Florian Mueller

Apple vs. Google: Inside an Android patent violation

Steve Jobs claimed that Google "stole" this Apple innovation. Last week, the ITC agreed.

When an iPhone receives a message that contains a phone number or an address -- e-mail, Web or street -- those bits of data are automatically highlighted, underlined and turned into clickable links.

Click on the phone number, and the iPhone asks if you want to dial it. Click on the Web address, and it opens in Safari. MORE

Much ado about patent lawyers

Apple changes its in-house legal guard. Samsung wants Apple's outside counsels ousted

On the heels of a Reuters report that Apple's (AAPL) chief patent counsel has been replaced by Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) top intellectual properties attorney (something that, according to their LinkedIn profiles, may have happened two months ago), comes a 20 page motion from Samsung asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to throw out most, if MORE

Consortium led by Apple buys Nortel's patents for $4.5 billion

Google's Android operating system is the big loser as 6,000 patents fall into enemy hands

In the largest exchange of intellectual property rights in the Internet age, a powerhouse consortium led by Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to buy from the bankrupt Nortel Corp. access to more than 6,000 patents covering key telecommunications technologies, from Internet services to wireless data networking.

The consortium, which includes Sony (SE), Research in Motion MORE

Samsung seeks import ban on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Apple and its main supplier of memory chips seem headed for "ugly divorce," says expert

The legal battle began in April when Apple (AAPL) filed a suit in California accusing Samsung of "slavishly" copying its iPhone and iPad designs has gone nuclear.

After trading suits and counter suits in several legal venues, from South Korea to the U.K., Samsung on Thursday took its case to the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. MORE

Nokia patent settlement a 'sweet defeat' for Apple

Having overpowered the iPhone's design patents, Nokia likely now to go after Android

The settlement of its epic 20-month patent dispute with Apple (AAPL) that Nokia (NOK) announced early Tuesday could spell trouble for the makers of Android phones.

There's no question Apple lost the legal battle that pitted its significant intellectual property holdings against Nokia's even deeper patent portfolio. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but they require MORE

Kodak, don't spend that $1BN just yet

Winning a skirmish at the ITC is not the same as winning a war. Apple vs. Nokia take note.

"Kodak Wins a Round in $1 Billion Apple, RIM Patent Dispute" -- Bloomberg News

Traders were pretty quick to cash in on that headline. Kodak's (EK) battered stock opened Friday at $3.30 a share and jumped nearly 25% to $4.12 in after-hours trading, as if those $1 billion were already in Kodak's pocket.

But MORE

Paul Allen: Gunning for Google

An analysis of his latest suit suggests Android's maker has more to fear than Apple does

FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, whose judgment I've come to trust when it comes to high-tech intellectual property disputes, makes two interesting points about the patent infringement suit Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen refiled Tuesday against nearly a dozen companies, including Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), eBay (EBAY), Facebook, Yahoo (YHOO), Netflix (NFLX) and AOL (AOL).

First, that those MORE