Legal Archive

Psion Defends “Netbook” Trademark

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-20 Legal 43 Comments

I recently joked that we might want to rename OSNews to CourtNews, and with each passing day that silly joke seems to become less silly. This week, it became clear that Psion Teklogix, the company behind various small computing devices back in the '90s, has started an all-out legal offensive to prohibit other companies from using the term "netbook".

Can Your Cat Agree to an EULA?

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-20 Legal 41 Comments

An interesting story is making it rounds across the internet the past few days about someone who made a system to get his cat to agree to the EULAs she was presented with. While that's just a funny joke, it does raise a very interesting point: if person A agrees to an EULA, does its power extend to person B?

Intel, Nvidia Take Nehalem Dispute to Court

Submitted by adkilla 2009-02-19 Legal 6 Comments

Intel has filed suit against NVIDIA seeking a declaratory judgment over rights associated with two agreements between the companies. The suit seeks to have the court declare that NVIDIA is not licensed to produce chipsets that are compatible with any Intel processor that has integrated memory controller functionality, such as Intel’s Nehalem microprocessors and that NVIDIA has breached the agreement with Intel by falsely claiming that it is licensed. Intel claims that it has been in discussions with NVIDIA for more than a year attempting to resolve the matter but were unsuccessful. As a result Intel is asking the court to resolve this dispute. Shall we rename OSNews to CourtNews?

‘Vista Capable’ Suit Loses Class Action Status

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-19 Legal 19 Comments

Microsoft has achieved a major win in the "Vista Capable" class action lawsuit against the company. The suit, which is about if Microsoft knew the PCs it labelled as "Vista capable" weren't actually capable of running Vista's more advanced features, has lost its class action status.

‘Does Kindle 2’s Text-to-Speech Infringe Authors’ Copyrights?’

weildish 2009-02-18 Legal 28 Comments

The Author's Guild has been having some trouble coping with the Kindle 2's Read to Me feature because it supposedly undermines author's rights. Their argument? "They don't have the right to read a book out loud." It sounds ridiculous; we've been reading out loud since we were wee little children, and text-to-speech has been in use since before the Google Empire (by hundreds of years technically, and by decades literally). However, after explanation by Engadget's very own pretentious ex-copyright attorney, the blurred lines of law and lawlessness gets even blurrier. Does the Author's Guild have a valid point, or are they splitting hairs?

The Pirate Bay Scores Major Win in Trial

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-17 Legal 38 Comments

Practically before the trial is up and running, The Pirate Bay has achieved a major victory over the entertainment industry. On day two, the prosecutor has dropped half of the charges against the bittorrent website. The remaining charges are much lighter than the ones that have been dropped.

Pirate Bay Trial To Start Today

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-16 Legal 35 Comments

In a textbook example of "dweilen met de kraan open", the landmark trial against Torrent website The Pirate Bay will take off today in Sweden. The founders of the torrent website are charged with aiding millions of internet users gain access to illegal content. Basically the entire entertainment industry is amassing against The Pirate Bay, making this one of the biggest trials against internet file sharing in history.

Red Hat Enlists Community in Fight Against Patent Trolls

Submitted by stickster 2009-02-14 Legal 34 Comments

Back in 2007, IP Innovation filed a lawsuit against Red Hat and Novell. IP Innovation is a subsidiary of Acacia Technologies. You may have heard of them -- they're reported to be the most litigious patent troll in the USA, meaning they produce nothing of value other than money from those whom they sue (or threaten to sue) over patent issues. They're alleging infringement of patents on a user interface that has multiple workspaces. Hard to say just what they mean (which is often a problem in software patents), but it sounds a lot like functionality that pretty much all programmers and consumers use.

Small Win Psystar, Judge Hints at Consequences if Psystar Wins

Submitted by poundsmack 2009-02-09 Legal 79 Comments

The legal case between Apple and Psystar has just taken another, very small turn. Psystar gained a small victory over Apple today, because U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup allowed Psystar to modify its counter-suit against Apple, after he had dismissed the original counter-suit. However, something more interesting came out of this ruling: the judge hinted at what would happen if Psystar were to win.

Apple vs. Palm: the In-Depth Analysis

Thom Holwerda 2009-01-29 Legal 15 Comments

There has been a bit of a buzz lately surrounding some indeterminate patent threats going back and forth between Apple and Palm. Palm is about to launch the Pre, which supposedly could infringe on a number of iPhone patents. Both companies have stated that they will defend themselves against any possible patent infringements. Engadget enlisted the help of two patent attornies, and they took a good look at both sides and came up with some interesting results: while Palm could be infringing on Apple's patents, Apple sure as water is also infringing on a number of Palm patents. Still, that doesn't have to mean anything.

Palm Quietly Responds to Apple’s Quiet Threat

Guest post by weildish 2009-01-24 Legal 58 Comments

Several days ago when Apple hinted at legal action against Palm, we held our breath to see just what would happen. Now Palm has stepped up to the plate boldly and hinted that they'd fight whatever legal action is thrown at them.

Apple Hints at Legal Action Against Palm

Thom Holwerda 2009-01-22 Legal 69 Comments

Remember when Steve Jobs launched the iPhone, and held it up in the air, proudly proclaiming "Boy, have we patented it", followed by a massive applause of the adoring audience? It may seem like this wasn't just an empty claim, either. During the earnings conference call yesterday, the company hinted at possible legal action against Palm were the Pre to infringe on iPhone patents.

Microsoft Sued Over Unified Communications Deal

Submitted by stonyandcher 2009-01-19 Legal 2 Comments

Microsoft has been sued by a small Wisconsin business for allegedly misrepresenting the capabilities of its Live Communications Server product, selling the company more licenses than it needed and not providing a refund or other products to solve its original problem. Imagineering International filed its lawsuit in December in the Fond de Lac County circuit court in Wisconsin, accusing Microsoft of breach of contract and breach of warranties, among other offenses.

Asian Executives Fix LCD Prices, Face Imprisonment in US

Guest post by weildish 2009-01-18 Legal 17 Comments

Current and former executives from LG, Chunghwa, and Sharp have all agreed to plead guilty to various charges of fixing the prices of TFT-LCD screens. The executives will face six to nine months in jail, pay $20,000-$50,000 fines, and have also agreed to help the United States government in other LCD price fixing investigations. The companies themselves are ending up having to pay criminal fines to the government of $585 million, collectively. It was mentioned that Sharp was fixing the prices of LCDs sold to Apple, Dell, and Motorola. Hopefully this means that the prices of technology utilizing LCD screens is going to drop from this point onwards, but in times like these, you never do know.

Psystar: We Bought Mac OS X Fair and Square

Thom Holwerda 2009-01-14 Legal 63 Comments

And so the court case between Apple and clone-maker Psystar continues. Claims are being thrown back and forth between the two companies, ranging from Apple invoking the DMCA, to Psystar claiming Apple's Mac OS X copyright is invalid. We can add a new one to the list. Court documents reveal that Psystar claims it has bought its copies of Mac OS X fair and square - including some directly from Apple.

Apple, Google, Microsoft Hit by Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Thom Holwerda 2008-12-26 Legal 46 Comments

Large multinational software companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google, rarely - if ever - initiate patent infringement lawsuits against other software companies, probably because they themselves infringe on lots of patents too. However, they do get sued themselves by smaller companies. Even though the Christian part of the world is all about forgiveness and love and pink ponies during the holidays (or, at least, they ought to be), Apple, Google, and Microsoft have been struck by a patent infringement lawsuit started by Cygnus Systems.

PsyStar Claims Apple’s Mac OS X Copyright Is Invalid

Submitted by judgen 2008-12-24 Legal 57 Comments

The legal back-and-forth between PsyStar and Apple is slowly but surely moving into the twilight zone. Not too long ago we had Apple going all black helicopter on PsyStar claiming people and/or companies other than PsyStar are involved in the clone maker's unlawful practices, even though Apple could so far not name any of them because, well, they don't know who they are yet. If that wasn't enough, PsyStar now claims that Apple's copyright on Mac OS X is invalid.

Apple Hits Psystar with DMCA Charges

Submitted by anon 2008-12-02 Legal 78 Comments

The legal back-and-forth between Apple and clone-maker PsyStar continues to develop, with the latest news being a move by Apple - the Cupertino company has invoked something with many already predicted Apple would call upon: the DMCA, or the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. This was done in an amendment to the original suit, filed in July this year.

Microsoft’s Ballmer Must Answer Questions in Lawsuit

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2008-11-25 Legal 18 Comments

As most of you will know, Microsoft is currently involved in a class-action lawsuit about the company possibly misleading its customers about which computers could run Windows Vista. The story goes that when Microsoft delayed Windows Vista they allowed computers makers to label existing stock as "Vista Capable", even though these computers could only run the basic, Aero Glass-less version of Vista. The most recent development is that Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer will be questioned under oath.

Final Judgment: SCO Owes Novell Millions (Plus Interest)

Submitted by judgen 2008-11-25 Legal 49 Comments

"Federal district judge Dale A. Kimball has handed down the final judgment in the SCO case. The decision dismisses SCO's latest claims, grants declaratory relief to Novell, and sustains the court's previous judgment that SCO owes Novell over $2.54 million (plus interest) for unjust enrichment."