Angry Birds maker in patent suit

22 July 2011 Last updated at 14:32 GMT Angry Birds is one of the most downloaded applications on iPhones, iPads and Android devices Rovio, the Finnish maker of the Angry Birds game, is being sued by a licensing company for infringing its patents.

Lodsys has said that Rovio and other developers violated its patents with games on Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android.

Lodsys is embroiled in lawsuits with other big technology companies, including Apple.

Rovio said it had not received any direct contact regarding the complaint.

"As soon as we receive more information we will take appropriate action," a spokesperson said.

Angry Birds is one of the most popular game applications.

Rovio marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka said last week that the game had surpassed 300 million downloads.

Lodsys, a company that licenses patents but does not have any other business, added five new defendants to a suit filed in May with a US district court in Texas.

Along with Rovio, it named Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive which makes Grand Theft Auto, Atari and others in the list of companies it says are violating its patents.

Take-Two declined to comment. Electronic Arts and Atari were not immediately available for comment.

View the original article here

Apple takes on HTC in patent war

12 July 2011 Last updated at 14:52 GMT Sales of HTC's smartphones have surged making it a big player in the industry Apple has accused the smartphone maker HTC of infringing its patents, in the latest phase of the legal battle between phone and tablet PC makers.

Apple has filed a complaint against the US International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking an inquiry by the panel into the matter.

The news comes just weeks after Apple and Samsung accused each other of copying designs and technology.

HTC is the world's third-biggest mobile phone maker, by stock market value.

However, HTC has denied Apple's allegations.

"HTC is dismayed that Apple has resorted to competition in the courts rather than the market place," said Grace Lei, HTC's general counsel.

Growing rivalry

The launch of products such as iPhone and iPad saw Apple become one of the market leaders in the global smartphone market, and the biggest seller of tablet PCs.

Apple's success in quickly securing a large slice of the market, with fashionable products enjoying good demand from consumers, prompted several rivals to launch their own gadgets hoping to win a share of the fast-growing market.

However, that resulted in relations between Apple and its rivals souring as the competition grew.

Last year the American technology company filed a similar complaint against HTC accusing it of infringing as many as 20 of its patents.

That prompted HTC to launch a counter attack, claiming that Apple was guilty of infringing patents held by the Taiwanese company.

HTC went to the extent of seeking a ban on sales of iPhones, iPads and iPods in the United States.

View the original article here

Nokia and Apple settle patent row

14 June 2011 Last updated at 10:11 GMT Nokia claimed some technology in the iPad infringed its patents Nokia and Apple have agreed a technology licensing agreement that ends the long-running legal dispute between the two firms.

"The agreement will result in settlement of all patent litigation between the companies," Nokia said.

Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements in 2009 and extended the action in December last year.

Apple had countersued, accusing Nokia of infringing its patents.

Nokia said Apple had agreed a one-off payment, the value of which was not disclosed, and ongoing royalties to use its technologies.

Apple said the deal covered both companies' patents.

Counter claims Continue reading the main story

What this story really shows once again is how one phone, the iPhone, has proved the undoing of a company whose dominance seemed unassailable just four years ago”

End Quote Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News "We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees," said Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop.

"This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry-leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market."

Apple said the two firms had agreed to "drop all of our current lawsuits and enter into a licence covering some of each other's patents, but not the majority of the innovations that make the iPhone unique".

"We're glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses."

'Positive news'

Nokia's various claims against Apple included alleged patent infringements of touch interfaces, caller ID, display illumination, and 3G and wi-fi technology.

Apple had also claimed that Nokia had infringed many of its patents.

Both sides had always denied each other's claims.

"This is the first positive news from Nokia for a long time. They can both focus on their businesses now, and the dispute was settled to Nokia's advantage," said Mikael Rautanen at research group Inderes in Helsinki.

At the end of last month, Nokia said it expected sales and profit margins for the current quarter to be well below its previous forecasts.

The company has been struggling to reposition itself in the rapidly-growing smartphone sector, where it is trying to make up ground lost to competitors such as Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android operating system.

View the original article here