In a sneaky late Friday legal filing, Microsoft hit Motorola with a lawsuit over the latter company's line of Google software-based Android smartphones, which Microsoft claims are in violation of nine patents. Could this be the first of many Android-based suits?READ»
Jonathan Schwartz, former CEO of Sun Microsystems, has stepped up to defend Google (in a roundabout way, via HTC) from the patent attacks recently leveled by Apple. If you want to be truly disturbed at how virulent the patent ...READ»
We had high hopes when the U.S. Commerce Department’s Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in December a pilot program to fast track certain green tech patent applications. So what kind of crazy, innovative technology is ...READ»
I find patents fascinating. People aggressively pursue patent protection by suing erstwhile competitors for infringement. Other people collect patents like merit badges, becoming often unsung heroes of innovation. And other people ...READ»
There's been a fair amount of press in the past few years about the emerging concept of 'open innovation'. Popularized by Henry Chesbrough in the book by the same name, it's based on the concept of insourcing I/P and technologies ...READ»
If you couldn't get enough of the recent patent-infringement thriller RIM vs. NPT, you'll definitely want to follow the latest nail-biter: Netflix vs. Blockbuster. Netflix is suing Blockbuster for violating its patents regarding ...READ»
When last we visited our friends in Redmond, we wrote about how money can't buy innovation. Back in December, Carleen Hawn chronicled Microsoft's $6.8 billion in annual R&D spending--and how little of it is spent on breakthrough ...READ»
The United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Green Technology Pilot Program, launched in December to fast track green tech patent applications, has been good to many companies--Skyline Solar, for example, received a ...READ»
Paul Allen: billionaire, philanthropist, industrialist, Microsoft co-founder...litigator. Today Allen, who rocketed to fortune with Bill Gates, filed suit against Apple, Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook...breathe, breathe...Netflix, ...READ»
With the Bilski court decision this week, method patents will be eliminated. Apple's new Snow Leopard OS, and the coming products of other technology companies, may be in danger.READ»
CoverFlow is how Mac users view documents, music, videos--most every type of file on its laptops and mobile devices. Now a judge says the company swiped it from Mirror Worlds LLC. READ»
Once upon a time, Google was the company to sue. Now it seems to have passed the mantle to Facebook, which is facing an entertaining array of bizarre and quixotic lawsuits--many of them filed in the last few days, and with little ...READ»
Last week, a jury smacked Apple with a $625 million bill in a lawsuit over Cover Flow. Alexander Poltorak, CEO of General Patent Corporation, explains why the damages could go down by two thirds -- or even increase.READ»
We've shifted into a new zone in the world of software patent stupidity. Oracle sued Google over a series of Java-related patents and Paul Allen sued 11 major software companies. This behavior is an absurd abuse of the patent system. It's a massive tax on innovation.READ»
They call it "CrackBerry" for a reason. Once you've gotten your hands on a BlackBerry, the wireless email device now carried by more than 3 million people across the country, life is never the same.READ»
New patent applications from rivals Google and Apple show that the companies are swiftly moving to occupy the same smartphone application arena--one in which your phone adapts to your surroundings and personal routines.
Back in ...READ»
Innovators don't invent all by themselves: To paraphrase Isaac Newton, great inventors see further than others because they stand on the shoulders of giants. Researchers at the Center for Technology Assessment hope to use that ...READ»
The Macintosh turned 25 years old this past weekend, and Apple seems to be celebrating the occasion by unleashing its blood-lusting attorneys on Palm in a potential patent infringement suit.READ»
Many a wide-eyed fanboy would love for Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] to release a touch-based tablet. Fortunately for them, the touch technology coming out of the company's iPhone team makes the possibility of a touch Mac more likely than ...READ»
Have a brilliant green tech idea that you're just itching to get to store shelves? Now's the time to file a patent. The U.S. government is cutting the average review time for green technology-related patents from 40 months to 12 ...READ»
The Apple versus Palm debate is beginning to develop some heat. After Apple was awarded the so-called "iPhone patent" yesterday, in which multitouch and many other aspects of the iPhone's design were detailed, Palm has responded with ...READ»
I first learned about TRIZ and its approach to creative problem solving last June. Thanks to a recent blog post by Kevin Kelly, I'm revisiting Genrich Altshuler's design strategies for inventing -- a summary of engineering design ...READ»
