Mac|Life Lawsuit RSS Feed

Apple Legal Goes After Knock-Off Power Adapters

J.R. Bookwalter — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:34:34 -0600

Apple’s legal team is throwing its weight at a California-based company allegedly infringing on patents held for their unique power adapters.

Anaheim, California-based Media Solutions Holdings is accused of violating Apple’s patents and selling infringing power adaptors on such websites as laptopsforless.com, laptopacadapter.com and ereplacements.com. The complaint charges that MSH sells “various consumer electronic accessories at retail, including knock-off power adapters for use with genuine Apple portable computers.”

According to a report on Information Week, Apple is claiming that some of the power adapters sold through these websites violate its “power adapter” patent issued in August, 2003. Apple’s complaint provides a side-by-side comparison of their authorized adapters next to the allegedly infringing ones.

“The defendants market these knock-off power adapters for use with Apple portable computers, such as the MacBook,” the complaint states.

Apple has become accustomed to such legal battles, but usually as defendants. In just the second half of 2009, over 15 patent lawsuits were filed involving Apple, with only this one as a plaintiff.

Patent litigation is said to average a whopping $4.5 million through trial per case. Apple is a member of the Patent Fairness Coalition, which was established to reform the patent system and avoid such costly legal battles. Among the questionable practices they hope to curtail are the rising number of lawsuits from non-practicing businesses who exist exclusively to litigate and collect patent royalties.

Podcast #116: Apple Takes Down Psystar and More Tablet Speculation

Mac|Life Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:18:04 -0600

Apple gets a major check in the win column with the recent ruling by a California judge. We're not surprised but Ray has an interesting idea concerning EULAs.

4,000 iPhones are stolen in Belgium just in time for the holidays and it's a slow news day as another Apple tablet article gets written.

Plus, we answer your hard-hitting Twitter and Facebook questions! Okay, they weren't that hard-hitting.

Got a question, but you're afraid to leave a voice message because of Witness Relocation Dept. rules? Drop us a question via Twitter twitter.com/maclife.

This week's Battlestar Applactica picks:

Jet Car Stunts - $1.99

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor - $2.99

5 Minutes to Kill (Yourself) - $2.99

Transit Maps - Free

Don't forget, the Mac|Life staff would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas for the new podcast. Just leave a message on the Mac|Live question/comment line: (877) 404-1337, extension 622. Please limit the length of your messages to 1 minute max. We'll review these calls each week and feature our favorites, along with responses, on that week's podcast.

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AT&T Sues Verizon Over "Maps" Commercial

Cory Bohon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:24:55 -0600

AT&T sues Verizon over a commercial designed to play on Apple's "There's an app for that" commercials.

Verizon's "There's a map for that" commercial (above) might have stepped on some feet when they bashed AT&T's 3G service saying that other companies don't have the service Verizon has and that "There's a map for that, too."

According to the suit, which was filed in an Atlanta, Georgia federal court on Tuesday, "The map attributed to AT&T shows large swaths of white or blank space, as if these are areas in which AT&T has no coverage whatsoever."

The suit goes on to say, "By depicting AT&T's non-"3G" coverage as white or blank space in the map used in Verizon's print advertisement, consumers are being misled into believing that AT&T's customers have no coverage whatsoever and thus cannot use their wireless devices when they are outside of AT&T's depicted coverage area."

Reuters got a reply from Verizon saying, "The ads in question clearly state that voice and data services are available outside 3G areas."

AT&T has requested a temporary restraining order that could prevent the television commercial from airing until this dispute is resolved.

Via AppleInsider

Apple will 'Vigorously' Defend Itself in Nokia Lawsuit

Andrew Villa — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:38:48 -0500

In Apple's 10-K annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that was posted yesterday, it notes that Apple plans to "Vigorously" defend itself from a lawsuit filed last week by Nokia.

Nokia is claiming infringement of different cellular and Wi-Fi patents by Apple's iPhone.

"The complaint alleges that these patents are essential to one or more of the GSM, UMTS and 802.11 wireless communications standards, and that the Company has the right to license these patents from plaintiff on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory ("FRAND") terms and conditions. Plaintiff seeks unspecified FRAND compensation and other relief. The Company's response to the complaint is not yet due. The Company intends to defend the case vigorously."

In Nokia's press release announcing the lawsuit, they noted that about 40 other companies, including "virtually all the leading mobile device vendors," had licensed the intellectual property, but Apple had refused to agree to the terms for licensing.

Psystar Enjoys Being Sued, Releases Software to Install OS X on any PC

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:18:05 -0500

Psystar has begun selling Rebel EFI software on their site. The software allows users to install OS X on any old Intel-based PC for the low price of $50.

Well not any old Intel. You'll need a Core 2Duo, Core 2 Quad, i7 or Xeon Nehalem to run Snow Leopard. The software reportedly works with Windows 7.

Of course you could just save your money and check out the OSx86 project for free information on how to accomplish the same thing without dipping into your wallet.

Via The Loop

Nokia vs. Apple - Sour Grapes Lawsuit?

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:43:43 -0500

The worlds largest mobile phone maker is taking on Apple and its magical iPhone.

Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that the company infringed upon Nokia patents. Ten patents named in the suit include wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. Nokia contends that Apple was given the opportunity to license the technology but Apple, “refused to compensate Nokia.”

Nokia is seeking royalties on sales of all three iPhone models.

Patent Holder That Won Against Microsoft Now Targets Apple

Liam Widman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:52:42 -0500

Apple and 22 other companies are now the target of a new patent infringement suit over the use of browser-embedded interactive Web content. Previous patent suits on behalf of Eolas have gone favorably for the company. In 2004, Eolas was granted $565 million from litigation against Microsoft over a patent. The latest suit alleges that Apple and other companies are in violation of patents 5,838,906 and 7,599, 985. Both involve embedded Web applications. The suit was filed Wednesday in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas.

The suit states that Apple's official website uses QuickTime and Safari to enable the viewing of interactive content. It also alleges that Apple's hardware that runs the previously stated software is in violation of the patents as well. "Intellectual property is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy," said Dr. Michael D. Doyle, chairman of Eolas. "The primary reason for this has been the success of the U.S. patent system in allowing the innovative company in a field to develop and market its new inventions without having competitors unfairly profit from the innovator's hard work.”

The company stated that its patents relate to interactive, browser-embedded applications. The patent that ends in 906 was granted in 1998 and the other was issued this month. It covers the use of embedded applications through the use of browser plug-ins and AJAX.

The list of defendants, in its entirety, is as follows: Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Argosy Publishing, Blockbuster, CDW Corporation, Citigroup, Ebay, Frito-Lay, GoDaddy, Google, J.C. Penney, JP Morgan Chase & Co., New Frontier Media, Office Depot, Perot Systems Corp., Playboy, Rent-A-Center, Staples, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Yahoo and YouTube.

Apple, Eminem To Settle Out of Court

Cory Bohon — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:38:56 -0500

Eminem's record label, Eight Mile Style, decided to sue Apple over a royalty dispute, but now both parties will settle outside the courtroom, AppleInsider reports. Last week an agreement was reached between the two.

During the first day of the trial, however, Apple gave out an interesting bit of information: Aftermath records (the company that controls Eminems songs) gets $0.70 per download and Eight Mile Style gets 9.1-cents. Assuming no other royalties, Apple would get 19.9 cents on a 99-cent download.

In Eight Mile Style's filing, they claimed they were owed $2.5 million by Apple, of which nearly half was for the single "Lose Yourself."