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Poor HTC. As if it didn't already have enough to deal with, the troubled manufacturer now has to meddle with the original design of the One and other smartphones in order to avoid infringing on a couple of Nokia patents. According to the Wall Street Journal, HTC is currently working with Qualcomm to find a different method of improving reception and transmission within its radio components, following a successful patent suit by Nokia in the US a week ago. If these tweaks don't happen, and if the ITC upholds Nokia's victory when it considers the matter in January, a number of models could potentially be subject to import bans. This has happened before, however, when HTC unwittingly infringed on a Nokia microphone patent and quickly managed to find a workaround, so by now it has become adept at this sort of fire-fighting and says it already has a plan to avoid "business disruption."
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Nokia
Source: Wall Street Journal
Despite that billion dollar verdict, the legal battle between Samsung and Apple continues, and the most recent happening comes from the ITC. Following up on an ITC administrative law judge's ruling late last year finding that Samsung had infringed a few of Apple's patented designs and tech, the Commission made its final determination today and issued a limited exclusion order for some Samsung devices. In its decision, the Commission found no violations of any of Apple's design patents, and only found that Samsung infringed a pair of patents -- patent number 7,479,949 for touchscreen technology, and patent number 7,912,501 for audio jack I/O circuitry. In doing so, the Commission stated that devices with workarounds to the asserted patents that were found not to infringe by the ALJ are not subject to the exclusion order.
As a result, offending Samsung devices are scheduled to be banned from importation after a 60-day presidential review period. During those two months, the devices can still be sold, but unless Obama steps up for Samsung in the same way he did for Apple in a separate ITC case, we won't be seeing them stateside again. While we don't have an exact list of the affected devices, we do know that the devices at issue are older models like the Continuum, the Transform and the Galaxy S II. So, consumers won't feel much of an impact from the ban, but we bet Apple's legal team will have a much more enjoyable weekend as a result of this latest win.
Update: Samsung has issued a statement on the matter, which can be found after the break
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: US ITC
It's been well over a year since the ITC ended its initial investigation into Apple's allegations that a spate of Motorola mobile devices infringed its patents on multi-touch display technology. Apple remained undeterred by that ruling and appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Today, Cupertino got what it wanted when the CAFC overturned parts of the ITC's decision, and remanded it back to the ITC for further consideration.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: FOSS Patents
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Remember that ITC ban on the import, sale and distribution of some AT&T-compatible iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G models Samsung won in June? The Obama administration has officially vetoed the ruling. A letter issued to Irving A. Williamson, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission ITC, explains that the decision considers the ban's "effect on competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers." If you'll recall, the case focused on patent 7,706,348 for encoding mobile communications, which Samsung claimed the aforementioned devices infringed upon. The administration notes that despite his decision on the ruling, Samsung will still be able to "pursue its rights through the courts" (i.e. monetary compensation, etc.). In a statement to All Things Digital, an Apple representative notes:
We applaud the Administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way.
You can peruse the full four-page memo for yourself at the source link.
Update: Courtesy of 9to5Mac, here's Samsung's response:
We are disappointed that the U.S. Trade Representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC's decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: United States Trade Representative, All Things Digital
Thought the ITC battle between Microsoft and Motorola over Microsoft's email-based meeting patents was over? Think again. Despite winning an exclusion order (read: an import ban) on all MMI handsets infringing its patent, Microsoft has filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Customs Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski, the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for failing to enforce the order. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to do their jobs and allowed infringing devices to continue to be imported based upon claims and arguments Moto successfully made to US Customs -- and Microsoft was neither privy to these discussions, nor given the opportunity to respond to Motorola's claims. Essentially, Microsoft argues that Customs and Border Protection has both shirked its duties and made rulings in direct conflict with the ITC's decision and order.
As such, Microsoft wants the court to rule that the CBP exceeded its legal authority, set aside the unlawful rulings set forth by CBP and compel it to enforce the ITC's exclusion order. In addition to the complaint, Microsoft also filed for a Preliminary Injunction asking that the original ITC import ban be enforced immediately. We've yet to hear how the government will respond to these allegations, but we'll keep you posted as things develop.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Google
Via: Bloomberg
Source: Complaint [PDF], Preliminary Injunction request [PDF]