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EU regulators start investigation with Samsung over antitrust concerns

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by Robert Nazarian on
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If being in court every day over patent issues in 10 countries isn’t enough, now EU regulators are investigating whether Samsung Electronics breached antitrust rules by accusing rivals such as Apple of infringing its technology patents.

Last year, Samsung filed for injunctions in several EU countries againt competitors for infringing patents. Back in 1998 Samsung pledged to license its patents to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

“The (European) Commission will investigate, in particular, whether in doing so (seeking injunctions on patent infringements in 2011) Samsung has failed to honor its irrevocable commitment given in 1998 to the European Telecommunications Standards,” the EU executive said.

» Read the rest

Google Presents Letter To Congress Addressing Questions Of Its New Privacy Policy

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by Roy Alugbue on
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You remember how Google recently announced it would consolidate its privacy policies into one policy, right? In case you’ve forgotten, this change will reflect all the information you search for, all the emails that are sent in Gmail, all the videos you watch or subscribe to in YouTube, places you’ve looked up on Google Maps or even posts and discussions on Google+– and will be sent and stored in one place. All of this is done to enhance users’ overall Google experience, but keep in mind users cannot opt-out of this new privacy policy. Once you have a Google account and use any of its services, you’re pretty much stuck with what you get. That’s why plenty of folks are coming up in arms and expressing their concerns regarding this imminent change.

That’s why Google took some time and addressed concerns to Congress in a detailed letter. Anyone who is concerned about their privacy will definitely want to set aside some time and check out this letter. This is a long letter, so here are some quick bullet points you might want to focus on:

 

  • We’re still keeping your private information private — we’re not changing the visibility of any information you have stored with Google.
  • We’re still allowing you to do searches, watch videos on YouTube, get driving directions on Google Maps, and perform other tasks without signing into a Google Account.
  • We’re still offering you choice and control through privacy tools like Google Dashboard and Ads Preferences Manager that help you understand and manage your data.
  • We still won’t sell your personal information to advertisers.
  • We’re still offering data liberation if you’d prefer to close your Google Account and take your data elsewhere.

Kudos to Google for taking immediate action in addressing its users’ concerns. Be sure to make some free time and check out the video below in addition to checking out Google’s letter in its entirety at the link below.

 

 YouTube Preview Image 

source: Droid Life
via: Google

German Appeals Court Sticking To Galaxy Tab 10.1 Injunction But For A Different Reason Than Apple’s Claim

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by Joe Sirianni on
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And the Apple and Samsung news just continues to flow like water.  In recent news the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (an appeals court) is sticking to a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and also states that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 may be in jeopardy of violating similar patents.  However, unlike the original file claim, the appeals court is basing this conclusion on a violation of a German unfair competition law, Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG (you’re going to have rely on Google Translate for that one folks).  And the lower court’s ruling was based on a “Community Design” which is equivocation to a U.S. design patent.  We initially saw the injunction issued in early August of last year where in the following September it was upheld and quickly appealed by Samsung to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.   » Read the rest

Mobile Privacy Bill Introduced In The House, Would Regulate Carrier IQ-Like Tracking Software

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by Roy Alugbue on
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The Carrier IQ controversy has prompted numerous concerns and fears over citizens’ privacy rights. That’s why Congress has gone ahead and taken precautionary steps to ensure this type of situation never happens again by drafted a bill called The Mobile Device Privacy Act in the House of Representatives. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) put it best:

“Consumers have the right to know and say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information”.

So what are the details of the bill you ask? Basically if the bill were to be achieved and passed, it would require companies to disclose tracking software and detail what information it collects. Furthermore, it would require consumer consent for any data collection or transmission; while companies that want to transmit data to third parties would need to gain approval from the FTC and FCC in order to do so. Read on to see more of the nitty gritty details and what the next steps are before the bill becomes law. » Read the rest

Motorola Adds The iPhone 4S to its Legal Fight Against Apple

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by Spencer McClendon on
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Motorola has added the iPhone 4S and iCloud to a legal battle going on in the Sunshine State of Florida. This battle is not a new one but rather just an add on to an existing case already in the system. However this one now adds the iPhone 4S and iCloud to the list of infringements that Motorola claims Apple committed.

Motorola claims six patents have been infringed upon by Apple, » Read the rest

Dutch Court Denies Apple’s Appeal and Allows Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Sales To Flourish

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by Joe Sirianni on
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Man, I hate Apple.  Did I type that out loud?  Sorry about that folks, there’s just something about a company who sues everything with a heartbeat because they’ve produced a slate device in the shape of a rectangle, has a touch screen, a power button and allows you to swipe things.  It’s just downright getting annoying now.  Well, it’s nice to see that a court in Hague has stuck it to Apple as they denied their request to ban the tab 10.1 in the Netherlands.  The folks over at NU.nl have reported that late last year another Dutch court ruled similarly in which the Cupertino boys quickly appealed with the ridiculous notion that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab was too similar to the iPad 2.  Today, the Hague court quickly determined that Apple had no leg to stand on here and that the two devices exhibited plenty of differences to compete in the market together.  Stay tuned because as you know, the legal battle isn’t over.  This is but one patent dispute among many between the two industry giants.  However, today, Samsung gets to claim the small but righteous victory.  Any thoughts?  Feel free to plug away in the comments below.

[via NU.nl by Engadget]

 

Apple has tossed $100 million into the fight against HTC

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by Jim Farmer on
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It’s only the first round and already Apple has reportedly burned through $100 million on its legal battle with HTC, and the fact of the matter is, here lately they have had little to show for it. Newsweek’s Dan Lyons notes Apple’s onslaught of lawsuits around the world have yielded precious little while meaningful wins have been few and far between in its ongoing legal battles against Android vendors. Apple did manage a victory last month when the International Trade Commission banned the import of several HTC smartphones it deemed to be infringing on a patent, but HTC responded the same day and said a simple workaround was already set to be rolled out. How do you like them apples? No end in sight yet however, and if it comes down to cash, Apple certainly has the resources and drive to ruin HTC. Hopefully HTC can continue to rectify their disputes quickly and simply.

[via BGR through RealDan]

Galaxy Nexus Infringes on Apple Patents, Or So Apple Says

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by Spencer McClendon on
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Apple is at it again. This time they have included the Galaxy Nexus in their onslaught of patent lawsuits. What’s the infringement you ask? Well it’s the slide-to-unlock utility model in Germany.  That’s right Apple has added the Galaxy Nexus to it’s ongoing attack of Android devices and the manufactures that make them. Now we won’t get the courts decision until March 16,2012, so we will just have to wait and see if Apple wins this or if Samsung can walk away clean and clear.

We don’t have too much information on this one yet folks as it was just filed today. However we know how these things go. They take time to play out and could go either way. Samsung’s legal costs are all ready in the millions in Germany, so expect this to continue and we will have all the coverage of it as it unfolds. Are you sick of Apple’s lawsuits? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Source FOSS Patents

 

Samsung suffers a setback in German court, Legal costs now at $60 million

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by Robert Nazarian on
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Samsung received some bad news this week from a Germany court. The Mannheim court ruled against one patent out of three mobile technologies Samsung claims Apple infringed. The other other two will be decided on January 27 and March 2. Samsung hasn’t decided if they will appeal the decision.

“We are disappointed that the court did not share our views regarding the infringement by Apple of this specific patent in Germany,” Samsung said in a statement.

We reported last month that Samsung was setting aside $200 million for these Apple-related legal battles which are in 10 countries, including the U.S., France, Australia, and Japan. So far Samsung has already spent $60 million since April 2011 for just Apple-related legal battles.

Clearly there’s no end in site to these legal battles. Money will continue to be burned up which could go towards innovation or better prices. It’s sad, but unfortunately this is the current state of mobile, and it’s here to stay for now.

[via reuters]

 

According to Oracle, Google is making $10 million in annual revenue per day from Android activations

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by Robert Nazarian on
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Recently Oracle made a surprising move in its Java lawsuit with Google by asking the court for a stay of its patent claims for nine months in favor of a near-term copyright trial. What’s most interesting is Oracle’s analysis on Google and the economic impacts of Android.

If you remember, Andy Rubin reported that Android activations are now at 700,000 per day. Oracle made the following statement about that:

“While this case awaits trial, more than 700,000 Android-based devices are activated every day, all fundamentally built around the copyrighted Java APIs and the enhanced performance enabled by Oracle’s patents. Each day’s worth of activations likely generates approximately $10 million in annual mobile advertising revenue for Google.”

There’s no indication of how Oracle came to this conclusion, but for whatever reason, it appears they’re assuming annual revenues of roughly $14 per Android user.

They also went on to say that Android is also important to Google for the growth of its social network Google+, and Android is not as open as everyone thinks.

One other interesting note is they’re predicting that daily Android activations will hit 2.5 million per day within the next twelve months. It will be interesting to see if that goal is met because that is one huge-ass  number.

[via foss patents]

 

 

 

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