Hasta La Gadget!

Currently lawsuits are all the rage in the tech industry, however it’s somewhat of a sad day when the ill-effects of corporate hardball trickle down to children’s toys. Nabi tablet maker Fuhu filed a lawsuit at a San Diego, California federal court claiming that mega retailer Toys R Us stole its product’s trade secrets for the development of its forthcoming Tabeo tablet for children. Fuhu alleges that last year Toys R Us agreed to exclusively carry the Nabi tablet in order to gain access to confidential information before launching a tablet of its own. The partnership between the two companies ended in January and Toys R Us has since announced its plans to release its Tabeo tablet this fall. Fuhu is suing for an undisclosed sum and requesting that Toys R Us relinquish its stock of Tabeo tablets. It’s too early to tell if this lawsuit will have an impact on the Tabeo’s launch plans, but if Fuhu has its way, Toys R Us will receive a lump of coal and a court order this holiday season. Bah, humbug!

Filed under: Tablets

Children’s tablet maker suing Toys R Us over Tabeo design originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We talked a lot about the drama centering on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. The New Zealand Prime Minister has ordered an official inquiry into claims that the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) unlawfully spied on Dotcom. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has called efforts to intercept communications sent by Dotcom illegal.

Key called the spying illegal after it emerged that the GCSB had wiretapped Dotcom’s communications without receiving necessary authority and permissions. The GSCB is New Zealand’s equivalent to the FBI. Dotcom tweeted, “I welcome the inquiry by @johnkeypm into unlawful acts by the GCSB. Please extend the inquiry to cover the entire Crown Law Mega case.”

Authorities in New Zealand have been the focus of a lot of criticism over alleged mishandling of the Dotcom arrest and trial. Dotcom claims that he was punched, kicked, kneed and otherwise mistreated during his arrest while offering no resistance to officers. The New Zealand High Court ruled in the past that search warrants used for the raid were invalid.

Dotcom has also been working on launching his Megaupload site again and claims that the work is 90% complete. Dotcom is also at work on music service called Megabox. Dotcom still faces extradition to the United States with a hearing on his extradition to take place in March of 2013. The extradition case was previously set for August of 2012, but was rescheduled after allegations that police mishandled the case.

[via TheNextWeb]

Inquiry into spying on Kim Dotcom ordered by NZ Prime Minister is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Last time Google found itself in court proceedings opposite Skyhook, it was facing anticompetitive and IP legal claims for forcing Android OEMs to use Google’s location services. Yesterday, Skyhook filed a new complaint alleging that Google is infringing nine of its patents. FOSS Patents reports that the IP in question is, like last time, all about geolocation technology. The patents cover various aspects of a WLAN-based positioning system, and all but one of them were granted after the prior lawsuit, hence the new legal action. We’ve yet to hear Google’s side of the story, but you can take a peek at Skyhook’s airing of grievances at the source below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

Skyhook sues Google for patent infringement… again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 22:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After emitting an appropriate number of yawns and groans, staff at the federal court in San Jose have accepted a document from Samsung’s lawyers stating that the manufacturer “anticipates” adding the iPhone 5 to its list of ongoing patent grievances against Apple. Samsung did acknowledge that it needs to “analyze the device” before being certain of its devilry, but it also clearly remains undeterred by that separate billion dollar verdict in Apple’s favor. According to the Wall Street Journal, Samsung’s latest challenge — if it goes ahead — is not expected to affect sales of the new iPhone.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Shocker: Samsung is ‘likely to add’ the iPhone 5 to its Apple lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Allegations of misleading advertising practices among Canada’s big telecom companies has been a recurring subject for some time, and it’s now been brought to the fore once again in the form of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. The country’s Competition Bureau announced today that, after a five-month investigation, it has decided to sue all three carriers and the industry group that represents them over ads that promote so-called premium texting services. In addition to demanding that such ads stop, the government agency is seeking full customer refunds for any charges incurred and a $10 million penalty from each carrier, plus an additional $1 million from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. For its part, the CWTA has unsurprisingly taken issue with the lawsuit, saying in a statement that it reached out to the Bureau last year to discuss the issue, and that its actions today “could disrupt the text message services, such as severe weather alerts, charitable donations, flight status updates or sports scores, on which millions of Canadian consumers depend.” You can find that full statement, and the Competition Bureau’s announcement of the lawsuit, at the links below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Canada’s Competition Bureau sues Bell, Rogers and Telus over alleged misleading advertising originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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