Samsung licenses patents from Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures:
Samsung Electronics has struck a long-term licensing deal with Intellectual Ventures, giving the South Korean electronics giant rights to the technology patents held by the Bellevue-based firm run by Nathan Myhrvold, the former Microsoft chief technology officer.
No financial terms were disclosed as part of the announcement. The deal 'grants Samsung access to a broad and comprehensive IP portfolio under terms attractive to Samsung,' said Dr. Seungho Ahn, a Samsung Electronics senior vice president, in the news release.
Problem Patent Trolls Inspire New Legislation - U.S. Politics Today - News Media Monitoring:
"Patent trolls have been an especially difficult problem for companies to manage. They are reminiscent of cyber-squatters who bought up Internet domain names during the dot-com boom, and, because of patent trolls' behavior, patent-infringement litigation is growing at an incredible pace. In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (where many of patent-infringement lawsuits are initiated), filings in 2010 increased by 20 percent compared to 2009.
In addition, new patent cases in the Eastern District outnumbered new filings in every other federal district. The total number of new defendants (3,879) marks a 70 percent increase from 2009 and is more than four times the next highest number for new defendants (884), in the District of Delaware.
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a report indicating that patent trolls appear focused on hindering companies that have actually innovated rather than 'developing and transferring technology' themselves. It also notes that one of the primary problems exploited by patent trolls is the vagueness in patent applications. Some patents are intentionally vague and, as a result, often do not serve their purpose in giving notice about what the covers."
HTC buys Dashwire for $18.5M, gets cloud phone backup and patents | VentureBeat:
"Slowly but surely, HTC is building up its software expertise. The smartphone maker announced this morning that it has acquired Seattle-based Dashwire, creator of a mobile backup and synchronization service for smartphones, for $18.5 million.
Dashwire’s technology will make its way to the company’s HTCSense.com cloud service. But the purchase will also equip HTC with patents that could help it to avoid future squabbles like its current patent battle with Apple."
FOSS Patents: In dispute with Google, Oracle asks Chicago court to compel deposition of Motorola Mobility:
"Oracle's 'motion to compel the deposition of Motorola [Mobility]', a major Android device maker headquartered in the Chicago area, has the purpose of getting Motorola Mobility (which was served a subpoena by Oracle back in April) to provide the following information:
1. Each package and source code file Motorola retrieves from http://android.git.kernel.org for loading, installation, or execution on Motorola Android Devices, and any changes Motorola makes to those packages and source code files.
2. The extent to which Motorola uses the Android dx tool, and whether Motorola has made any modifications to that tool."
Nanometrics sues KLA-Tencor in patent case:
"KLA-Tencor Corp., a maker of computer chip fabrication equipment, was sued in federal court in Delaware by rival Nanometrics Inc., which accused it of infringing two U.S. patents for alignment gear and seeks damages after a jury trial."
Google's Chief Legal Officer Lashes Out Online:
"If Google's chief legal officer was aiming to spark a reaction with his Wednesday blog post focusing on tech patents, mission accomplished. But in the latest salvo of the rapidly escalating patent wars, did CLO David Drummond make his case—or did he make a huge misstep?
The paradoxical verdict rolling in from tech bloggers and pundits may well be that while Drummond has a point about the stifling chokehold of patent litigation, the evidence he cites in the post is shaky at best, and self-pitying and hypocritical at worst."
Alca-Lu Patent Portfolio Could Be Worth $9B, More Than Company - DailyFinance:
"Alcatel-Lucent (NYS: ALU) has lost 30 percent of its stock market value since reporting sales figures last week that failed to meet analysts estimates. The company, which was valued at $100 billion at its peak, is now worth $7.8 billion, having made continuing losses since it acquired Lucent in 2006.
However, Bloomberg revealed that Alcatel-Lucent's patents could be worth double the $4.5 billion that Nortel Networks' licences sold for in a bankruptcy auction in June.
Rather than focusing on Alcatel's money-losing operations, investors should be 'looking at the next piece, which is a very large patent portfolio that has actual value that's being undervalued by the public market,' said Alkesh Shah, an analyst with New York-based investment advisors Evercore, in an interview with Bloomberg. 'The patent portfolio is one of the hidden assets of value that I don't think investors have paid much attention to.'"
Apple's 'bogus' patents will 'strangle' Android: Google:
Google's chief legal officer has launched a blistering attack on competitors, including Apple, for attempting to stifle innovation by using 'bogus patents' to target Google's Android partners including Samsung.
David Drummond, who is also Google's senior vice-president, wrote in an explosive blog post that the patent wars were pushing up the prices of Android smartphones and tablets. This was part of a 'hostile, organised campaign' being waged by Apple, Microsoft and others to 'strangle' Android, which Google provides free of charge.
