to bring point-of- sale technologies and services to retailers on its behalf,” according to the complaint. “Bedier and Google have misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers.”

Both companies are trying to move into storefronts from online transactions and build their mobile businesses. PayPal, based in San Jose, is working with major retailers to develop a new type of point-of-sale system — the equipment next to cash registers where consumers swipe credit cards.

via Google Sued by PayPal Over Claims It Stole Trade Secrets – Bloomberg.

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Sarkozy enlists tech A-list for Web forum – The China Post

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When the Internet world’s titans alight in Paris next week for a two-day forum hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, two often clashing views on the digital world will be on display.

 

One, typically espoused by new companies like Google Inc. or Amazon.com Inc challenging the status quo, favors a hands-off regulatory approach and favorable tax and labor rules to ensure the Internet remains a key growth engine.

The other, more common in Europe, tends to be more concerned about the excesses of the Internet and has been more willing to impose regulation on everything from privacy to copyright issues to protect entrenched interests.

“The future of the Internet is being decided by businesses that are just trying to protect themselves from the potential of the Internet,” says Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig, a campaigner for less regulation in fields like copyright.

“These tend to be the businesses with the most political influence,” adds Lessig, who will join Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Eric Schmidt, News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch and a host of other technology leaders in Paris.

The United States, with its flourishing Internet hub in Silicon Valley, is the envy of many entrepreneurs in Europe who feel hampered by a lack of angel investors, unhelpful regulation in areas like stock options — and a lack of like-minded people.

via Sarkozy enlists tech A-list for Web forum – The China Post.

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