These days it seems as though every clip one legal egress gets push aside , three more spring up in its situation — it ’s like the Hydra of Hellenic myth got itself a practice of law arcdegree . I conjecture if Hercules were around , he ’d be wearing a $ 2000 Armani social lion - skin and mucking out tribunal room .
But he ’s not , so it ’s up to us to keep you apprised of all the legal wheelings and dealings that touch on upon the world of Apple while we contain out for a Heron .
To Affinity and beyond
Our first contestant is Affinity Labs , who ’s bringing Apple to the table about audio technology . At bet are U.S. patents7,634,228and7,778,595which , as any fifth - grader roll in the hay , treat with a “ Content Delivery System and Method ” and a “ Method for manage Media ” respectively .
What ’s so egregious here ? Well , according to Affinity , Apple has violated the first of those patents by produce the iPod , iPod touch , and iPhone and the second by selling the iPhone alone . And it ’s done both despite having beentoldby Affinity that it ’s in violation . ideate ! The nerve !
phylogenetic relation has postulate the courts to prevent further infringement and , you recognise , if it ’s not too much problem , award monetary impairment . The party ’s suit also gens AAMP , a Florida - base car audio ship’s company , as a suspect .
If the name Affinity Labs sounds intimate , it ’s not that you have a defective shell of “ déjà sue ” ; Affinity antecedently sued Apple in March 2009 over two separate patents , which it claimed were despoil by the App Store , the iTunes mobile app , and the outgrowth of channelize purchased digital music to an iPod via a figurer . That type appears to still be pending in a Northern California District Court .
What a Lodsys
The litigious folks at intellectual - property firm Lodsys are back again . While the company is n’t litigate anybody else ( yet ) , FOSS Patents ’s Florian Mueller notes that it hasfiled an oppositionto Apple’spreviously - filed motion for an interposition in the case .
Besides being full of the kind of wrangling you ’d expect , the objection also brings to light a duo of interesting points — notably , that Lodsys apparently does n’t have a full copy of its licence with Apple ; the company accuses Cupertino of on purpose withholding the full term of the concord .
But how could that be ? After all , does n’t this whole thing go around around the licensing terms ? Both Mueller andintellectual attribute expert Patrick Igoecome to the same ending : Since Lodsys ’s patent were purchase from IP house Intellectual Ventures , an existing confidentiality agreement with IV may appropriate ( or ask ) Apple to keep the term hush - hush — even from Lodsys — unless order by a court .
In addition , Lodsys appears to have engaged in some legal maneuvering to essay and block Apple ’s movement to intervene . For example , Apple signal out that the companies Lodsys targeted in its original suit were “ small entities with modified resource . ” Lodsys has sinceamended its suit to include bigger company such as Electronic Arts , Atari , and Rovio , allowing it to take that Apple ’s argument is now invalid .
Unsurprisingly , this all boils down to more wait , as Apple will likely now endeavor to defend its intent to intervene , which will in turn likely require a hearing . Meanwhile , the fortune of several independent developer continue to hang up in the residue .
It’s pronounced “sthree”
Sometimes you make headway , and sometimes you mislay . Apple got a trivial of both ina recent conclusion from the U.S. International Trade Commission , which ruled that the Mac O infringe two patents curb by a company called S3 . In particular , the patents make out with texture concretion in computer graphic chips . However , the ruling was n’t all bad word : Parts of those patent , along with two other patent S3 was alleging Apple had infringed , were hold invalid .
The ITC ’s full six - penis commission has to critique Judge James Gildea ’s finding , but if it passes that hurdle , the organization can potentially forestall some Macs from being imported into the U.S. However , the iPad and iPhone are clear of any penalties because of the two nullified patents . In addition , Macs that utilise Nvidia graphics cards — the MacBook , MacBook Air , and Mac miniskirt — have also escaped , since the ruling declare them to have an implied licence .
Also deserving remark ? Earlier this month , S3 get itself flick up by none other than HTC , a move the Taiwan - establish party made in purchase order to bolster up its own letters patent dispute with Apple . The $ 300 million flock is still in the process of being finalize , but it seems pretty clear this is just another move in the arm race portion of thepatent warfare .
Franken-ly, my dear…
Senator Al Franken ( D - MN ) is speaking out against the advise unification between rival cell - telephone carrier AT&T and T - Mobile . In a lengthy letter to the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice , he urged the government agencies to deny the deal , tell that it would stifle competition , raise prices , potentially reduce jobs , and broadly be a “ bad matter . ” ( We ’re reading between the seam on that last part . )
The two company announce the $ 39 billion deal in March , though it still requires approval by the government activity before it can be finalized .
In his letter , Franken point to the foresighted story of AT&T ’s control of the domestic telephone food market , a monopoly that was n’t broken up until 1984 , as well as other fusion and acquisitions that the government previously assay tantrum to block because of anticompetitive reasons .
However , his pleas may fall on deaf ears . Franken also take the field vociferously against the Comcast / Universal merger , but that peck still win Union approval earlier this twelvemonth . So perhaps it ’s time we all prepare ourselves for a futurity managed by more and more elephantine potbelly , who only have our best interests at heart — correct ?
