MAJOR VICTORY FOR TECH FIRMS AGAINST “PLUG-IN” PATENT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS
Los Angeles – An appeals court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling for Google, Inc., Yahoo, Inc., and Amazon.com, Inc. against patent infringement claims brought by Eolas Technologies, Inc.
The decision, originally made by a jury in 2012 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, invalidated two patents held by Michael Doyle for interactive internet technology.
Doyle was a computer programmer at University of California, San Francisco in 1993 when he oversaw a project that allowed multiple scientists to watch a live streaming video simultaneously over the Internet for the first time. Along with Davi Read the rest
ACTIVISION TAKES ON MAZDA OVER PATENT INFRINGEMENT
Los Angeles – Car manufacturer Mazda Motor of America, Inc. was hit with a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Delaware on July 9, when Activision TV, Inc. filed a complaint alleging patent infringement.
Activision, a Delaware Corporation, claims that Mazda infringed its patents for electronic displays in its new line of vehicles. The patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 7,369,058 and 8,330,613 are both titled “Remote Control Electronic Display System” and were granted in 2008 and 2012, respectively. Activision develops flat-screen displays with computers fully integrated into the screen.
The allegedly infringing use has to do with Mazda’ Read the rest
FACIAL RECOGNITION PATENT INFRINGEMENT CLAIM LODGED AGAINST TOSHIBA
California – Technology company CeeColor Industries, LLC filed a complaint on July 2nd against Toshiba America, Inc. in Delaware Federal Court, alleging patent infringement.
At issue is technology for facial recognition software, which CeeColor Industries claims it holds exclusive patent rights over. The Delaware-based limited liability company is accusing Toshiba of manufacturing products using this software, which it claims is an infringement of CeeColor’s patent protection.
CeeColor alleges that Toshiba, a Delaware Corporation, violated its patent for software that triggers a device’s webcam to take regular photos to dete Read the rest
TECHNOLOGY COMPANY ACCUSES DELL, HP OF PATENT INFRINGEMENT
San Diego – Innovative Display Technologies, Inc. lodged a lawsuit in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas Friday against technology giants Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell, Inc., among others.
Innovative Display Technologies, based in Plano, Texas, alleges that the use of its invention has allowed these companies to create brighter, sleeker, and more energy efficient screens for computers and cell phones. The defendants named in the lawsuit, along with Dell and HP, are Blackberry, Inc., Acer, Inc., Huawei Investment & Holding Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp.
The lawsuit alleges that these technology giants Read the rest
HOME VALUATION SERVICES FACE OFF OVER FIGHT FOR PATENT
Orange County – Rival home appraisal companies Zillow Inc. and Trulia Inc. have continued their bitter feud in federal court in Washington’s Western District. Most recently, Trulia petitioned on June 17th to have the court invalidate Zillow’s patent for its home valuation program while Zillow continues to claim patent infringement against Trulia.
Zillow originally brought lawsuit against Trulia for patent infringement in 2012, claiming that San Francisco-based Trulia’s home appraisal program was too similar to Zillow’s own program. Trulia then Read the rest
NATURAL GENES NOT PATENTABLE, SAYS SUPREME COURT
Los Angeles – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in a landmark case Thursday that natural human genes cannot be patented. The case, Association for Medical Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, was originally brought in federal court in the Southern District of New York in 2010, but made its way through appeals to the nation’s top court.
The ruling came in a contentious battle over two genes that were identified as markers for increased risk of breast cancer and patented by biological research company Myriad Genetics. Myriad Genetics held a patent for both the natural form of the gene isolated from th Read the rest
JURY RULES NO GIFT CARD PATENT INFRINGEMENT BY BARNES & NOBLE
California – Barnes & Noble Inc. scored a big win in federal court June 7th when a jury found that it did not infringe on gift card technology developed by Alexsam Inc. This is first of many upcoming trials related to claims of patent infringement brought by Alexsam against other large retailers.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, alleged that Barnes & Noble developed technology for gift card activation that had already been patented by Alexsam in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,000,608 and 6,189,787. Alexsam sought $72 million in damages from Barnes & Noble for Read the rest
TIVO MAINTAINS DOMINANCE IN PATENT LAWSUITS OVER DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDERS
San Diego – On the brink of trial, TiVo Inc. reached a massive settlement agreement with Motorola Mobility Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc. to end the patent infringement disputes brought by all sides.
The $490 million settlement will bring to a close multiple cases in which TiVo claimed that its competitors infringed on its patents for set-top cable boxes. Both brought in U.S. District Court in Texas’ Eastern District, these cases are just a few of the many patent infringement cases TiVo has brought against its competitors in recent years. Based in Alviso, Calif., TiVo was the Read the rest
GROUPON, YELP SUED FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT IN ELECTRONIC COUPONING WARS
Orange County – The decision as to who the front runner is in the area of coupons delivered via electronic means may be decided in a U.S. District Court in eastern Texas. With the registration of its newest patent, Blue Calypso Inc. believes it has the upper hand in the area of web-based couponing. That’s why it recently filed another round of patent complaints naming Yelp, Groupon, Foursquare, MyLikes Inc. and Izea Inc.
The first group of lawsuits were filed in early May and alleged infringement of a separate patent, Reg. No. 8,438,055 which issue Read the rest
LOSS FOR KEURIG IN COFFEE POD PATENT LAWSUIT
Los Angeles – Keurig, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation well known for its single-serve coffee makers and cartridges, was dealt a blow in Massachusetts federal court Friday when its patent infringement lawsuit against Rogers Family Company was dismissed. The dispute was over patents held by Keurig for its single-serve coffee cartridges, which the company claimed Rogers copied.
Rogers Family Company, a San Francisco-based LLC, designed a single-serving coffee cartridge for use in Keurig brand coffee making machines. Rogers has been selling its OneCup line of coffee pods under its San Francisco Bay brand since Read the rest