This is banned in Germany - with Windows 7

A patent dispute between Motorola and Microsoft has now escalated with a German court ruling that the Xbox 360 cannot be sold within the country. Also included in the banned list include Windows 7, Internet Explorer and the Windows Media Player.

The dispute between the two companies is over video compression technologies over the H.264 video codec – a widely used standard when recording video. Most likely, your digital camera, or the camera on your phone will use H.264 video compression. The case, originally started in the United States, has now spread across Europe.

And in a twist in the tale, an earlier US judgement could see Motorola unable to enforce the injunction in Germany. “Our business in Germany will continue as usual,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. Microsoft also intends to appeal the ruling. As well, according to MCV, Microsoft moved its European distribution centre from Germany to the Netherlands.

Abuse of Patents?

Motorola, however, is being investigated for potentially abusing its position of holding those patents by the European Commission – which was sparked after both Apple (who is also being sued by Motorola) and Microsoft complained. The main problem that both companies had was that they claim that Motorola wasn’t offering its patents – essential to H.264 video – under FRAND.

FRAND – or Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory – is where a company who holds patents that are deemed essential to a standard must offer a licensing agreement that is “reasonable” and should not harm innovation. In addition, a company should not offer a price that is different to other companies.

Florian Mueller, an intellectual property lawyer and writer of the brilliant FOSS Patents blog (which analyses patent law and lawsuits), has written extensively on this issue and believes that they do have an obligation under FRAND. Writing today:

Motorola actually has an obligation to make licenses to those patents available to all implementers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, but instead of honoring its promise and complying with applicable antitrust laws, it demanded royalties that would amount, in a conservative estimate, to $4 billion annually. Microsoft obviously didn’t accept those terms, and Motorola didn’t even genuinely expect it to: from the beginning it just wanted to win injunctions in order to force Microsoft into a broad cross-license agreement.

Mueller also believes that the injunction will be lifted; but also notes that Motorola is the only Android device maker to be in litigation with Microsoft, and that it could even pose a problem with its buyout with Google. If the European Commission finds Motorola to have breached FRAND, then it could put a stop to Google’s buyout of Motorola – and we really know that Google only bought them for the patents.

Motorola is going towards an aggressive route, and that could potentially be a bad thing.

This could be banned in the US by Motorola

Motorola appears to have an early win with the US’ International Trade Commission against Microsoft and its Xbox 360 console. The ITC has issued a preliminary report that has said that the Xbox 360 did infringe five of Motorola’s patents.

The patents revolve around the H.264 video encoding patents owned by Motorola.

Of course, it’s a preliminary report (via The Verge), meaning that it’s not a final judgement. However, if Microsoft loses the case, it could mean Microsoft will have to license those patents under Motorola’s conditions – as opposed to the FRAND principle, which lets you have a reasonable price to license patents so that you don’t stifle innovation. In Europe, the company that holds patents essential to a standard – like 3G or 4G – must offer it under FRAND.

The ITC could also potentially have the Xbox 360 banned in the United States. It is also going through the European courts, and Microsoft took an unusual step in having a US court ruling that Motorola can’t enforce a ban in Germany.

Yes, that’s massive confusion right there.

As noted before, Motorola is also being investigated by the European Commission after Microsoft and Apple complained that Motorola was using its patents to distort competition. Obviously, they were being sued by Motorola (Apple over its iCloud push email service).

If it has breached those commitments, then Motorola could face a big fine from the European Commission.

Germans won’t be getting push email anytime soon with Apple’s appeal to the Mannheim regional court failed. The court basically sided with Motorola Mobility, and agreed with an earlier decision that saw the company forced to remove the service in Germany earlier in February.

The court also is forcing Apple to pay damages to Motorola Mobility (and indirectly Google, since now they own the company), but the exact amount has not been revealed by the courts, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

This ban applies to all iOS users “within the borders of Germany”, according to its support page that also offers a workaround – which is basically setting it to get emails at a set interval of time (like every minute or five). However, all other push email services including Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync are unaffected by this ban.

Motorola, however, is having problems of its own. According to The Next Web, the company is being investigated by the European Commission to see if it was abusing its standard-essential patents (or really, really, really important technologies) to hamper competition with rivals. Both Apple and Microsoft filed complaints saying that Motorola was not offering a ‘fair price’ as part of the EU’s Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) policy.

Another Android manufacturer, Samsung, is also being probed by the EU with the same reasoning.

The case dealing with Motorola’s communications standards – which is also the heart of the European Commission’s case – was adjourned by the court with the judge not saying when he will issue a decision.

Microsoft has agreed to buy over 800 patents from AOL, and license the remainder still with the company, in a deal that is worth US$1.056 billion. And since the payment is in cash – this will give AOL a much needed cash injection for its long-term strategy to become a huge online media player.

The deal has pretty much stunned analysts as one told BusinessWeek at the end of March that it could be worth at its “absolute ceiling price” US$290 million.

AOL has not said what the 800 patents sold to Microsoft are in relation to, but it’s a big purchase for Microsoft. And it could have something to do with other companies engaging in patent wars – Facebook recently buying patents from IBM, and Google buying Motorola for US$12.5 billion in order to secure its Android manufacturers against Apple.

via NYT

Yahoo has launched its lawsuit against social networking company Facebook, claiming that it had infringed on 10 of its patents – all relating to social networking, customisation and advertising on the web. And, of course, it launched it before Facebook’s IPO coming up this year.

“For much of the technology upon which Facebook is based, Yahoo! got their first,” it boasted in its lawsuit. “Facebook’s entire social network model… is based on Yahoo!’s patent social networking technology. Prior to adopting Yahoo!’s patented social networking technology in 2008, Facebook was considered one of the wost performing Internet sites for advertising.”

That stat was based on this Gawker article.

And apparently, Yahoo won’t be satisfied by “payment of a royalty alone” – hinting possibly that this was to get some shares before the big IPO, like it did with Google all those years ago (quick history: Google got sued by advertising company Overture before being sold to Yahoo, then Yahoo and Google settled the case and got 2.7 million shares).

If Yahoo thinks that is where they can actually make money, then Yahoo is on the verge of being a dead company.

Facebook told CNBC that they were disappointed at the lawsuit. “We’re disappointed that Yahoo’s effort to engage with us was limited to a few short phone calls,” a spokesperson said.

However, even within Yahoo, a possible lawsuit was hotly debated and a large number of were opposed to the lawsuit because the company often used its patents as a defence mechanism, not an offensive as we see here today. A source talking to AllThingsD say that it was only their CEO Scott Thompson and legal counsel Michael Callaham working on the suit.

For Yahoo, it’s a very bold and risky move. If it loses, then it spent millions on a losing case (added with appeals). The company has no core business anymore – it offshored it to Microsoft’s Bing search engine, and its content production arm seems to be weaker in comparison with AOL and its Huffington Post merger (though, to be fair, the HuffPo merger saw a lot of key talent depart after it adopted a more aggressive SEO push).

It’s a case that potentially every social media company will be watching, as it could mean that they would be liable as well if it does succeed.

Is it Yahoo’s last stand? A report by the New York Times has revealed that the company is threatening Facebook with a patent lawsuit if it does not pay licensing fees for 10 to 20 patents it owns, which include advertising, web page personalisation, messaging and social networking. Yes, the signs of a dying company are definitely present.

“Yahoo has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property,” a spokesperson from Yahoo said. “We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights.”

But how serious is the threat?

Well, very. A Forbes report back in November showed that Yahoo has over 1,100 patents granted, with an additional 2,661 patents pending. And that number is three or four times larger when you include international patents. And Yahoo does certainly have those patents, but the thing is to note that they use them defensively rather than as an offensive – meaning that if one company like Microsoft retaliates, then they can hit Microsoft back with its patents on search and advertising.

So this approach with Facebook is out of place. And there could be one thing for it.

Money.

Facebook’s IPO is official, and Yahoo simply wants a stake in the company. It also isn’t new from Yahoo, since it also did the same thing with Google. Yahoo, buying advertising company Overture, managed to strike a deal to end a patent spat that saw Google giving Yahoo 2.7 million shares in the company before its IPO in 2004. And it appears Yahoo is looking to Facebook to be some sort of magical cash cow that could save its problems.

And boy, Yahoo is in deep trouble – and by looking for its patent portfolio to make some money, that is a big sign for a company that is meant to be inventing and reinventing. There are speculations that both Google and Microsoft will buy them – not together, of course. Two questions emerge if its true – is it reducing competition, and why buy such a white elephant?

It might be time to break it up and allow each part to focus on what they do well at.

As you can tell by the images, you simply write you want to say in a text box. Afterwards, set the timing on how fast you want it to go, and start recording. However, it appears that for now it will simply do voice-over recording rather than you simply just standing there on camera, recording yourself. But if you were going to do voice-overs, this is a pretty handy feature so you don’t have to switch back and forth between a word processor (if your cheap) or have to read it on paper.

What’s also interesting is that this patent also will let you read this off a mobile device or tablet – obviously via Wi-Fi. That means that you simply type up your text on a desktop, and you’ll be able to take your tablet to a nearby Mic stand, put your iPad in front of you and simply read off that rather than the monitor.

You can read the full patent below, if your interested in seeing how it works.

Kodak has announced that it and all of its subsidies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in a move to restructure the company “to focus on its most valuable business lines” after years of ignoring the rise of digital cameras.

“Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” Antonio M. Perez, CEO of Kodak, said in a statement.

“After considering the advantages of chapter 11 at this time, the Board of Directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak.”

The company has received a $950 million credit fund from Citibank in order to restructure the company, and hopes to continue to pay for wages and their benefits. However, how many jobs will be axed is another question – and could be large in number.

Kodak’s bankruptcy hasn’t come as a shock to many. The company ignored the trend of digital cameras, selling sub-par cameras in the highly competitive market. In comparison, companies like Sony, Canon, Samsung and Nikon made improvements in digital camera technology. Now, we have a camera on our phones, tablets and in slim form factors. In addition, the last year it had a profit was in 2007, and has now relied on its patents for some profits.

A question we should now look at is who will buy Kodak’s patents. Nortel’s patent portfolio was up for sale once it went bankrupt – and that got $4.5 billion from a consortium of companies that include Microsoft and Apple. A Bloomberg report hints at that Kodak’s patents are already worth $3 billion.

But who will buy them?

The very same Bloomberg report list Microsoft and Samsung as potential buyers. While a Microsoft seems weird (but hey, Google bought Motorola); a Samsung buyout does not. Just yesterday, Kodak accused Samsung for patent infringement, listing five patents. In addition, these patents could be handy in its global war against Apple, since Kodak is also accusing Apple (as well as RIM and HTC) for patent infringement.

Samsung could also be part of a consortium of other camera manufacturers to acquire these patents – especially since Kodak in recent years have become more aggressive on its patents.

While all this may be speculation, technology patents are highly critical now. So, whoever buys Kodak’s patents could become rich very quickly if they adopt a much more aggressive strategy.

Dolby claims that RIM has used Dolby’s audio compression technologies in its smartphones and the Playbook tablet without the proper licenses. The lawsuits, filed in both the United States and Germany, are also seeking damages.

Dolby has also noted that other smartphone makers have licensed the technology from them. According to Reuters, it appears that RIM has been ignoring the issue, forcing Dolby to launch a lawsuit.

The news comes after Nokia and Apple have ended their patent disputes – which resulted in Nokia winning over Apple, as the iPhone maker now has to pay royalties. It also follows a series of patent disputes in recent months against phone manufacturers. Apple and Samsung are currently embroiled in litigation over Apple’s claim that Samsung has copied them, while also in litigation against HTC over patents.

Here’s what we are watching:

• Facebook has been valued at $41.2 billion, which is 56 percent higher than the past half year, making it worth more than eBay and Yahoo. Ouch.
• The Next Web has an interesting infograph detailing the growth of Google Chrome, at the expense of the previous darling of the web, Firefox, with a prediction that Chrome and Firefox could near parity within two years.
• Russia is set to transition to Linux and open source software with Vladimir Putin, prime minister of Russia, signing a document that will see its introduction to government agencies in Q2 of 2012. There has been some criticism on the plan, but none have the political weight to make some impact.
• IncrediMail, the company that was the biggest fad in earlier in the decade, has just signed a new two year deal with Google for ad revenue – despite, what TechCruch reports, a rocky relationship.
• And of course, patent trolls have decided that is the perfect time to sue with the next target – Skype. The plaintiff is Gradient Enterprises, saying that Skype violated its patent of “METHOD FOR DETECTING AND RESPONDING TO NETWORK NODE-LEVEL EVENTS AND A SYSTEM THEREOF.” You have got to be kidding.
• Facebook has been used to save a life, with a girl in Minnesota got a new kidney from a kind stranger via a Facebook post.
• Pokemon Black and White to be released on March 6 in North America. Europe and Australian release still pending.
• And for those wanting to know, the lead writer of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Jeffrey Yohalem, has an interview with MyDVDinsider with the movies that inspired the game – and there are some interesting choices.

Joining the list of companies Apple is suing, Motorola now faces the raft of Steve Jobs after the company has filed two separate lawsuits claiming that Motorola has infringed on its patent on multitouch – and no surprise, the devices claimed are all using the Android platform.

The devices include the Droid series (Droid, Droid 2 and Droid X), the Cliq and Backflip (the GSM version of the Cliq), Devour and the Charm 1.

According to Patently Apple, the iPhone maker has claimed that Motorola has infringed on six patents, which are:

1. Apple, Inc patent titled: Ellipse Fitting for Multi-Touch surfaces
2. Apple, Inc patent titled: Multipoint Touchscreen
3. Taligent, Inc patent titled: Object-Orientated System Locator System
4. Apple, Inc patent titled: Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Determining Commands by Apply Heuristics
5. Apple Computer, Inc. patent titled: Method and Apparatus for Displaying and Accessing Control and Status Information in a Computer System
6. Apple Computer, Inc. patent titled: Support for Custom User-Interaction Elements in a Graphical, Event-Driven Computer System

The lawsuit, along with its lawsuit against HTC – another highly popular Android maker – seems to be Apple’s retaliation against the Google-made mobile operating system in order to stop Android gaining some traction in the mobile devices space.

Apple is seeking an injunction on the devices sold, along with damages, royalties and legal costs – something that could spell the disaster for Motorola, who only had experienced a resurgence after years of failing products after the very popular RAZR phone.

The patents in question that Nokia have alleged Apple have violated “relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices,” according to a press release. “These patented innovations are important to Nokia’s success as they allow improved product performance and design.”

But why Wisconsin? It’s because of the Western District of Wisconsin, where the trial will be held. It is known for speedy trials and being a “rocket docket” for the patent plaintiffs.

After the launch of the SDK for iPhone OS 4, it made restrictions on what programming language to make the applications, including Objective C and Javascript. Apple claims that this is to keep the quality of applications, but it also seemed to be a hit on Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 software.

As well, an investigation would most likely also look into how restrictive Apple is to develop on – web applications can’t use Flash and must use the “open” HTML5, despite audio and video codecs not being decided on after Apple and Mozilla conflicted on what to use; while app developers are not allowed to compete with many of Apple features – though there are some exceptions, but only are there because of loopholes. Take Opera, it uses Safari’s own browser to connect to its server to load the pages rendered like Opera Mini, alongside adding Opera Mini features and having the same look.

According to the New York Post, the inquiry might not result in a big change in policy because it determines if there is a case for launching a full-fledged investigation, and when it reaches that level, it will then issue a subpoena for more information about the case.

The case comes after a long case of being outside of the big names of Microsoft and Intel – both targets of antitrust reviews, and for Apple, it is usually with Microsoft. And one guy is happy.

“To be honest, it’s about damn time,” Jacob Friedman said on The Next Web. “Apple is lucky enough to own a few incredibly vague, broad patents, which make it incredibly difficult to innovate in the field of smartphones. Android was incredibly reluctant to include any multitouch in the earliest flavors of Android, lest Apple file an angry lawsuit against them.”

Friedman cites Apple’s lawsuit against HTC as a reason that Apple has become more anticompetitive.

However, while Apple has a lot applications, the iPhone is not the dominant phone out there. RIM’s BlackBerry takes the top spot with almost double of the market share (42 percent to 25 percent, according to comScore). Windows Mobile have 15 percent of the market – and that is dropping – while Android has 9 percent.

The patent in question relates to how specific algorithms is used to read and write custom XML.

The Seattle-based company has said it is taking steps to remove the “little-used” feature from the latest versions of Office and Word from that date. Microsoft has also noted that the beta versions for Office 2010 and Word 2010 do not contain the infringing patent.

Microsoft, however, has not ruled out applying for another appeal.

“While we are moving quickly to address the injunction issue, we are also considering our legal options, which could include a request for a rehearing by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals en banc or a request for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court,” Director of Public Affairs for Microsoft, Kevin Kutz, said in a statement.

i4i has welcomed today’s ruling. “I4i is especially pleased with the court’s decision to uphold the injunction, an important step in protecting the property rights of small inventors,” founder and co-inventor of i4i, Michel Vulpe, said in a statement.

According to Reuters, Nokia starting to focus on its patent portfolio after it lost a lawsuit to Motorola in 1989 for breaching its patents, with the Finnish phone maker – which was a newcomer to the market at that time – paying $10 million to settle.

As well, it is said that virtually all of the mobile manufacturers, with the exception of Apple, that have signed license arrangements with Nokia.

In the lawsuit filing, Apple also claimed that Nokia wanted unreasonable licensing terms for their patents, including a cross-license for Apple’s patents on various patents relating to the iPhone – something that Apple was not going to give; though, Engadget also points out that Nokia asks the court to make Apple pay the due license fees on its patents.

Full document is below.

Samsung will give the wireless technology company a down payment of US$1.3 billion, and will also pay running royalties, though Samsung has not gone into specifics of that portion of the deal. It will also allow Qualcomm access to Samsung’s 57 patents relating to mobile tech, though it will not need to pay Samsung a single cent because of, according to the Yonhap News Agency, the “higher value of Qualcomm’s licenses.”

Qualcomm was previously charged for violating anti-trust regulations by abusing its monopoly over the mobile handset chip market in July, and was fined US$208 million.

The case, which has been complicated from the start since Nintendo’s Wii does not have any DVD playback functionality but does have parental controls for games, was started six months ago. Another dozen or so defendants are also named in the suit.

“We are very pleased with the Court’s decision,” Rick Flamm, its senior vice president of legal and general counsel, said in a press release.

“Nintendo vigorously defends patent lawsuits. At the earliest stages of this case, Nintendo convinced the Court to dismiss this case as Guardian’s patent had nothing to do with Nintendo’s products.”

The patents relates to the touch-screen technology that Apple uses to detect the positions of the fingers on a screen or touchpad.

The technology that is claimed to be infringed used by Apple, known as “multitouch”, is a key feature in both the iPhone and the iPod touch – similar to the iPhone, sans the mobile technology capabilities – and in the new line of MacBook and MacBook Pros, where the trackpad uses the new technology, replacing the use of buttons.

Elan is said to be seeking an injunction that would force Apple to produce, use or even sell the products that had infringe on the two patents; effectively meaning that Apple will be forced to create new versions with the violated patents not attached to the product, ask for the patents to be dismissed, or settle with Elan to allow it to use the two patents that are claimed to be infringed.

However, it has said that the three companies cited may not be the only ones that could be sued.

The patent in question, #7346850, was applied by Cygnus in 2001, covering a “system and method for iconic software environment management”, and was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office in March this year. Describing it, in abstract, as “a method and system for storing, navigating, and accessing files within an operating system through the use of a graphical thumbnail representing the video display of the active document within the active application,” this basically mean that any thumbnail of any file, or any icon that updates to reflect changes, could be infringing on its patent.

Ars Technica notes that there are some discrepancies, like targeting Google in the suit, even though it is making software “within an operating system”, and claiming that it infringes on its patent by “making, using, selling and offering for sale” the Chrome browser, even though the browser is offered as a free download for Windows Vista and XP SP2.

Possible targets include Adobe, Opera and possibly web services like Yahoo’s Flickr, but that is only to be likely if the case gets anyway – which most likely not, since this is a very, very common interface feature that is present in many products; plus the fact that Microsoft, Google and Apple would have gotten themselves some good lawyers.

Their plan is to buy up key intellectual property before it falls to other parties who could use it against you. They claim, from their sources, that Verizon, Google, HP, Ericsson and Cisco have joined a group known as the "Allied Security Trust".

The companies will pay $250,000 to join and will put in $5 million into the organization to buy patents. Not one of the companies mentioned commented about the story.