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infringement posts

Samsung settles up with InterDigital in long-running patent infringement case

by Darren Murph posted Nov 25th 2008 @ 9:29AM

At last, it's over. InterDigital, which is best known for its episodes in the courtroom with Samsung and Nokia, has finally reached an agreement with the former firm. The two have been at each other's throats since April of last year regarding patents allegedly used in some of Sammy's more sophisticated phones. The decision was reached just a day before the US International Trade Commission was set to rule on whether to recommend barring affected Samsung imports altogether, which we can assure you was not at all coincidental. There's been no public disclosure of settlement value, though one analyst at Hilliard Lyons estimates that Samsung will be coughing up $400 to $500 million over the next five years to make this problem go away. Talk about a recurring nightmare.

Garmin's Nuvifone comes under fire for trademark violations

by Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 27th 2008 @ 5:16PM

Garmin probably thought getting into the mobile phone game would just be smooth sailing, but it looks like they've made a deadly miscalculation. Okay, that might be over-dramatizing the situation, but the PND-maker is facing a new lawsuit over its upcoming 3G wonder-device, the Nuvifone. Apparently, internet telephone provider Nuvio Corp. feels that Garmin has crossed trademark boundaries just a smidge, alleging the nav company is stepping all over its good name. "Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone," said Jason P. Talley, the company's CEO. Not only is the provider calling for a cease-and-desist on the use of "Nuvifone," but it also wants kickbacks for past infringement, and termination of the word "Nuvi" on any device made by Garmin. Garmin spokesman Ted Gartner says the company has been using the Nuvi name since early 2006 in North America, and earlier in Europe. He went on to add that they don't discuss pending litigation -- though we understand to friends and family he was like, "Pfft, whatever."

Broadcom wins major injunction against Qualcomm

by Evan Blass posted Dec 31st 2007 @ 8:59PM

In the latest major twist in this epic battle between wireless chipmakers, a US District Judge has slapped a permanent injunction on any products containing those Qualcomm 3G chips ruled to be infringing on Broadcom's so-called '686 patents. Not only can Qualcomm no longer offer infringing devices nor the chips themselves in the US, the retroactive nature of the ruling means that the company can't even provide service or technical support for '686 products already on the market. At this point, with a voluntary licensing agreement seemingly off the table, the next move for Qualcomm is establishing a plan of action to show Judge James Selna how it plans to redesign its products into compliance. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Reuters]

Qualcomm announces ITC's probe of Nokia

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 11th 2006 @ 7:18PM

Apparently, Qualcomm was serious when they asked Nokia to halt sales of GSM phones in the US a few weeks ago, triumphantly announcing that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has now gotten in on the action. The ITC is looking into whether Nokia is in violation of the six patents Qualcomm claims them to be, presumably some of the same CDMA-related patents that have come up several times before -- patents that Nokia licenses for its CDMA handsets, but GSM and UMTS devices (which apparently tread on the same patent work) are not covered by the agreement. With Nokia potentially phasing out its CDMA business citing (in part) unfair licensing terms with Qualcomm, they don't exactly have the option of going the same route on the GSM front, so this battle looks set to play out to the bitter end. Meanwhile, we're going to start hoarding N93s in case things go south in a hurry.