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litigation posts

Broadcom and Qualcomm agree to stop suing one another, but not to stop hating

by Darren Murph posted Apr 26th 2009 @ 10:59PM

Truthfully, we're having a hard time coming to grips with this. For as long as we wished that these two would stop bickering, it's actually tough to swallow the fact that we'll never again be able to write about "yet another lawsuit" between Qualcomm and Broadcom (in theory, anyway). After nearly three full years of fighting with pencils, papers and soulless words, the courtroom throwdowns are finally ceasing. In a shocking development, the two rivals have entered into a settlement and multi-year patent agreement that will "result in the dismissal with prejudice of all litigation between the companies, including all patent infringement claims in the International Trade Commission and US District Court in Santa Ana, as well as the withdrawal by Broadcom of its complaints to the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission." The exact terms of the deal are posted after the break, though you should know that Qualcomm will have to shell out $891 million in cash (ouch!) over the next four years. The lawyers may be out of work, but you can rest assured that there's no shortage of abhorrence between these frenemies.

Continue reading Broadcom and Qualcomm agree to stop suing one another, but not to stop hating

Verizon caves, settles Klausner visual voicemail suit by signing license

by Darren Murph posted Oct 25th 2008 @ 7:07AM

We figured back in August that Verizon (and LG) would eventually be forced to pay up in order to keep visual voicemail on its handsets, and sure enough, that's exactly what has gone down with the former company. Verizon and Klausner Technologies have quickly settled outstanding patent litigation by way of Verizon entering into a patent license agreement for using visual voicemail. To date, Verizon is the 15th company to ink such an agreement, ensuring that the suits at Klausner can remain firmly parked in Grand Cayman, Aruba, Maui or any other blissful location they please for the remainder of their Earthly lives. As for LG? We'd say the outcome is all but imminent at this point.

[Via phonescoop, image courtesy of MyDigitalLife]

FTC sues to keep your phone records safe

by Thomas Ricker posted May 5th 2006 @ 9:02AM

Were you aware that your phone records are available to just about anyone willing to fork over $100 beans in exchange for a month’s worth of activity? Yeah, in what has become a booming Internet business aimed primary at Private Dicks, your phone records (including lists of incoming and outgoing calls) are being made available via dozens of web-based brokers who openly advertise their ability to obtain your data with the help of company insiders or via a little deception -- in violation of law. See, the 1996 Telecommunication Act which deregulated the phone and media industries, also states that consumers’ phone records are private property and can only be publicly disclosed with our approval. As such, the FTC has now taken action and like Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon before them, are going after these bastages in a variety of sting operations and costly litigation meant to oust and ultimately shut ‘em down. The five sites targetted by the FTC in their lawsuit include 77 Investigations, Accusearch, Check Em Out, Information Search, and Integrity Security & Investigations Services with the latter accused of selling personal financial info and credit card deets to boot. Sure, these US-based companies will just reopen off-shore but still, we’ve got your back on this one FTC.