Another day, another anti-Apple lawsuit. In addition to being sued over iOS 9's performance on older iPhones and bricking iPhones that use non-sanctioned Home button and Touch ID replacement parts, the Cupertino firm now faces a new patent lawsuit targeting the iPhone's battery technologies and an associated trickle-charge system.
Lawsuit
China’s media administrative wing sues Apple over 1990s war film
A subsidiary of China's broadcasting regulator is taking Apple to court over showing a propaganda film which was released back in the 1990s, reports The Associated Press. The plaintiff—Movie Satellite Channel Program Production Center, which comes under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television—alleges that the iPhone maker has infringed its exclusive online rights to broadcast its movie which depicts Chinese fighting against Japanese soldiers in northern China in the early 1930s.
Judge tosses ‘Error 53’ lawsuit against Apple out of the window
A United States district court judge has tossed so-called 'Error 53' lawsuit against Apple out of the window on grounds that the plaintiffs “lack standing to pursue injunctive relief”. The plaintiffs argued that the iOS 9 software update causing certain devices with a faulty Touch ID or Home button, like the iPhone 6, to be bricked has resulted in permanent data loss.
They were unable, however, to frame the argument in court a legal loss.
Beijing court orders iPhone 6 sales ban over patent infringement, Apple to appeal ruling
Apple just hit yet another roadblock in China with news that the Beijing Intellectual Property Office (BJIPO) has ordered the company to halt sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on the grounds that the Apple handset copied the design of the 100C smartphone, which is being produced by Shenzhen Baili, one of China's phone vendors.
Apple has confirmed that it will challenge the sales ban by appealing to the Beijing Higher People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Court.
VoIP-Pal slaps Apple with $2.8 billion lawsuit over patent used in FaceTime and iMessage
Voice over IP (VoIP), a technology for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over the Internet, is at the heart of an unbelievable $2.8 billion patent infringement lawsuit that VoIP-Pal, a Bellevue-based company, filed this morning against the iPhone maker.
“We are confident the current good will on both sides will result in a favorable outcome for all parties involved,” said VoIP-Pal CEO Emil Malak in a prepared statement.
German court rules against Apple in OpenTV patent case
A German court on Wednesday ruled against Apple in a case over video streaming patents, reports Reuters. The court found the iPhone maker in infringement of digital content streaming patents owned by OpenTV.
OpenTV first sued Apple in 2014, alleging that various products infringe its patents, including the iPhone and iPad. It has also gone after other major technology companies as part of an ongoing IP licensing campaign.
Apple will pay $450 million fine in e-book case as Supreme Court declines to hear appeal
Apple's legal battle with the United States government over alleged price fixing in an e-book antitrust case has now come to an end after nearly three years.
As the United States Supreme Court has declined to hear Apple's appeal, the iPhone maker will have to pay a $450 million fine to settle its long-standing federal court case with class action lawyers and state district attorneys.
Bloomberg reported Monday that the justices turned away Apple's appeal without comment. Apple has been found to have conspired with major book publishers and orchestrated a scheme to raise prices of electronic books on the iBooks Store.
Here’s what Apple’s chief lawyer will tell Congress tomorrow regarding FBI’s controversial request
As you know, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has obtained a court order demanding that Apple produce a special version of iOS with decreased security to help government spooks brute-force their way into an iPhone 5c which belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.
Following the interview that Apple CEO Tim Cook gave to ABC News, in which he said that the government is asking for “the software equivalent of cancer,” Apple's Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Bruce Sewell, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow.
Here's his opening statement in which he challenges the government's request and argues that the FBI should have no say over the products American companies create.
Apple’s $120 million patent victory against Samsung overturned
An appeals court on Friday ruled that Samsung won’t have to pay Apple $119.6 million for infringing its patents, reports Bloomberg. The court found two of Apple's patents, including one for its slide-to-unlock feature, to be invalid and a third wasn’t infringed.
Today's ruling overturns a verdict reached by a California jury in May 2014, which found Samsung devices to infringe on Apple's patents. It also upholds a decision to make Apple pay Samsung $158,400 in damages for infringing on its video compression patent.
Apple vehemently opposes FBI request to create iPhone backdoor in San Bernardino court case
Apple is vehemently opposing the FBI's request to create a backdoor in iOS that would permit authorities to access encrypted data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. In an open letter to all customers posted on the company's website, CEO Tim Cook acknowledges that Apple believes that the FBI's intentions are good and makes note of the fact that his company has done “everything that is both within our power and within the law” to help the authorities.
“But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create,” he wrote. “They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.”
Law firm moving forward with class action lawsuit over ‘Error 53’ iPhone bricking
Seattle-based law firm Pfau Cochran Vertexes Amala (PCVA) has decided to follow through with plans to drag Apple to court over software safeguards in iOS which have been specifically designed to render iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets inoperable after unauthorized Touch ID and Home button repairs.
As first noted by AppleInsider yesterday, the pending class action lawsuit was filed with with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the Cupertino firm has “gone too far” in employing the extreme measure of bricking users' handsets without any advance warning.
Error 53: Apple could get sued over iPhone bricking
'Error 53,' the infamous cryptic message that appears on an iPhone after iOS 9 renders the device inoperable due to an unauthorized Home button repair, is attracting attention of top law firms which are reportedly considering taking Apple to court over the snafu, reports The Guardian.
“At least one firm of US lawyers said it hopes to bring a class action against the technology giant on behalf of victims whose £500 phones have been rendered worthless by an Apple software upgrade,” the British paper said.