Hasta La Gadget!

Hope and pray all you want, but the patent wars are far from over. The latest chapter in the ongoing game of IP Risk hands Apple a victory over the Google-owned Motorola Mobility in Germany. If you thought the recent licensing deal would put the kibosh on further flare ups between the two, you were sadly mistaken. The Munich I Regional Court awarded Cupertino an injunction against Moto devices over the so-called “rubber-banding” patent, which relates to the bounce back animation when scrolling to the bottom or top of a list. The fate of infringing phones isn’t set in stone yet, as there’s still room for appeal, though, a €25 million bond would score Apple an enforceable preliminary injunction. One relatively simple solution would be for Moto to implement the stock Android “glowing” animation, which would bypass Apple’s claims. Though, an even better solution would be for all parties involved to quit their bickering over patent minutia and focus on making the best products possible.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Apple wins injunction against Motorola in Germany over ‘rubber-banding’ patent originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former German first lady Bettina Wulff isn’t happy with Google. She is the wife of former German President Christian Wulff. Apparently, during her husband’s term in office, there were persistent rumors that she worked for an escort service before marrying her husband.

If you begin typing her name into the Google search engine, auto complete does this behind-the-scenes magic and links her name up with some popular searches. The autocomplete terms angering Wulff read “bettina wulff escort” and “bettina wulff prostituierte.” Wulff wants Google to stop linking her name to those searches.

A German publication called Süddeutschen Zeitung has reported that she is going to file suit against Google for defamation that she claims has destroyed a reputation. The problem for Wulff is that Google isn’t the one leaking her name to prostitution. The algorithm in place for autocomplete simply suggests some of the most common searches made using her name.

That doesn’t mean she can’t win in court though, Google has lost suits relating to autocomplete in the past. Google settled with multiple French groups that sued over a violation of antidiscrimination laws in France when autocomplete started suggesting the term “juif” with the names of certain celebrities and other media figures. A Japanese court ordered Google to delete auto complete terms that linked a man with crimes he claims to have had no part in. Wulff may have a case after all considering there is a precedent in this matter in other countries.

[via TechCrunch]

Former German first lady rumored to sue Google for defamation is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yesterday we mentioned that rumors were going around that actor Bruce Willis was going to sue Apple over rules governing what happens to the iTunes music collection once the owner dies. Apparently, Apple’s rules dictate that if you die your music collection defaults to Apple rather than any children or your spouse. The reports were that Willis was suing Apple over those rules.

Honestly, it seemed a bit strange that Bruce Willis would be concerned about his digital music collection. Willis has been some of the biggest action movies ever made, and his kids or spouse would certainly have the means after his death to not fret over a music collection. According to Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Hemming, reports circulating yesterday are true.

Apparently, the story originally surfaced with Daily Mail and Hemming says that the story is simply untrue. I should say while I found it strange that Willis would be concerned about his music collection after his death, it is more the little strange that Apple would expect to retain ownership of something you purchased after your death. I think points to something larger that needs to be addressed in the digital world.

For some reason, sellers of digital goods such as music and TV shows seem to think digital products should be handled differently than physical products. After all, if I die and have a huge collection of CDs or records, that collection would default to my family, not the music companies. Digital music should follow the same rules as physical music I believe. What do you think?

[via Times of India]

Bruce Willis isn’t suing Apple according to his wife is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the US, the e-book price fixing scandal appears to be winding towards its inevitable conclusion. Many of the publishers settled with the DOJ right off the bat, and now the states themselves have gotten three publishing houses to cough up $69 million in their own agreement. (Of course, Apple, Macmillan and Penguin have all decided to go the trial route, but we’ll have to wait till next year to see how that plays out.) In Europe, the battle is still raging on, but Reuters is reporting that the accused are offering concessions in a bid to put the antitrust allegations behind them. The only name missing from the list is Penguin, which may or may not be part of the plea deal. Not all the details of the proposals have been revealed yet, and there’s no guarantee the commission will accept them. The heart of the settlement, however, would involve allowing Amazon to sell e-books at a discounted price for two years. Would cheaper Kindle books be good, clean fun for the whole family? Sure, but it certainly pales in comparison to the potential penalties if Apple and their publishing partners go to trial.

Filed under: Apple

Apple and publishers offer deal to put price fixing scandal behind them in EU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung has been indicating that it isn’t going to Apple‘s victory in their high-profile patent case lying down. The company assured users that it “will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products in the U.S. market,” earlier this week, and will undoubtedly attempt appeal, going all the way up to the Supreme Court if it has to. But Samsung might have something up its sleeve, and it may not be long before we see Samsung taking Apple to court over patent infringement once more.

The Korea Times reports that Samsung has confirmed it will take Apple to court “immediately” if the iPhone maker releases a new device with LTE capabilities. Of course, Apple already has a device with LTE capabilities on the market – the iPad – but Samsung would presumably wait until a new iPhone is released before filing a lawsuit. Data from Thompson-Reuters cited in The Korea Times write-up pegs Samsung as owning 12.2% of all LTE patents.

So, Samsung has a pretty extensive LTE patent portfolio that it could dip into if Apple launches an iPhone with LTE capabilities. The next iPhone, which is expected to be revealed on September 12, is rumored to come complete with LTE functionality, so if Samsung is actually planning to take Apple to court over LTE implementation, the two could be duking it out in the courtroom once again pretty soon.

Just because the patent trial is over doesn’t mean that business is finished between Apple and Samsung, though. Apple is requesting that 8 Samsung devices be banned from sale in the US, and Judge Lucy Koh will be holding a hearing on December 6 to decide if any preliminary injunctions are in order. Will Samsung stick to its word and sue Apple over LTE implementation? That’s hard to say, but it sure does sound like Samsung has it out for Apple. How about it – are you ready for another legal battle between Apple and Samsung?

Samsung may sue Apple over LTE implementation is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.