Hasta La Gadget!

Once again, a decision has been made on an Apple versus Samsung patent dispute. This time, it’s a Dutch court in the Hague, ruling that Samsung does not infringe on a Cupertino patent relating to certain multi-touch commands that the Korean firm implements in some of its Galaxy phones and tablets. This isn’t the first time that the Netherlands-based court has found in favor of Samsung, and Apple had already lost a preliminary injunction on this same patent last year. Reuters also reports that the Hague court’s decision comes in the same week that the International Trade Commission is expected to decide about further patent disputes between the two firms, which went in favor of Apple the last time around. At the very least, this long and bumpy ride isn’t over yet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Dutch court rules that Samsung didn’t infringe on Apple multi-touch patent originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is a sticky case: Lee Jennings, a South Carolina man, was cheating on his wife. She found out, and she hacked into Lee’s Yahoo email account by guessing the answers to his security questions–they were married, after all. Lee Jennings sues his soon-to-be ex, and he wins a settlement, because his emails are protected under the Stored Communications Act. But during the appeal, the South Carolina Supreme Court reverses that judgement, and says that Lee has no claim against his wife, even though she got into his email through surreptitious means.  (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: World War 2 inspired cipher to secure your emails, Kinect e-mail hack allows stroke victim to communicate electronically,

It’s a big day in the world of e-books, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the government, rather than face trial — as Apple, Macmillian and Penguin Group will do in June of 2013. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the publishers will be required to terminate their contracts with Apple within one week. Similarly, they will be required to end contracts with other e-book retailers where clauses exist that would hinder the seller’s ability to set pricing. Further, the settling companies won’t be able to form contracts for the next two years with e-book retailers that would hinder the seller’s discretion to set pricing.

During the settlement approval period, individuals and companies alike were given 60 days to weigh in on the matter, which included objections from the American Booksellers Association, the Authors Guild and Barnes & Noble. Ultimately, Judge Cote determined that arguments against the settlement were “insufficient” to block the approval.

Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last Friday, Samsung got punched in its collective corporate throat by Apple’s legal team and a jury of its peers. Apple chief Tim Cook immediately celebrated… with a memo! Samsung’s memo was less fun. Much less fun. But hopeful! More »

In the other court battle between Apple and Samsung, Apple is accusing the Galaxy Nexus of violating Apple’s “universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system” patent with its Universal Search. Samsung is saying Apple shouldn’t feel threatened by the Galaxy Nexus because the sales of the phone are so “minuscule”. Really. More »