Patent Fun Weekly Roundup: Apple, Samsung, Google and Trolls

New complaints and rulings

• The US trade commission was set to investigate Apple over patent infringement after a complaint from Motorola, which also sought bans on some Apple products.
• Samsung was reported to be preparing infringement claims against the iPhone 5 on eight patents.
• A German court found that Samsung and Motorola did not infringe Apple’s touch event patent.
• A German court granted Microsoft an injunction against Google, covering a patent on a soft input panel system.
• Apple was criticised for using a design resembling a Swiss railway clock.

The author argued that two companies can reach the same idea and that the implementation, not the idea, is what should be protected.

Troll watch

A patent troll sued both Google and Apple. Skyhook Wireless filed a new suit against Google over nine US patents on Wi-Fi positioning, including methods for estimating position error and detecting moved access points.

Crowdsourcing bad patents

Google, Stack Exchange and the US patent office joined a platform meant to help the public challenge overbroad patents.

Apple v. Samsung

• Samsung asked an appeals court for a limited remand so the judge could dissolve an injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
• Apple asked for $707 million more and for bans.
• Samsung asked for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, saying the trial was unfair.
• Samsung also worked out how the jury reached its damages figures, except for the Galaxy Tab 10.1.