Microsoft has just filed a patent for a Transformers-like device, a dual-screen, do-it-all slider phone. Filed on September 22, the device has replacement components that users can swap out, including a gaming controller, extra battery and alternate screen. Microsoft’s plan for the device also features solar panels for charging batteries or for powering the main device. READ MORE
Yesterday, in a post on Google’s main blog, Google’s SVP and chief legal counsel David Drummond accused Apple and Microsoft of waging an anti-competitive campaign against Android to keep Google from getting access to key patents. READ MORE
While it’s nothing akin to a death knell, last Friday’s preliminary ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) against HTC in yet another patent infringement case brought by Apple, is having serious reverberations in the tech industry. The ITC ruled last Friday that HTC has infringed on two Apple patents. READ MORE
For a company that so vigorously defends its own patents, Apple’s claims that patents owned by Personal Audio LLC were “invalid” sound more than a little odd. And a jury in the Eastern district of Texas agrees. They have ordered Apple to pay Personal Audio $8 million for infringing on the company’s playlist patents. Personal Audio had sued for $84 million, reports Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng. READ MORE
Facebook’s recent patent acquisition could make things difficult for competitors who want to enable social gift giving. The company just received patent number 7,970,657 (Giving gifts and displaying assets in a social network environment), which effectively gives Facebook ownership of a method for facilitating the purchase of digital, virtual, or real gifts and displaying that information, notes bNet’s Erik Sherman. READ MORE
