In an interview with Reuters, the US Court of Appeals (Chicago) judge who recently tossed the patent litigation case between Apple and Motorola described patent litigants as "animals" and said that many companies should not have patent protections.

Apple's tenacious battle with China-based Proview over the last year over the iPad trademark in the country is finally settled. Apple has agreed to pay the company that owns the mark in China $60 million. Although Apple has said that Proview already licensed the use of the trademark in the region, Proview managed to win a number of major legal victories in the region that put Apple on defense.

On June 19 we reported that six Republican Senators signed onto a letter written by Senators Herb Kohl (Chairman of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights) and Mike Lee (Ranking Member of the same subcommittee) urging the International Trade Commission to reject a request by Motorola to ban Microsoft's Xbox 360 ("exclusion orders over standard-essential patents"). The Motorola action is related to a long-running dispute over royalty payments that Microsoft uses.

An article on Webwereld.nl posits that Apple may have falsified evidence it used in its court case that led to Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 being banned in the European Union. Apple's main argument in that case is that consumers have a hard time distinguishing between the Galaxy Tab and the iPad. The evidence in question is a photo of the iPad side-by-side with the Galaxy Tab. In the picture it looks like both devices are of a similar size.

Another day, another court doing the dirty work of one corporation against another. This time around it is Samsung who finds itself in the unenviable position of having the sale of its products banned in the United States.

According to a research paper from Boston University, patent trolls costs U.S. companies and other organizations a staggering $29 billion last year. The study analyzed the effect of intellectual property rights claims made by organizations that own and license patents without producing related goods of their own. Some would say that this is the very definition of a patent troll: a company that buys or licenses patents with the express purpose of litigating its way to financial success.

Motorola has proposed royalty fees to Microsoft in an attempt to put an end to its long running and global patent disputes, but the Xbox 360 and Windows OS maker has rejected its offer claiming that the royalty payments are too high. Motorola's offer would squeeze a 2.25 percent royalty on every Xbox 360 sold and a 50 cent royalty fee on every copy of Windows sold. The royalty fees relate to patented Motorola technology that both products use.

Several Congressmen have signed onto a letter urging the International Trade Commission to express their strong concerns over a potential ban of the Xbox 360 related to a complaint filed by Motorola (now owned by Google). The list includes Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, co-sponsor of last year's patent reform bill (the America Invents Act), and the sponsor of SOPA; Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.), the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Rep.

Cisco Systems, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Activision Blizzard, Intel, and IBM, are the latest entities to send letters to the International Trade Commission asking them not to institute a ban on the Xbox 360 or various Apple products. Florian Mueller of Foss Patents has the breakdown of why Cisco and the ESA have sided with Microsoft in this particular dispute between the company behind Xbox 360 and Windows and Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Posner has rejected the claims of both Apple and Google-owned Motorola Mobility in a long-running patent fight between the two companies. Judge Posner rejected both companies’ damages claims. The trial was to begin on Monday.

"I have tentatively decided that the case should be dismissed with prejudice because neither party can establish a right to relief," Judge Posner wrote in his order yesterday.

While Apple had its fingers crossed and was probably wishing on stars, a federal judge isn't feeling it. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said on Monday that she could not rule on an Apple motion seeking a preliminary injunction against Samsung Electronics that would halt the sale of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the U.S. because the appeals court still has jurisdiction on the case.

Last week the Supreme Court told the Federal Appeals Court that it needs to reconsider its ruling in WildTangent, Inc. v. Ultra- mercial, a patent infringement battle that relates to seeing paid advertisements before viewing or using copyrighted material online. Business leaders like Google and Verizon have sided with WildTangent on this one, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The tech industry is also watching this case very carefully because it could signal an end to patents with weak definitions or general software ideas or techniques being awarded easily.

Google suffered what some are calling a "major legal defeat" in a German court today in a patent fight with Microsoft. The court ruled in favor of Microsoft, who argued that Motorola has violated a patent related to text messaging. The ruling would allow Microsoft to pursue a ban on Android products in Germany. Motorola won a similar decision earlier in the month in a German court that would allow them to pursue a ban of Xbox 360 and Windows products, but a Washington Federal Court has forbid the company for doing so until it makes a ruling in a U.S.

A new Sony patent will allow the company to pause your gameplay while it serves up advertising. Delightful. In the illustration submitted with the patent, cars are racing against other cars and some louder speakers or warning lights are show. The gameplay pauses and then a soda ad appears. After the ad is served the game resumes.

Yesterday we reported that International Trade Commission (ITC) judge David Shaw recommended to the full ITC Commission that the import of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 slim models should be banned to the US, but patent expert Florian Mueller doesn't see it happening.

Microsoft and Motorola have been at each other’s throats for a while now.

Motorola claims that the Xbox 360 uses “Motorola-developed technology that allows set-top boxes to decode transmissions between its Droid2 and DroidX mobile devices” while Microsoft argues that Motorola refused “to abide by requirements set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association to set reasonable license fees of essential technology.”

Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court of Western Washington today extended a temporary restraining order that he issued last month that prevents Motorola from enforcing any injunction from any other court against Microsoft until he reaches a decision in the Seattle case. Judge Robart extended the temporary restraining order because he needed more time to sort out the case, but that didn't stop him from delivering some harsh criticisms to both sides of the legal battle over patents and licensing.

Motorola Mobility has won an injunction against Microsoft in Germany prohibiting the sale of products in the country including Windows 7 and the Xbox 360. The injunction is the latest punch thrown in a bitter patent lawsuit between Motorola and Microsoft

An International Trade Commission (ITC) judge has ruled that Microsoft violated several patents held by Motorola Mobility when it made its Xbox 360 console. ITC Judge David Shaw said that Microsoft infringed on four of five patents that Motorola filed on its complaint - International Trade Commission, No. 337-752. The patents in the complaint include technology like wireless connections to the Internet and video compression to speed up transmission of data, amongst others.

A federal judge has finally granted Apple's motion to intervene on behalf of iOS developers who have found themselves in a legal battle against Lodsys. It took the court nearly a year to come to this decision. This ruling allows the iOS platform holder to argue in court on behalf of developers who have been sued over alleged patent infringement for using the iOS system's in-app purchasing APIs. Apple has licensed the technology from Lodsys so it will argue in court that developers who use the platform do not infringe on the patent because Apple already obtained a license.

A United States District Court has ruled that Microsoft can continue to sell Windows and Xbox 360 products in Germany - even if a German court rules in favor of an injunction request filed by Motorola. The dust up (as reported by Ars Technica) is related to a patented technology essential to the H.264 video standard, which Microsoft uses in its software products. To say the ruling is unusual would be an understatement because a U.S.

A company called Worlds Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for infringing a patent the company holds related to virtual worlds. Let the trolling begin anew. Worlds Inc. claims that the company is violating a patent it holds related to "systems and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space." The company alleges in its claim that Activision's World of Warcraft and Call of Duty games violate its patents and that it is due compensation for it.

Two ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have said this week that they are concerned that some patents and actions related to enforcing them, are stifling competition. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wi.) said in a letter to the Justice Department on Thursday expressing their fears about how patent fights are being played out in courts and other legal bodies in the U.S. and around the world.

The other day we showed you an Infographic the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) made concerning the harm that the current patent system in the United States. Today we'll tell you what the advocacy group is doing about it on the legal front.