Microsoft and Pioneer Enter Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement

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Microsoft and Pioneer Electronics announced today that they have entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement that will help develop both companies' product lines. The agreement covers a broad range of consumer products according to the firms.

Products covered include Pioneers auto navigation products and TVs along with Microsoft software products. It's easy to imagine that Pioneer will get some flavor of Windows for its GPS devices, Microsoft will get to build its new TV platform, and media center software into TVs. Read more

Posted on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:36:03 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Microsoft and Nikon enter into Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement

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Microsoft and Nikon have signed a patent cross-licensing agreement to further the development of each company’s current and future product lines.
The agreement covers digital cameras made by Nikon as wells as a broad range of other consumer products each company manufactures and sells.

Microsoft and Nikon have a long history of collaborating to bring high quality and cutting edge consumer products to the market, including wireless camera and RAW processing technologies. The companies believe that this patent cross license agreement will have substantial benefits for consumers and customers of consumer products including digital cameras. Both parties will be able to innovate openly with each others’ technologies, enabling new features and products to come to market. Read more

Posted on Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:29:52 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Hillcrest files Patent Suit against Nintendo

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 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillcrest Laboratories asked a trade panel to determine if Nintendo Co and its U.S. subsidiary have infringed four patents to make its top-selling Wii game, according to a filing on Wednesday and a Hillcrest statement.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:46:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Judge Finds SiRF Infringed Six Broadcom GPS Patents

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Broadcom announced that a Judge from the international Trade Commission has ruled that SiRF Technology Holdings has infringed on six Broadcom patents that relate to GPS processing and sensitivity. Global Locate, a Broadcom subsidiary, holds the patents in question.

The SiRF products infringing upon the patents include the SiRFstarIII and SiRFInstant GPS architectures. Broadcom says that a final ruling by the full six-person ITC panel is expected in December. Read more

Posted on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:14:10 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Big Tech Companies buy Patents under Allied Security Trust

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The WSJ reports that Tech company heavyweights joining together under Allied Security Trust to buy up key patents before they can be used against them.

Verizon, Google, Cisco and HP are amongst the companies joining their forces against patent suits according to sources of the WSJ. Read more

Posted on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:58:19 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Apple, others license Klausner Voicemail Patents

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Klausner Technology Inc said on Monday that Apple Inc , eBay Inc and AT&T Inc have agreed to license its patents on "visual voicemail" technology and settled Klausner's lawsuit against them.
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Posted on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:33:26 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Red Hat settles 2 Patent Lawsuits filed against it

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BOSTON (Reuters) - Business software maker Red Hat Inc said on Wednesday that it has settled two of three pending patent lawsuits that the company has been fighting.
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Posted on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:37:11 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HP settles Acer Patent Litigation

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co. Inc. said on Sunday it had settled patent litigation with Taiwan-based computer maker Acer .
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Posted on Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:16:26 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Lucent, Nokia win in Golden Bridge Patent Appeal

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court sided with Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia on Wednesday, upholding a lower court's finding that a Golden Bridge Technology cell phone patent was invalid.
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Posted on Wed, 21 May 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft loses U.S. Patent Suit vs Alcatel-Lucent

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft lost a lawsuit that had accused Alcatel-Lucent of violating patents used in business telephone networks, the U.S. International Trade Commission said on Tuesday.
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Posted on Tue, 20 May 2008 23:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

NIM Gets Patent for GPS Social Networking System

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Networks in Motion (NIM) has been granted a U.S. patent for a social networking application that uses the GPS chip inside some mobile phones. The patent issued was titled “Position Determination System” and is said to protect its intellectual property for networking applications that request and or push a users GPS location through a wireless network.

The patent features a method of providing real-time position information from one person to another via the mobile phone, land line or a computer network. The method patented also allows for users to exchange location information including address, GPS coordinates, or nearby fixed locations. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 06:35:36 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Blu-ray under Investigation by ITC on Laser Diode Patent Infringement

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The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to hear a case filed by Columbia University Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild that seeks to block the importation of a wide array of consumer electronics products manufactured by 30 companies that infringe her patent for LEDs and laser diodes.

Among the products affected by this investigation are Sony Blu-ray players. Read more

Posted on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:41:34 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Activision's ''Guitar Hero'' violates Patent: Gibson

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By Scott Hillis and Gina Keating

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gibson Guitar Inc has told Activision Inc that its wildly popular "Guitar Hero" video games infringe one of Gibson's patents, and Activision has asked a U.S. court to find the claim invalid.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:34:26 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Research In Motion sues Motorola over Patents

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MONTREAL (Reuters) - BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has sued Motorola , over what the Canadian company says are patent infringements and "exorbitant" licensing fees, according to court documents. Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:42:07 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft accused of Patent Violation in China

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BEIJING (Reuters) - A small Chinese high-tech firm is suing Microsoft Corp because it says the software giant has stolen its creation that allows Internet users to type Chinese characters, but Microsoft countered the claim on Friday. Read more

Posted on Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Qualcomm barred from using Broadcom 3G patents

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By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge in California ruled on Monday that wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc must immediately stop selling third-generation, or 3G, WCDMA cellular chips that infringe on the Broadcom Corp patents. Read more

Posted on Tue, 1 Jan 2008 09:55:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Vonage and Nortel Agree to Settle Patent Dispute

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Vonage and Nortel today announced that they have agreed in principle to end the litigation pending between them.

The contemplated settlement involves a limited cross license to three Nortel and three Vonage patents and will not call for any monetary payments by any party. Read more

Posted on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:24:55 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Appeals Court hands Google Patent Case Setback

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By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court handed Google Inc a setback in a patent fight on Wednesday, tossing out part of a summary judgment in the Web search engine's favor in a lawsuit filed by Hyperphrase Technologies, LLC. Read more

Posted on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung countersuing Sharp on LCD Patents

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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics , the world's top maker of large-size liquid crystal display panels, said on Thursday it was countersuing Japan's Sharp Corp for patent infringement. Read more

Posted on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Vonage and AT&T settle Patent Dispute

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital phone service Vonage said on Friday it has settled a patent dispute with AT&T . Read more

Posted on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Accenture files Patent Suit against Guidewire

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accenture Ltd said on Tuesday it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Guidewire Software Inc over an insurance claims management technology. Read more

Posted on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr