updated: Fri Aug 24 2012 10:57:00
Dan Simon on the patent dispute between Apple and Samsung, which is now in the hands of a California jury.
Did Apple rip off Samsung's intellectual property to create the iPhone, or did Samsung pilfer Apple's patents when it took on the iPad and iPhone with a slew of mobile devices and tablets?
Last week, a U.S. District judge dealt a serious blow to Google and Samsung by slapping an injunction on the Galaxy Nexus phone and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in a patent infringement lawsuit.
updated: Sun May 20 2012 21:26:00
Kristie Lu Stout explains the long-running legal fight between Apple and Samsung
"It's very important that Apple not become the developer for the world," Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, told analysts last month. "We need people to invent their own stuff."
The patent war between Facebook and Yahoo may be only just starting.
While most of the tech world was partying at South by Southwest in Austin yesterday, Yahoo announced it was filing a lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly infringing on 10 patents from their 1,000+ patent warehouse.
On the first day of every year, works of art whose term of copyright has expired enters the public domain. This year's class is particularly strong, as the novels of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are now free of copyright protection. If you ever wanted to stage a puppet show of Joyce's masterpiece "Ulysses" or set Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" to music, now is your chance.
The tech industry is abuzz about SOPA and PIPA, a pair of anti-piracy bills. Here's why they're controversial, and how they would change the digital landscape if they became law.
In one of the U.S. government's largest anti-piracy crackdowns ever, federal agents on Thursday arrested the leaders of and shut down Megaupload.com, a popular hub for illegal media downloads.
"Hacktivist" collective Anonymous on Thursday took credit for taking down U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and entertainment company websites, following arrests in one of the federal government's largest anti-piracy crackdowns.
A trademark can be a company's greatest asset. It can also be one of its biggest challenges -- especially lately.
Apple is a powerhouse of ingenuity, patenting ideas as soon as an engineer can scratch them down on paper (or iPad). Around three dozen Apple patents made their way through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week alone.
Even anarchic movements like to have some legal protections: Occupy Wall Street's organizers have applied to trademark their movement's name.
Apple has been granted patents on some of the distinctive elements of its store designs in China as the US company moves to better protect itself against rampant copying of not only its products but also its sales channels on the Chinese mainland.
Patent trolls -- companies that license patents but do not actually sell anything -- have long been looked on with fiery scorn in Silicon Valley. This week, a Boston University study offered fresh fuel for those flames.
President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday that will overhaul the U.S. patent system for the first time since 1952.
America's first significant patent reform in six decades is close to becoming law: It passed Congress on Thursday and President Obama has declared that he will sign the bill.
Congress on Thursday passed legislation that will reform the U.S. patent system for the first time since the Truman administration.
In a surprise deal that would be its largest acquisition ever, Google has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, the two companies said Monday.
Patents have dominated the tech news headlines lately, with industry leaders such as Google, Apple and Microsoft spending billions to beef up their intellectual property portfolios.
Patent reform cleared another major hurdle on Thursday, when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would fundamentally change the way the government treats intellectual property.
Overhauling the United States' outdated and flawed patent system has been talked about for decades, but reform could finally be around the corner -- for real, this time.
Big Pharma faces a host of well-known problems, most notably that its blockbuster drugs are coming off patent at the same time that its pipeline of new drugs has turned into a drip. But the leading pharmaceutical companies like Novartis, Merck and Bayer are also battling another costly headache -- legal challenges to their existing patents are increasing with the rapidity of a centrifuge.
Motorola Inc. announced Wednesday that it has filed three complaints against Apple over alleged patent infringements in its popular wireless and mobile devices.
Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen is suing Apple and Google, plus nine other companies, for patent infringement.
To help answer some questions about this week's Copyright Office announcement regarding the legality of so-called cell phone jailbreaking, or the modification of the software that comes with iPhones and other handsets that is designed not to be changed, we've compiled the following list of Frequently Asked Questions:
NTP Inc., a patent holding company that shook up the tech world several years ago by extracting a pricey legal settlement from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, announced Friday it had launched a fresh barrage of patent infringement lawsuits against the tech world's leading lights.
Google triumphed in a nasty, three-year war with Viacom on Wednesday as a federal court ruled that Google's YouTube subsidiary is not liable for its users' copyright infringements.
After decades of inaction, lawmakers are finally closing in on a sweeping overhaul of America's antiquated, underfunded and extremely broken patent process. The popular move could help spur much-needed innovation and job creation -- but first, it has to get through a Senate logjam.
One of the longer-lasting Internet memes in recent years has been the parody trend of the 2004 German film Der Untergang (also known as "Downfall").
A bitter feud between Google's online video site YouTube and media conglomerate Viacom turned ugly on Thursday, as both companies hurled accusations at one another about engaging in deceptive and illegal practices.
When radio was invented in the late nineteenth century by the likes of Marconi, Edison, and Tesla, government and industry faced a conundrum. Who would own the limited band of electromagnetic frequencies that made this new invention possible?
First, there was the Macintosh. Then it was the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad. Next up in Apple's arsenal: The lawyers.
The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia launched a new patent broadside against Apple, escalating a battle for control of the smartphone market that has already led to a flurry of lawsuits.
U.S. innovation slowed this year for the first time in 13 years as the recession cut into budgets, and costs to protect inventions rose.
"Don't copy, don't copy that floppy!"
Here's a little-known fact: Under current law, it's possible to hold a patent on a piece of human DNA, otherwise known as a gene.
updated: Thu May 14 2009 16:15:00
The government is being sued over the patent it holds for the BRCA1 and BRACA2 genes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.
Myriad Genetics, a Utah-based company, vowed Wednesday to "vigorously defend" itself against a legal challenge to its patents on two human genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers, its attorney told CNN.
If mention of The Pirate Bay conjures up images of parrots, peg legs and planks, or geeky jargon like BitTorrent and jailbreak leaves you all at sea, this handy A-Z will help you navigate the choppy waters of the online piracy debate.
updated: Sat Apr 18 2009 20:15:00
A verdict is expected in a copyright battle between movie studios and Internet pirates. CNN's Neil Curry reports.
Four men behind a Swedish file-sharing Web site used by millions to exchange movies and music have been found guilty of collaborating to violate copyright law in a landmark court verdict in Stockholm.
The founders of a Swedish file-sharing Web site could face jail time and multimillion-dollar fines if convicted of copyright infringement.
updated: Mon Oct 27 2008 00:25:00
Computer expert Ken Colburn has some advice on how to prevent a hard drive crash and what to do if it happens.
The Internet age's philosopher-king, Lessig argues in favor of abolishing the anti-piracy laws corporations have pushed so hard to install
In an effort to stamp out so-called patent trolls, several big tech shops have joined a club that will acquire intellectual property to keep it out of the hands of litigious profiteers.
When Mark Publicover sees his kids bounce against the safety net that wraps around their trampoline, he beams with paternal pride - the device, invented 11 years ago, was his brainchild.
Dear FSB: How does one with limited funds go about moving an idea into the mainstream without risking it being stolen by a large entity with staff counsel and other lawyers capable of litigating the matter ad infinitum?
What to do about the high cost of drugs? A cadre of academics and economists has a radical new answer: Take away the exclusive product patents the government grants a new drug and replace them with cash awards to the innovating company.
Technology and financial services firms won a key patent reform victory Friday when the House approved legislation the industries have pushed for years by a vote of 220-175.
A U.S. judge Monday threw out a record $1.5 billion verdict against Microsoft Corp, ruling the world's largest software had not infringed on audio technology patents held by France's Alcatel-Lucent.
3M Co. said Monday it has reached agreement in patent settlement with Sony Corp. over the technology in a type of battery used in laptop computers and cell phones.
Question: What do you get when you put 16 sure-minded Chinese officials in a chandeliered room with a dozen lame-duck Republicans?
Going to court is near the top of the list of dreaded activities for small business owners. But many entrepreneurs say that their efforts to resolve disputes outside of litigation haven't worked, according to a 2005 report by the Small Business Administration. The result? Their companies end up with legal bills from $3,000 to $150,000 and have to cut overhead or drum up new sales to compensate.
Seeking legal advice can be costly. Get more out of your next conversation with your lawyer by doing some homework ahead of time. Here are some useful sites and articles to help you take a proactive approach to issues that often result in legal suits - so you can stay out of the court room.
In 45 years, George Margolin has patented 26 inventions, including a front-screen projection system (1964) that Hollywood used for special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the James Bond films and Superman. He patented the folding computer keyboard in 1973, and a new type of anti-stick medical syringe in 1993. Three years ago, with a co-inventor, he patented a new method to keep computer chips from overheating. At 77, he continues to run Newport Beach, Calif. -based Margolin Development (www.margolin-development.com), which makes its money from licensing patents and consulting to companies such as such as AT&T Labs, Estee Lauder, MGM Studios and Safeguard Business Systems. Fortune Small Business special correspondent Ann Therese Palmer caught up with Margolin to find out why he so strongly opposes the proposed patent-reform bill, which includes a change that would favor inventors who were the "first to file" for patent protection above those who came up with ideas first. (For
STEVE WREN IS THE kind of yeoman inventor that the drafters of the Constitution had in mind when they commanded Congress to write a patent law "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." In exchange for publishing patents and sharing their knowledge, little guys like Wren got exclusive rights to the use of their ideas for 20 years. The system helped make the U.S. the innovation capital of the world.
Video rental chain Blockbuster Inc. said Wednesday it settled a patent dispute with rival Netflix Inc. that challenged Blockbuster's entry into online DVD rental, but it signaled that the new business was taking a toll on its finances.
Steve Wren is the kind of yeoman inventor that the drafters of the Constitution had in mind when they commanded Congress to write a patent law "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." In exchange for publishing patents and sharing their knowledge, little guys like Wren got exclusive rights to the use of their ideas for 20 years. The system helped make the U.S. the innovation capital of the world.
Free software is great, and corporate America loves it. It's often high-quality stuff that can be downloaded free off the Internet and then copied at will. It's versatile - it can be customized to ...
India's fast-growing biotech business has the potential to be one of the driving forces behind its enviable 8 percent GDP growth, and a government estimate sees the industry increasing 15-fold over the next eight years.
Readers of the The Wall Street Journal on April 27 may have noticed something unusual about the full-page ad on the back of the Marketplace section: a blacked-out sentence right in the middle of a block of text. Journal readers were left wondering: Was the hastily Magic Marker-ed out line part of the ad's creative message? Or was it covering up something truly offensive?
The waves from a Supreme Court decision that undermines patents on gas pedals could hit Big Pharma like a truck, say some experts.
Lawmakers are pushing forward with legislation that could help create generic competition for Big Biotech, drastically lowering the costs of expensive biotech drugs and changing the landscape in the pharmaceutical industry forever.
The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) filed a lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc on Thursday for providing radios that allegedly let users reproduce and distribute copyrighted music without paying appropriate royalties.
As Big Pharma faces patent expirations on some of its most lucrative drugs, the industry is trying to reinvigorate sales by finding creative ways to land new patents - but on the same old drugs.
In the epic philosophical and financial battle between West Coast and East Coast, between software and old media, the East this week fired perhaps its biggest gun so far. Viacom filed a $1 billion-plus lawsuit against Google's YouTube, asserting "massive copyright infringement" as a result of YouTube airing hundreds of thousands of video clips taken from Viacom television programs like The Daily Show and South Park.
Viacom sued Google and its online video subsidiary YouTube for $1 billion Tuesday, the first big lawsuit against the online video site and its parent for copyright infringement.
Tercica Inc., the maker of a growth-deficiency drug for children, suffered a stock price plunge and an analyst's downgrade after reporting fourth-quarter earnings, despite winning a crucial patent battle.
To produce a pound of organic sun-dried coffee, farmers in the southern Ethiopian village of Fero spread six pounds of ripe, red coffee cherries onto pallets near their fields. They sun the fruit f...
A federal jury said Thursday that software maker Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages.
Call it a battle of the titans.
From space exploration to long-lasting light bulbs, black men and women of science have significantly altered American society. The following is just a sampling of African Americans who have saved and changed lives by breaking new ground in science and technology.
In Canada and in the pharmaceutical industry, a 64-year-old man named Bernard Sherman has been famous - some might say infamous - for years.
Durect is developing an abuse-resistant form of the addictive painkiller OxyContin that has a good shot at being a blockbuster, but it faces a minefield of potential patent battles.
Pfizer appears to be getting ready to slash thousands more workers and shut down some of its plants, but part two of CEO Jeffrey Kindler's plan to revitalize the struggling drugmaker did not inspire rave reviews on Wall Street Tuesday.
Pfizer's decision to suspend tests of its latest drug for the treatment of high cholesterol underscores the key problem facing most large pharmaceutical companies. Once a drugmaker has reached a certain size, it's an enormous challenge to generate new blockbusters fast enough to maintain a high growth rate.
Pfizer stock tumbled Monday after the world's biggest drugmaker abruptly pulled the plug on its most important experimental medicine - a drug meant to treat heart disease that instead caused an increase in deaths and heart problems in people taking it in a clinical trial.
Google may face more lawsuits once its acquisition of video sharing site YouTube closes, the company said in its latest quarterly report.
The threat to Big Pharma is real - the nation's drugmakers stand to lose nearly seven percent of their sales to drugs going off patent this year - and more CEOs who don't get ahead of the problem could end up losing their jobs.
Oh my God, they purged Kenny!
Apple Computer Inc. won a patent for a speech-recognition technology earlier this week, fueling speculation that the iPod-maker is laying the groundwork for a future "iPhone."
The worldwide drug market will continue to grow in 2007, but at a slightly slower pace as patent losses on blockbuster drugs take their toll, according to a forecast from IMS Health.
Up until very recently, John Hall was in his 18th year of teaching management at the University of Florida. Then he wound up on YouTube.
IBM has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Amazon.com for unspecified damages, the company announced Monday.
HinesLab is open for business, but you'd never know it. It is tucked away in a corner of a dreary industrial park in Glendale, Calif. The front door is bolted and covered with a black shroud. Insid...
In the first business case to hit the U.S. Supreme Court's docket this term, the chief justices will have to decide whether biotech firm Medimmune can have its cake and eat it too.
With its already-battered stock price sagging on the news of a sweeping patent-trial defeat Monday, ImClone Systems is hoping its chances will look up with an appeal. But the judge's decision doesn't appear to offer ImClone a lot of hope.
On the top floor of a drab apartment building on the edge of New Delhi, Ram Meher, 35, is taking his AIDS medicine, as he has every day for the past three years. Meher is a struggling wheat and sug...
The IRS has a surprising new enemy in the battle against abusive tax shelters: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In recent years the Patent Office has begun granting patents to people who claim...
Imclone, the biotech best known for a stock collapse that helped land founder Sam Waksal and his pal Martha Stewart in the slammer, could use a dose of good news.
The Internal Revenue Service has a surprising new enemy in the battle against abusive tax shelters: The United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A New York judge decides today whether to honor a legal attack from Bristol-Myers and Sanofi-Aventis, which are trying to halt the generic production of their blockbuster drug Plavix.
It's easy to spot Ron Lando in a crowded bar. He told me that he'd be holding a catalog from CliC, his eyewear company, but I recognize him before I can see what he's reading. He's the only guy her...
The problem: an epidemic of shoddy patents.
A huge new industry - biogenerics - is waiting to be born.
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