In its injunction, Apple claims that the Galaxy Nexus violates four of Apple’s patents. These  include the “slide to unlock” feature, a word completion patent, one relating to search and Apple’s Siri voice recognition software and a data tapping related patent.

The Galaxy Nexus was first launched in late 2011.  Samsung collaborated on the smartphone heavily with Google thanks in part to the fact that the Galaxy Nexus was also the first smartphone installed with Google’s Android 4.0 operating system.

This is, of course, just the latest salvo in the patent war between Apple and Samsung. The two companies have been fighting this war in several countries. A few days ago, Apple lost a battle when a German court ruled that Samsung’s modified Galaxy Tab 10.1 N tablet could be sold in that country over Apple’s objections. Samsung also won the right to sell the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia back in December.

*You know I like apple but this is just getting tedious and ridiculous that every time a phone sells better than the iphone they sue someone. I hope one day a judge will finally put Apple in their place and end this nonsense!

Thanks to neowin for the tip.

We’ve all seen some crazy lawsuits in the past. Everything from spilled coffee to burgalers suing homeowners when they became injured trying to rob the home. But this may take the cake. If there was any doubt in your mind that Apple was only after the money, this should clear it up.

Apple is suing Amazon over the name of the Amazon Appstore. Apple claims that Amazon using the word “App” in their store title will cause confusion among users and will cause irreparable damage and cause them to lose clients. They claim that customers will be unclear by the store name.

While the lawsuit still rages between Apple and Amazon, it would appear that it is a losing battle for Apple. According to Judge Phyllis Hamilton Apple has yet to prove their claim.

So here is my question to you PPCGEEKS Are you confused by this? Do you think that Apple has the right to sue Amazon over their use of the word App? If Apple wins this lawsuit does that mean that anytime someone writes or talks about apps that Apple is entitled to something? What do you think?

Well once again AT&T is in trouble. It seems lately that they can’t keep their names out of the news…and not in a good way. A class-action lawsuit was  finally settled. AT&T was accused of improperly levying taxes on mobile Internet access fees.

A federal judge in the US District Court of Northern Illinois approved the proposed settlement last week. According to a Kansas law firm (Bartimus Frickleton Robertson and Gorny PC) AT&T will be working with the law firm to get state and local governments to repay a maximum of $956.16 million back to its customers.

Of course in the course of the settlement AT&T did not admit to ANY wrongdoing, but lets be real what company is going to admit that they messed up and “accidently” charged people taxes that they shouldn’t have. Hmmm let me think about that one…oh that’s right, no one is. I think the world actually might come to a screeching halt if a company admitted to making a mistake.

Lawsuits have been filed in all 50 states. The law firm claims that AT&T violated the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which was created to keep the government from levying taxes on internet access between November 1, 2003 through November 1, 2014. It is estimated that 29 million contracts and 49 million customers with individual phone numbers will be covered under this lawsuit.

It is becoming a wonder to me that AT&T has any customers left at all. While, they do have good service coverage, and their phones aren’t too terribly expensive with all the bad press coverage they have been getting lately, I’m sure many people are thinking twice before going to AT&T for their cell phone service. I know that I am definitely rethinking my options about where to sign my next cell phone contract. 

Source Fierce Wireless

Apple’s asking for a permanent injunction, which would bar HTC from importing or selling phones here that use these patents, along with triple damages with maximum interest. As you can see, some of the patents are fairly broad, like “unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image”.

Steve Jobs has this statement:

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Apparently HTC was just as surprised to hear about this according to their statement:

“We only learned of Apple’s actions based on your stories and Apple’s press release. We have not been served any papers yet so we are in no position to comment on the claims. We respect and value patent rights but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years.”

The patents include:

The ‘331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The ‘949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
The ‘849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
The ‘381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
The ‘726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
The ‘076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
The ‘105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
The ‘453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
The ‘599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
The ‘354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.
United States Patent No. 5,481,721 entitled “Method for Providing Automatic and Dynamic Translation of Object Oriented Programming Language-Based Message Passing Into Operation System Message Passing Using Proxy Objects,” issued on January 2, 1996…
United States Patent No. 5,519,867 entitled “Object-Oriented Multitasking System,” issued on May 21, 1996…
United States Patent No. 6,275,983 entitled “Object-Oriented Operating System,” issued on August 14, 2001…
United States Patent No. 5,566,337 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Distributing Events in an Operating System,” issued on October 15, 1996…
United States Patent No. 5,929,852 entitled “Encapsulated Network Entity Reference of a Network Component System,” issued on July 27, 1999…
United States Patent No. 5,946,647 entitled “System and Method for Performing an Action on a Structure in Computer-Generated Data” issued on August 31, 1999…
United States Patent No. 5,969,705 entitled “Message Protocol for Controlling a User Interface From an Inactive Application Program,” issued on October 19, 1999…
United States Patent No. 6,343,263 entitled “Real-Time Signal Processing System for Serially Transmitted Data,” issued on January 29, 2002…
United States Patent No. 5,915,131 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Handling I/O Requests Utilizing Separate Programming Interfaces to Access Separate I/O Service” issued on June 22, 1999…
United States Patent No. RE39,486, entitled “Extensible, Replaceable Network Component System,” reissued on February 6, 2007…

Source: Gizmodo

What is $18 million divided amongst all the former subscribers of AT&T Wireless/Cingular who paid a flat-rate ETF between January 1, 1998 and November 4, 2009 minus lawyer fee’s? Not a whole lot, but if you happen to fit into that category then you should be getting your portion in the mail (hopefully sometime this decade). AT&T has settled an ETF class action lawsuit in New Jersey and $18 million was the agreed-upon settlement.

Below is a message sent to Engadget by AT&T reinforcing that this settlement is not an admission of guilt but the cheap way out.

We strongly deny any wrongdoing, and no court has found AT&T Mobility committed any wrongdoing regarding these fees. However, we have agreed to settle to avoid the burden and cost of further litigation.

It’s important to note that the litigation involves old early termination fee policies of the old AT&T Wireless and Cingular. In 2008 we introduced a new, more flexible early termination fee policy, in which we pro-rate the ETF if you are a new or renewing wireless customer who enters a one- or two-year service agreement.

May there be a day where ETF’s are either non-existent or at least more inline to the actual cost of the phone it is intended to cover. Go here to file a claim if you fit the criteria.

Source- Engadget

After the break is a copy of the Press Release.

Important Notice from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey about a Class Action Settlement
Para ver este aviso en espanol, visita www.ATTMETFSettlement.com/espanol

A Class Action Settlement Could Affect Your Rights If You:
• Subscribed to wireless telephone service from AT&T Mobility LLC (“AT&T Mobility”) or its predecessors and paid or were charged a flat-rate early termination fee (“ETF”) at any time after January 1, 1998; or
• Your contract included a flat-rate ETF provision at any time after January 1, 1998.
A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action alleging that AT&T Mobility’s flat-rate ETF (generally between $150 and $175) was unlawful. The Settlement resolves several other cases that challenge AT&T Mobility’s flat-rate ETF. AT&T Mobility strongly denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to settle to avoid the burden and cost of further litigation. The sole purpose of this notice is to inform you of the Settlement so that you may decide what to do.
If the Settlement is approved, a settlement fund of $16,000,000 in cash and $2,000,000 in non-cash benefits will be created. Class Members who submit Claim Forms may receive monetary or other benefits. You may also choose to exclude yourself from, or object to, the Settlement. The Court has appointed attorneys to represent the Class. You may hire your own attorney, but only at your own expense.
For a full description of the Settlement, related Court documents, and deadlines and forms, please visit www.ATTMETFSettlement.com.
• Claim Forms are due June 14, 2010, but the date may be extended.
• Requests to exclude yourself from the Settlement must be submitted to the Settlement Administrator and are due March 24, 2010.
• You or your lawyer has the right to appear before the Court and object to the Settlement. Any objections to the Settlement are due March 24, 2010, and any objections to attorneys’ fees requested are due April 12, 2010.
• The Court will determine whether to approve the Settlement at a Fairness Hearing on April 14, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
• If you do not exclude yourself by March 24, 2010 and you are a member of the Class, you will be bound by the terms of the Settlement and give up your rights to sue in court or arbitration regarding issues in the case.
You can get a Claim Form at www.ATTMETFSettlement.com/claimform by calling 1-888-228-0885 or
by writing the AT&T Mobility ETF Settlement Claims Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 2266, Faribault, MN 55021-2386.
Questions may also be directed to Class Counsel by email at info@ATTMETFSettlement.com.
Please do not contact AT&T Mobility or the Court with questions about this Settlement.

Recently, Big Red began to market against AT&T’s long running “Theres an App for That” marketing campaign for the Iphone. The campaign, using the phrase “There’s a Map for That’, intends to pun against AT&T’s sub par coverage in areas across the nation. Such ads showing the extensive coverage of Verizon have been done before, but this one is notable for being a direct attack on AT&T’s coverage. In turn, AT&T has now filed a lawsuit with Verizon Wireless over the Campaign, claiming it as false advertising.

According to AT&T, the advertisements are only taking into account HSDPA coverage of AT&T, and not EDGE. According to AT&T’s interpretation of 3G, this is not proper advertising of their coverage. Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless claims their EVDO service to be of 3G. Two problems that lie here are in the definition of 3G, and the fact that the two carriers use two completely different carrier bands to transmit their data (GSM AT&T vurses CDMA Verizon)

The biggest problem to the puzzle is that there is no true definition to 3G (or 4G for that matter) connectivity. Although HSDPA is the fastest speeds under AT&T, EDGE still supports broadband (PC Cards and decent speed internet.) In the long run, due to the differences of AT&T and Verizon’s carrier systems (CDMA and GSM,) it is hard to say the calling on this case, and if Verizon has or has not.

For now, AT&T stands strong with a complaint, request for restraining order, and other documents. (Thanks dslreports.com!)

Source: Dslreports