That federal judge may have saved Qualcomm from having to pony-up almost $40 million to Broadcom - you know, that patent infringement case that was made so famous by the ITC’s ban of Qualcomm’s mobile chipsets - but Broadcom’s not going to take it lying down. Broadcom is claiming that Qualcomm’s “workaround” is still infringing on Broadcom patents. The “workaround” was intended to allow Qualcomm to circumvent Broadcom’s technology and continue to offer mobile chipsets in the US. Alas, Broadcom has taken its case to the ITC again and is crying foul. They claim that Qualcomm’s alleged “workaround” doesn’t do anything to work-around Broadcom’s technology. The case has been handed to an administrative law judge, so we’ll be seeing more of the same Qualcomm v. Broadcom battling that we’ve all grown soo damned tired of. [Via: RCRNews ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Broadcom Wants Qualcomm Chips BannedDutch court dismisses Nokia patent case against QualcommQualcomm kicks off patent infringement case against Nokia in the UKBroadcom wins appeal for 2005 anti-trust lawsuit against QualcommPresident Bush upholds ITC ruling to ban Qualcomm 3G chipsets

Well, this isn’t just another patent infringement case against the iPhone. Whereas all previous lawsuits basically rested on the shakiest of ground , the latest lawsuit brought against Apple and AT&T by Klausner Technologies has some merit. The firm has alleged that the iPhone’s Visual Voicemail feature infringes on Klausner’s U.S. Patents 5,572,576 and 5,283,818 . The lawsuit was filed against Apple and AT&T for offering the patented technology to iPhone customers and is seeking damage and future royalties that could amount to $360 million. Outlined in the lawsuit is Klauser’s claim that AT&T and Apple have infringed their intellectual property by giving iPhone users a method to selectively listen to messages in the voicemail system - Visual Voicemail. And, it seems that the lawsuit has some firm ground to stand upon. Klausner Technologies has already successfully established their intellectual property rights in previous litigation against Time Warner AOL for the AOL Voicemail system. The firm was able to show that their patents were valid and landed a licensing agreement with Time Warner AOL. “We have litigated this patent successfully on two prior occasions,” said Greg Dovel of Dovel & Luner, counsel for Klausner. “With the signing of each new licensee, we continue to receive further confirmation of the strength of our visual voicemail patents.” And, to add more legitimacy to the lawsuit, the firm has filed similar lawsuits against Comcast Corporation, Cablevision Systems Corp., and Skype for infringing on Klausner patents by allowing users to selectively listen to voicemail messages. Good luck, Apple and AT&T (not to mention all those other firms currently under fire). We’re usually quick to dismiss frivolous lawsuits, but this one sounds like it’s of the valid-variety. A settlement might just be your best bet. We should note that Klausner Technologies granted an OEM license to Apple to cover the Apple Newton PDA when it was launched all those years ago. Interesting. [Via: MacWorld ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Apple sued for patent infringement - SP Technologies claims patent over iPhone's virtual keyboardWoman sues iPhone trio over price cuts - Steve Jobs, Apple, AT&T all named in latest lawsuitVodafone Germany gets jiggy with Visual Voicemail too - kind ofCalifornia man files class action lawsuit against Apple over bricking of unlocked iPhonesAlltel [...]

Qualcomm’s been on something of a legal-victory tip recently. With a couple patent infringement cases thrown out and a US-trade victory against Nokia, it looks like Qualcomm’s future is looking a little brighter. Regardless, Qualcomm is still embroiled in a handful of legal battles around the globe - the latest of which is the company’s patent infringement lawsuit against none other than Nokia. Nokia and Qualcomm have been duking it out for (almost) longer than we can remember , and today marks the official start of the UK trial. A British High Court will be determining whether Nokia is indeed infringing on Qualcomm’s patents. The two patents in question relate to the use of GPRS (a GSM data protocol) in GSM mobile phones. One of the patents concerns the regulation of power to the radio-receiver, and the second patent helps decrease power consumption and increase battery life on GSM handsets. Nokia contends that the patents are invalid and has not infringed on Qualcomm’s intellectual property. This trial, set to last three weeks, is tasked with determining whether or not the two patents are valid and have been infringed. Should the court find the patents valid, a second trial will be required for the rest of the case. Qualcomm is seeking an injunction against Nokia to stop selling handsets that use the patents in question. We can’t wait for the day when Qualcomm resolves all their legal disputes. This whole situation is starting to get a bit tired. [Via: Yahoo ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Qualcomm gets a win against NokiaDutch court dismisses Nokia patent case against QualcommNokia: ITC starts Qualcomm investigationQualcomm accuses Nokia of GSM patent infringement - U.S. International Trade Commission opens investigationQualcomm being investigated by European Union for abusing its market position

In a moment of bittersweet victory for Qualcomm, a federal judge upheld U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna’s previous ruling that Qualcomm is indeed guilty of infringing on Broadcom’s 3G WCDMA technology . However, and here’s the sweet part, the ruling overturned Judge Selna’s decision to double the damages awarded to Broadcom by a federal jury. Earlier this year, the federal jury had unanimously found that Qualcomm was guilty of infringing on Broadcom’s patents. The jury further found that Qualcomm’s actions were willful, which allowed Selna to double the $19.6 million damage amount to $39.3 million. Broadcom was offered another the option to seek a new trial in which the willfulness of Qualcomm’s actions would be tried again, but the Irvine, CA.-based chipmaker has decided to accept $19.6 million in compensatory damages. So, Qualcomm ended up saving a good chunk of change. Unfortunately, they’re still going to have to cough up a sizable fortune to Broadcom. At least they’ve had a bit of good luck in getting those other cases dismissed . [Via: EETimes ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Broadcom snags $19.6M payment from Qualcomm over Patent DisputeNokia fires back at Qualcomm; Files Counter-suitNokia files another counter-suit against QualcommBroadcom wins appeal for 2005 anti-trust lawsuit against QualcommBroadcom Sues Qualcomm Over Patent And Licensing Mis-steps

In our land of the lawsuit-friendly legal system, it’s no surprise that we’re hearing of another no-name company coming out of the woodwork with a patent-infringement case. The latest patent-infringement suit comes from Delware-based AutoText Technologies.  A 32-page complaint was filed against 23 companies that AutoText Technologies claims infringed on a 1994 patent for a computer-based transcription device. Apparently, the AutoText patent covers any device made in the US with a display, keyboard, storage for vocabulary, and method for sorting keywords by frequency. Apple has been named in the suit for infringing on AutoText Technologies with Mac OS X Tiger, the Safari web browser, and related products. Other high-profile companies named in the suit include HP, IBM, HTC, Motorola, Palm, Microsoft (for its Windows Mobile 6 OS), and carriers like AT&T, Helio, and Verizon. Game console manufacturers Nintendo and Sony have been named in the suit for their Wii and PlayStation 3 systems, respectively. AutoText Technologies is seeking a a minimum of a royalty from each company and is seeking damages. Good luck, AutoText. We don’t have high-hopes for your case - we’re thinking you might get a settlement out of some of the bigger players. But, that’s what you were going for in the first place, wasn’t it? [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Apple sued for patent infringement - SP Technologies claims patent over iPhone's virtual keyboardSamsung and Ericsson make love, not war - agree to cross-license patentsBroadcom snags $19.6M payment from Qualcomm over Patent DisputeNTP sues AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile over mobile email patentsQualcomm files two new patent infringement lawsuits against Nokia today