Back in 2014, Samsung and Nvidia began battling it out in court over patent infringement. Initially, Nvidia launched a suit against Samsung and Qualcomm over GPU patent infringement, which led to Samsung filing a counter-suit over memory chip technology, which the company has now lost. Originally, Samsung said that the …
Read More »Apple patents design for super thin iPhone speakers
We have been hearing a lot about the iPhone 7 these last few weeks along with Apple's future plans for audio on its flagship smartphone. Following on from reports that Apple is set to kill off the 3.5mm headphone jack to save space, a patent has been uncovered showing off …
Read More »Dropbox patents peer to peer file-sharing system
File locker website Dropbox has patented a new type of sharing technology that would allow its users to use peer to peer networking to share their Dropbox files and folders with one another without sending them through the company's servers. Although ostensibly for backup purposes, this system could also make …
Read More »Samsung is making one last effort to avoid Apple patent suit payout
While Samsung did finally agree to pay Apple the $550 million over patent infringements, there was one little stipulation, Samsung wants the chance to win some of that money back in court and has filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court in one last effort to prove how ridiculous …
Read More »Nintendo has patented a gamepad made out of a display
We've been hearing a lot of rumours over the last few months regarding Nintendo's next console, the NX. So far, we have no idea what it is going to be or what features it will bring to the table but we do know that Nintendo has been making some interesting …
Read More »Apple faces patent lawsuit in China
Apple is currently facing a pretty big lawsuit in China. One company, known as BYD, filed two separate suits back in May of this year, claiming that the antenna on the iPhone 6 and some other products in Apple's lineup may infringe on its own patents. BYD has also listed …
Read More »More games may soon have mini-game loading screens
Although SSDs have turned some of gaming's loading screens into frustrating exercises in speed reading the quickly shown tips, not every one is quite so snappy. So perhaps it's good that an old Namco Bandai patent is about to run its course, as it might mean that developers decide to …
Read More »Apple patent hints at ‘shatterproof’ iPhone screen
It seems that Apple is looking in to fortifying the displays found on its iPhones in order to tackle one of the biggest problems with smartphones- shattering screens. The company recently filed a patent idea that would use retractable bumpers that will automatically pop out when a device begins to …
Read More »Amazon designs pair of augmented reality glasses
Amazon has designed its own pair of augmented reality glasses, judging by a recent patent filing from the company. While many other device makers are currently focussed on virtual reality, there aren't as many big names currently working on augmented reality, aside from Microsoft with the Hololens and Google with …
Read More »University beats Apple in patent court, should it be paid?
The smartphone industry is one that is as rife with innovation as it is with patent lawsuits. Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and many others have dragged one another in and out of court rooms for the past decade or so, attempting to wrestle money and bans on sales from and against …
Read More »Apple could face $862 million fine for using a university owned patent
Apple could face a hefty fine, after a US jury ruled that Apple used technology patented by the University of Wisconsin within some of its A-series chips found in the iPhone and iPads. Specifically, the A7, A8 and A8x processors, found in the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, …
Read More »Australian court sets precedent: you can’t patent a gene
Anyone who's a fan of Michael Chrichton will have bumped into the idea of gene patenting back in the mid '00s with the release of Next, showing a terrifying future where companies can patent our very genetics in a bid to capitalise on them – be that through commerce or …
Read More »Google and Microsoft call a truce on in-progress lawsuits
Google and Microsoft have called a truce on their legal battles in the US and Germany, spanning across many lawsuits all in regards to certain patents and royalties- perhaps Apple and Samsung could find some inspiration here. Some of the lawsuits concerned Xbox technology, while others were related to mobile …
Read More »Apple is reinventing the headphone jack
Apple is once again attempting to reinvent connectors for its devices. The company has a long history with proprietary connectors, we have seen the 30-pin dock connector on older iPhones and iPods, we have seen the Lightning connector and now, Apple is trying its hand at reinventing the headphone jack. …
Read More »Apple wins appeal in patent case against Samsung
Apple has won an appeal in its never-ending lawsuit against Samsung. The latest victory on Apple's part could mean that Samsung will either have to make changes to or stop selling some of its older Galaxy smartphones and tablets. A US court of appeals made the ruling on Thursday and …
Read More »Apple loses German court battle on ‘slide to unlock’ patent
Apple just lost another fairly important court battle in Germany, over a patent for unlocking smartphones with a finger swipe. Judges yesterday ruled that the ‘slide to unlock' method isn't sophisticated enough in order to be awarded with patent protection. This could end up having an impact on another of …
Read More »Nintendo’s next system may ditch the disc-drive
Earlier this year, Nintendo revealed that it is already planning its follow-up to the Wii U, currently known as the Nintendo NX. While the company isn't ready to publicly say more about its future console until next year, this recently filed patent may give us a peek at its plans. …
Read More »Samsung wants to take its fight against Apple to the Supreme Court
Samsung and Apple have been locked in a legal battle for a number of years now and while Samsung initially lost the fight several years ago, it has kept fighting back since. While the courts originally ordered Samsung to pay close to $1 billion to Apple in damages, Samsung has …
Read More »Apple patent invalidated ahead of Samsung lawsuit retrial
The Apple VS Samsung patent lawsuit just took an interesting turn as the US Patent and Trademark Office has invalidated one of the key patents involved in the suit. Design patent D618677, which details the front of the old iPhone 3G has been invalidated due to an insufficient description on …
Read More »Future Apple TV remote may have Touch ID
It looks like Apple is looking to expand its Touch ID fingerprint sensor in to other products as a recently filed patent from the company suggests that future Apple TV remotes will come with the technology built-in. This would add an extra layer of security when setting up TV service …
Read More »Google patents picture taking gesture for Glass-like devices
Google may have taken Glass back to the drawing board earlier this year but it definitely hasn't given up on it. Earlier this week we learned that the company could be gearing up to launch Glass Enterprise Edition for business use at some point this year and now we are …
Read More »Judge orders retrial of patent suit against Apple
It seems like there is news on Apple's legal affairs almost on a weekly basis. Today in the world of Apple's legal battles, a federal judge voided a $532.9 million lawsuit award that a Texas jury handed to a company known as Smartflash, on the grounds that Smartflash is merely …
Read More »Apple wants to go back to hiding its iPhone antennas
Ever since the iPhone 4 was first introduced, Apple has had its antenna shown off on the outside of its mobile devices. On the iPhone 4, 5 and 5s it can be seen at the metal ring around the phone while on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus you can …
Read More »Own a patent? Google might buy it from you
Buying up patents for a firm like Google normally means spending a few million dollars on picking up an entire company, but that might not be how it does things in the future. Instead, Google is looking to buy patents from you, me and anyone else it can, after announcing …
Read More »Apple patent hints at future force touch uses
Apple recently revealed its brand new ‘force touch’ track pad alongside its new Macbook and 13 inch Macbook Pro but the technology could get more uses in future iterations, according to a new Apple patent application. It looks like Apple is interested in mixing vibrations and temperature changes to fool …
Read More »Google’s self-driving cars might end up with air bags on the outside
Google has made significant progress with its self-driving car over the past year or so and the company keeps surprising us with its new design decisions. First, Google recently dropped the steering wheel from its car and now, it looks like there might be air bags on the outside of …
Read More »Apple patent hints at flexible displays for future iPhones
Apple might be planning a new smartphone with a flexible display following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, according to a recent patent filing, which was revealed earlier this week. Patently Apple was the first to discover the recent patent, which describes a ‘mini flexible edge display’, which …
Read More »Apple to pay $533 million for infringing patents with iTunes
Apple has been ordered to shell out $533 million to patent licensing company, Smartflash, after it was found guilty of infringing on patents with iTunes. The ruling was decided on by a federal jury in Texas, where Smartflash is based. Apple tried to argue that the Smartflash patents were invalid …
Read More »Apple Patent shows iPhone home button joystick
The iPhone's home button may be doubling up as a joystick some time in the future if this new Apple patent is anything to go by. The patent describes a “Multi-Function Input Device” and was granted by the US Patent & Trademark office just last week. The patent was filed …
Read More »Ericsson kicks off patent suit with Apple
Ericsson is now suing Apple, claiming that the iPhone uses one of the company's patented kits and accusing Apple of going out of its way to avoid paying any fees for use of the technology. Apple and Ericsson used to have a deal that allowed for this but that lapsed …
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