Hasta La Gadget!

We reported last Friday about a potential antitrust lawsuit that the FTC was looking at slapping Google with over patent violations. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating potential antitrust claims regarding Google for over a year. Recently, it started poking around the way Google handled the patents it received when it bought Motorola, and now it seems Google is considering a settlement.

The potential issue comes from the Motorola patents, and how Google handled them after buying Motorola in May. With the company came a roster full of lawsuits that Motorola had filed against various competitors, claiming that they violated its patents. Also in the baggage for Google was a variety of lawsuits filed against Motorola over its refusal to license certain patents.

As a result, the FTC has threatened a case against Google via Section 5 of the FTC Act, something that concerns deceptive and/or unfair business practices. The case would be brought with the claim that Motorola’s wireless-technology patents were being used “as a weapon” against its competitors, a source told the WSJ. According to this source, the Federal Trade Commission feels that it has evidence of Google workers telling colleagues that the way it was handling the patents is wrong.

Google declined comment on the matter, except to say that it would cooperate. The FTC declined comment altogether. The potential terms for a settlement are unknown. Google has also been the subject of probing by antitrust authorities in Europe, in this case over how it displays it search results.

[via WSJ]

Google contemplates patent antitrust settlement is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you didn’t know, Apple and Samsung are still going at it, and today Judge Lucy Koh of the US District Court denied Apple’s request to have several financial documents sealed from public view. Said documents include “product-specific unit sales, revenue, profit, profit margin, and cost data.” Apple wants to use these documents in its argument in order to obtain a higher award from the court.

These financial documents could help Apple win an extra $535 million in damages from Samsung, on top of the $1.05 billion that’s already owed. Samsung, of course, appealed the court decision and wants a new trial, citing that the jury was dishonest about their lawsuit history and that personal viewpoints got in the way of making an informed decision.

Judge Koh noted that Apple is not allowed to use these financial documents as evidence to seek damage costs while keeping the documents secret at the same time. Apple must decide between either publicizing the documents and continue their quest for more damages, or keep the documents sealed and end the fight.

Judge Koh also mentioned that the extra damages and the sales bans that Apple is seeking upon Samsung “would have a profound effect on the smartphone industry, consumers, and the public.” Koh also noted that Apple hasn’t provided any compelling reason for wanting to keep the financial documents sealed other than just mentioning that the information in the documents are trade secrets.

[via Ars Technica]

Judge denies Apple’s request to seal financial documents is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

MetrosPCS shareholders have filed a lawsuit to block a merger with T-Mobile USA, claiming that the MetroPCS board is “serving its own financial interests.” The lawsuit is against T-Mobile and its parent company Deutsche Telekom in addition to MetroPCS’ board of directors and CEO. According to the current deal in place, the shareholders will receive $1.5 billion cash and a 26% stake in the company, with the German Deutsche Telekom holding the other 74%.

The lawsuit was filed in Dallas. Says the shareholders:

“The process leading to the proposed acquisition was tainted by conflicts, tilted towards T-Mobile and driven entirely by the board and company management, who together control 15.4 percent of PCS’ outstanding stock and seek liquidity for their illiquid holdings.”

Specifically, the lawsuit states that the deal was designed to discourage other bids so that the merger was guaranteed for Deutsche Telekom. Says TMONews, the shareholders are going after the companies for corporate waste, gross mismanagement, unjust enrichment, and the alleged breach of fiduciary duty. “PCS’ officers and directors will receive millions of dollars in special payments,” the complaint states.

The deal between MetroPCS and Deutsche Telekom was struck earlier this month. Although in place, it still requires regulatory approval from the FCC and Department of Justice, which will delay the closing until the middle of 2013. T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere responded to the complaints with a statement that the deal was necessary in order to remain competitive with the big name carriers, such as Verizon, and is “about driving growth.”

[via TMONews]

MetroPCS shareholders sue to block T-Mobile merger is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

According to multiple sources, it’s said that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is closer than ever to hitting Google with an antitrust lawsuit. The plan has been in the works for almost a year, and now four out of the five FTC commissioners are wanting to open up the doors to begin the process of investigating any wrongdoing by the search giant.

The FTC are claiming that Google tweaked its search rules and algorithms to favor the company’s own products over their competitors. Both Yelp and Nextag have complained about Google to the FTC during open hearings in Congress. It’s said that the FTC will make an official decision on what they’re going to do either late next month or early December.

Since users are a lot more likely to click on top search results, Google has been accused of unfairly giving competitors’ websites lower rankings in search results in order to steer users away from Google’s rivals and toward their own products instead that provide similar services. This accusation isn’t anything new; it was brought up around a year ago by several websites and online services, which sparked the FTC investigation in the first place.

Google has repeatedly denied that it doesn’t favor itself over its competitors in search results, and the company is more than happy to cooperate with the FTC. Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick says, “We are happy to answer any questions that regulators have about our business.” It’s not known what the stakes would be for Google if it loses an antitrust case against the FTC, but we’re guessing the company will face some pretty stuff fines at the very least.

[via Reuters]

Google may be hit with antitrust case from the FTC is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you thought the Apple vs Samsung court battles were over, you were wrong – evidenced once again today by another big ruling: an overturning of a preliminary sales ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. Of particular importance is this overturned ban from sales of the Galaxy Nexus because of its status with Google as one of their hero Nexus family phones, working with a “Vanilla” version of their Android software, not modified by the manufacturer, that is to say. Here the Apple vs Samsung court cases rage on beyond the one that appeared to be over for just a moment earlier this Summer.

This banning started all the way back in June and continued to receive updated statuses throughout the following weeks. At the moment it would appear that the U.S. appeals court has overturned the preliminary injunction banning the Samsung Galaxy Nexus from sales in the USA.

This ruling is hinged on the idea that the case will return back to a California court for reconsideration rather soon. The lawsuit included – and continues to include – eight patents that Apple says Samsung infringed back in February. The lower court handling this case agreed that Samsung was guilty indeed and the ban stayed in place until here nearer Autumn when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has taken command.

This court of appeals previously agreed to a stay on the injunction from sales on the Galaxy Nexus but has now changed their minds, saying that the district court in California “abused its discretion in entering an injunction.” So grab your wallets and get to picking up a brand new Nexus, folks. Meanwhile check out the timeline below of additional recent court appearances by Apple and Samsung in their eternal struggle against one another!

[via Rueters]

Galaxy Nexus ban lifted in Samsung vs Apple case is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.