Apple has just lost one of its magic patent bullets thanks to a non-final Office action by the USPTO. Patent No, 7,469,381 (used against Samsung in California) has been declared invalid after evidence supporting prior art (as well as being obvious) was brought about during a reexamination request.
This news is not only great for Samsung, but many other manufacturers who are currently caught up in Apple’s legal charades.
Another day, another public humiliation. At least that’s what UK judges have in mind for Apple. After losing a legal claim against Samsung, a London judge ruled that Apple must “correct the damaging impression” caused by their “copycat” claims. The ruling forces Apple to publicly announce — both on their website and with adverts in publications such as the Daily Mail, Financial Times and T3 Magazine — that Samsung had not infringed on its design rights. Apple appealed this decision, of course. However, the judgement stands and the public humiliation must commence as an appeals judge has decided not to overturn the decision.
Back in June, a California District Court granted a preliminary injunction on sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US. The district court ruling was in reference to Apple’s ‘604 patent, pertaining to universal search. Samsung quickly filed an appeal, contended that the relatively low sales numbers of the Galaxy Nexus would present no harm to Apple and the Court of Appeals agreed to temporarily lift the ban (reason why you don’t recall it being banned).
Think of the kids!
It appears kid-centric tablets have become the next victims of IP litigation thanks to a recent court filing by Fuhu Inc., creators of the 7-inch Nabi tablet. Fuhu has filed suit against Toys ‘R’ Us, claiming breach of contract, trade-secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, and more. This all seems to stem from a previous agreement between Toys ‘R’ Us and Fuhu in which Toys ‘R’ Us was given exclusive rights to sell Fuhu’s 7-inch kid-friendly Nabi tablet.
Motorola is looking to bring down the ban hammer on almost every Apple product out there, including every Mac OSX computer. I have no idea if Motorola is just looking to throw spaghetti at the wall or what, but they have a long list of infringements that apparently the International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate.
