Hasta La Gadget!

While the iPhone is selling well in various parts of the world, it’s a different story in Mexico. Apple has lost a court case in Mexico that may completely ban the company from selling the iPhone in the country. The court ruled that the “iPhone” name is too phonetically similar to that of Mexican telecommunications company iFone, which registered the name in 2003.

Apple actually attempted to secure the “iFone” name in 2009, and wanted the telecommunications company to cease using the name because it sounded too similar. However, the tables were turned on Apple, and iFone claims they actually trademarked the “iFone” name four years before Apple first released the iPhone.

Because of this, iFone countersued Apple for damages, which could actually amount to a lot of money — possibly up to 40% of Apple’s iPhone sales in Mexico. iFone also demanded that an injunction be placed on the iPhone to prevent it from being sold under its current name in the country, which Apple isn’t likely to change.

Unless Apple and iFone can come to another agreement of some kind (which is not likely to happen), the Cupertino company will be forced to stop selling its iPhone in Mexico. They will mostly likely appeal the case, but the ruling stands for now. Then again, Apple may certainly attempt to reach a settlement with iFone that would enable the company to continue using the iPhone name in Mexico, but for now, we’ll have to wait and see what Apple decides to do.

[via Electronista]

Apple loses right to sell iPhone in Mexico is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While the Live Tiles feature in Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Phone 8 may be something new for PC and tablet users, it was actually introduced two years ago with the launch of Windows Phone 7, but a small operating system technology designing company by the name of SurfCast is just now suing Microsoft over the Live Tiles feature.

Back in October 2000, SurfCast filed for patent # 6,724,403 and was issued in April 2004. SurfCast describes the feature as tiles that “can be thought of as dynamically updating icons. A Tile is different from an icon because it can be both selectable and live — containing refreshed content that provides a real-time or near-real-time view of the underlying information.” This more or less describes what Microsoft’s Live Tiles are.

SurfCast says that because Microsoft provides ways for developers to create app tiles that can display information on the homescreen, they are also infringing upon its patent. The company says that the patent infringement affects all versions of Windows 8 and Windows RT, but not Windows Phone 8.

SurfCast requests that orders are submitted showing that Microsoft has directly infringed, and are also ordering Microsoft to “account and pay to SurfCast all damages caused to SurfCast by reason of Microsoft’s patent infringement.” However, a lot of legal experts are saying this is simply a troll maneuver, and that SurfCast –while owning three patents– have not made or sold anything of its own since they were founded in 2001. So, it’s very possible that Microsoft will reach a settlement and that the suit won’t carry on for much longer.

[via The Next Web]

Microsoft sued over Live Tiles in Windows is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Since taking over Motorola Mobility, Google has started to rein in some of the manufacturer’s legal adventures. First, it struck a licensing deal with Apple in Germany, then it withdrew an ITC complaint against the company in early October. Now Microsoft is benefiting from its new, seemingly less lawsuit-happy adversary. Moto has decided to pull its WiFi-related patent claims from a complaint against the Xbox 360. That still leaves its H.264 patents on the docket, though, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the case disappear completely before the two companies go to trial in December. Microsoft claims it’s entitled to a reciprocal license from Google due to an existing agreement between Mountain View and MPEG LA. German courts have already ruled that Motorola’s claims regarding its H.264 patents are strong enough to issue injunctions against the Xbox 360 and Windows 7, however the company has been unable to enforce those sales bans due to ongoing investigations in the US.

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft, Google

Motorola scales back ITC case against Xbox, drops WiFi patent complaints originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You win some, you lose some. In this case, Samsung is the loser, with a federal trade panel judge ruling that the company infringed on Apple‘s patents. This is the latest in a long patent war that the two companies have been engaged in for quite some time, and comes after the South Korean company’s brief victory in the Netherlands.

The complaint was filed by Apple in the middle of last year with the US International Trade Commission. In it, Apple stated that Samsung was infringing on its patents via the Galaxy tablet and the Transform, Fascinate, and Captivate smartphones. Judge Thomas Pender has issued a preliminary decision on the matter, saying that the Korean company had infringed on four of the six patents in dispute.

The four patents ruled infringed upon include one that shows two images, one of them translucent, as well as a patent involving touch screen user input interpretations. In February, the International Trade Commission will make a decision on whether Pender’s decision will stand. This is Apple’s latest win, with a California jury finding that Samsung had infringed upon iPhone and iPad features, something for which it was ordered to shell out $1.05 billion in damages.

Apple recently distanced itself from Samsung, which has been its long-term supplier of hardware for the company’s products. Earlier this month, Apple then took steps to cut off its reliance on the Korean company as much as contractually possible. Presently, Apple is seeking to have the infringing Samsung products perma-banned, but no word on how that’ll play out has been issued.

[via USITC]

Samsung infringed on Apple patents, judge rules is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the latest scuffle between Apple and Samsung, a Tokyo court has ruled that the iPhone 4 and 4S do not infringe on two of Sammy’s patents. According to The Asahi Shimbun, a decision on September 14th found Apple had not violated a patent related to app downloads, as Samsung’s method is different. A dispute regarding flight / airplane mode also went in Cupertino‘s favor on October 11th, because the technology in question was regarded by the court as incremental. Only one case against Apple remains undecided in Japan — for a patent on using “homescreen space” — but, as usual, don’t expect that to be the last chapter in the neverending story.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Apple, Samsung

Japan court rules Apple did not infringe two Samsung patents originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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