UK tech lobbyists call for software patents | Intellectual Property | ZDNet UK

UK tech lobbyists call for software patents | Intellectual Property | ZDNet UK:

"We need to recognise that software is a material — you can make inventions from that material," Mitchell said at the event, held to discuss the recent Hargreaves report into intellectual property law. "It's like wood, it's like paper, so why have some artificial limitation?"

Mitchell complained that "hardly anyone" submitted evidence to Ian Hargreaves before he published the report. The report called for the UK to resist allowing software patents in order to avoid "thickets" of patents building up around commonly-used technology.

"[Hargreaves] seems not to have noticed that quite a lot of SMEs who did respond said there's no UK system in place for patent enforcement. In the G8, this is the only country that has no penalties in place for patent infringement," Mitchell said.

HTC Pays Microsoft $5 Per Android Phone, Says Citi

HTC Pays Microsoft $5 Per Android Phone, Says Citi:

Microsoft gets $5 for every HTC phone running Android, according to Citi analyst Walter Pritchard, who released a big report on Microsoft this morning.

Microsoft is getting that money thanks to a patent settlement with HTC over intellectual property infringement.

Microsoft is suing other Android phone makers, and it's looking for $7.50 to $12.50 per device, says Pritchard.

Intellectual Ventures Gets Another Patent Licensee: Dashwire | mocoNews

Intellectual Ventures Gets Another Patent Licensee: Dashwire | mocoNews:

Dashwire, which is currently being sued by Synchronoss for patent infringement, becomes the latest customer of former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold’s controversial company. Intellectual Ventures is essentially one big patent warehouse, and it’s suing a host of companies in the tech industry alleging that they are infringing upon those patents.

HTC acquires wireless communication patents from ADC Telecommunications

#HTC will acquire 82 patents and 14 #patent appliactions concerning wireless communication technologies from ADC Telecommunications for US$75 million, according to the smartphone vendor.

HTC will use the patents to develop 4G smartphones mainly, according to industry sources.

RIM Signs On With Intellectual Ventures For Its Patent Portfolio | paidContent

RIM Signs On With Intellectual Ventures For Its Patent Portfolio | paidContent:

RIM has followed fellow handset makers HTC and Samsung into the arms of Intellectual Property Ventures, signing a deal with the patent-holding company founded by Microsoft’s former CTO, Nathan Myhrvold and its former chief architect, Edward Jung. The deal will give RIM access to 30,000 patent’s in IV’s portfolio.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the news release, but as with past deals with other handset makers HTC and Samsung, the agreement will allow RIM to use the patents alongside its own in the development of products and, significantly, “leverage IV’s portfolio in its future licensing negotiations.”

That $7.8b Apple-Samsung Deal isn’t as big as you might think - The Digital Reader

That $7.8b Apple-Samsung Deal isn’t as big as you might think - The Digital Reader:

The hot story today is about the deal that Samsung and Apple are about to sign. Over the next year, Samsung will provide $7.8 billion worth of components for the iPad and iPhone. this deal would make Apple the single largest customer of Samsung.

Novell patent pool filing by Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, EMC withdrawn

Novell patent pool filing by Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, EMC withdrawn:

A plan created by Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and EMC to create a consortium to acquire hundreds of Novell patents has been withdrawn after complaints from open source advocates, leaving the fate of the nearly half billion dollars' worth of patents uncertain.

Supreme Court to hear Microsoft patent-infringement appeal - News - Windows for Devices

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Microsoft's appeal in its long-running patent case with Canadian firm i4i. This not only gives Microsoft another shot at overturning a substantial monetary judgment, but also gives the Court a chance to leave its mark on the patent-infringement battles gripping the tech industry.

HTC Shores Up In Legal Fights With 30K-Patent Deal

HTC Shores Up In Legal Fights With 30K-Patent Deal:

In one swift move, HTC may have just diffused what could have become yet another legal bomb: the handset maker yesterday entered into a long-term licensing agreement and strategic alliance with Intellectual Ventures, an IP patent house run by Microsoft’s former CTO, Nathan Myhrvold, and chief architect, Edward Jung. The deal gives HTC access to over 30,000 patents.

The agreement gives HTC the IP it needs to “defend itself and its subsidiaries from potential litigation,” says the joint press release. A value for the deal was not disclosed.

Is software too abstract to be patented? | opensource.com

Is software too abstract to be patented? | opensource.com:

"The serious problem of proliferating bad software patents was not solved by the Supreme Court's Bilski decision, but now it's looking like it may be part of the solution. The early case law applying Bilski is much more encouraging than expected. The new Bilski test focuses on whether an application attempts to patent “an abstract idea.” That new test has already been applied to reject applications for quite a few bad software patents, and with more lawsuits, it could invalidate a lot more. To advance on this, we need to figure out out better ways to explain what software is and show when it is an unpatentable abstract idea."