Legal

Swatch attempts to justify ‘One more thing’ trademark with a silly explanation

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2015

Swatch would have you think that its controversial “One more thing” trademark has nothing to do with Apple. A company spokesperson told Techradar today that its trademark for the “One more thing” phrase was inspired by a line from the TV show “Columbo,” an explanation people following technology news will have a hard time believing.

Swiss watchmaker Swatch became the subject of the Internet ridicule following news that it was recently granted a trademark on “One more thing,” a catch phrase late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs used extensively when introducing new surprise products during Apple’s media events.

Official: Samsung stole trade secrets from TSMC

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2015

Samsung lifted trade secrets from rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's #1 independent semiconductor foundry, Taiwan's top court has ruled.

According to a report published Wednesday by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, the court has determined that Liang Mong-song, a former senior director of research and development at TSMC, revealed TSMC's trade secrets and patents related to its advanced FinFET process technology to Samsung Electronics.

The report makes no mention of Apple, but the connection couldn't be clearer: Samsung might have been able to leverage the stolen secrets to win orders for Apple's next-generation 'A9' processor. Prior reports have posited that both Samsung and TSMC got to build Apple's A9 chips on the advanced 14-nanometer FinFET process technology which uses entirely new three-dimensional transistors.

Germany’s highest appeals court invalidates Apple’s slide-to-unlock patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 25, 2015

Germany’s highest appeals court has ruled that Apple's famous slide-to-unlock patents are invalid, VentureBeat reported Tuesday.

The ruling basically reaffirmed a 2013 decision in which the lower Federal Patent Court rejected Apple's claims on the grounds of 'prior art'. The German courts discovered that Apple's slide-to-patent involves a similar technique as that featured on a smartphone released before the iPhone by a Swedish company called Neonode.

Watchmaker Swatch trademarks ‘One more thing’

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Swiss watchmaker Swatch has managed to trademark “One more thing,” a catch phrase late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs made famous around the world by using it extensively when introducing new surprise products during Apple's media events.

As discovered by Wirtschaft, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded the trademark to Swatch back in May following its original application in November of last year. It's scheduled to expire in 2024 though an opposition to the trademark is reportedly pending.

Apple’s ‘El Capitan’ European trademark filing confusingly includes tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2015

Is Apple really readying an iPad that could run both iOS and OS X? The toaster-refrigerator dilemma has been occupying the collective mind of fans who have been keeping their fingers crossed for the convergence of the Mac and iPad ever since the original iPad debuted more than five years ago.

Apple's European trademark filing for ‘El Capitan’ is certainly intriguing, to say the least, as it mentions tablets as one of the devices targeted by the desktop operating system, as revealed yesterday by Patently Apple.

Court rules iPhone looks can’t be protected, adjusts Samsung’s $930 million penalty

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Monday, The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it's ruled that Samsung violated Apple's design patents but did not infringe on the Cupertino firm's trade dress intellectual property.

As reported by Reuters, the appeals court has now reversed part of Apple's $930 million verdict versus Samsung, ordering that the penalty be adjusted accordingly.

Ericsson sues Apple in UK, Germany and Netherlands over alleged patent infringement

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 8, 2015

Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson has extended its patent lawsuit against Apple to Europe, filing separate lawsuits in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands over alleged patent infringement, Reuters reported Friday.

Ericsson is alleging that Apple has been using its patents without a legitimate license. It unloaded legal barrage against the iPhone maker over the same matter in the United States in February 2015.

The world’s largest maker of wireless networks, Stockholm-based Ericsson owns many patents covering 2G, 3G and 4G LTE cellular technology.

European Union files anti-trust charges against Google

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Making good on rumors that have been bouncing around for several months, the European Union officially filed anti-trust charges against Google on Wednesday. The Commission will formally investigate whether the tech firm has abused its dominance in search results, as well as within its Android operating system.

In the near term this doesn't mean much—there will be a lengthy investigation and likely a trial. But in the long term, if Google were to be found guilty, it could face a fine of up to $6 billion (10% of its annual revenue) and various business-altering restrictions. Many pundits are comparing it to Microsoft in the late 90's.

Court rules UK users can sue Google over Safari privacy breach

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2015

Things could get ugly for Google as the Internet giant lost a UK appeal in the Safari cookie tracking case, potentially opening the door to litigation from the millions of British users, BBC News reported Friday.

The case revolves around Google's practice to continue tracking users of Apple's Safari browser via cookies even after they had changed their browser settings to block cookies, in order to target them with advertising.

EU rules e-books can’t be subject to lower taxes

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 5, 2015

The top court of the European Union has determined that e-books shouldn't be treated like their printed counterparts when it comes to taxes and therefore should be subject to higher tax rates, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

“But the European Commission signaled it may change the rules next year to allow for equal taxation of books in any form,” reads the report.

Ericsson intensifies legal pressure on Apple over patents, seeks iPhone sales ban

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2015

Following a $533 million loss in a lawsuit a small Texas-based company leveled against it over patent violation, Apple is now facing new legal challenges.

Friday, the Swedish telecommunications giant has unloaded legal barrage against the iPhone maker.

The move follows Apple's refusal to re-sign a global licensing contract with Ericsson in mid-January. Bloomberg noted that Apple had been paying royalties for Ericsson's patents related to mobile technologies, but the global license agreement expired last month and hasn't been renewed since.

USPTO denies Apple’s petitions for review of VirnetX patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2015

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today denied five petitions for so-called inter partes review filed by Apple, which sought to challenged the validity of certain claims of three of VirnetX's U.S. patents at stake.

The patent board has determined that the five petitions were not filed within the time limit imposed by the statute and therefore has declined to institute review of these claims between the parties involved.