Courts

BitTorrent, a company synonymous with manufacturing technology that allows for the free trade of pirated videos, is launching a website that will sell downloadable films and television shows fully licensed by the studios. BitTorrent had recently ... attained several contracts with major entertainment companies. Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, MGM and Lionsgate have all agreed to sign on with them. (Source: theglobeandmail.com ) The BitTorrent Entertainment Network, the expected name of the website, will be aimed at the same young male audience who regularly use the service to ... (view more)

The past few weeks, I started following a news story that raises my ire! No, it isn't about Microsoft and Vista -- it's about a substitute school teacher that has been caught in what is termed a ... well, we'll call it an adult-oriented Pop-up Trap ... (if you know what I mean). To begin with, a 'Pop-up' Trap (or a 'Mouse' Trap) is when an Internet surfer clicks on a web site and is treated to a cascade of pop-ups, usually advertising offensive material geared toward twisted individuals. These ads come in at such a high rate of speed, the user cannot keep up with them. The content is also rather ... (view more)

When Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, revealed a new product that would serve as a mobile phone, a camera, a music device, and had Internet capabilities, many industry analysts were certain that Apple would soon become a major player in the ... handset market. The high expectations were soon delayed when the name selected for the product, the "iPhone", was disputed by rival company Cisco Systems, resulting in a lengthy copyright battle. Now, over one month later, Apple has finally put an end to their trademark dispute with Cisco Systems and can once again set their sights on becoming a ... (view more)

I wonder if Microsoft knew all of the roadblocks it would run into when it decided to pursue the "Live" moniker? Recently, Microsoft came under some heat from emailers frustrated at the company's decision to change "Windows Live Mail" to "Windows ... Live Hotmail." The name game drama has not stopped for Microsoft, which has recently been slapped with a lawsuit claiming trademark infringement on the name "Office Live." A company called Office Live filed the lawsuit last Friday, asking courts to grant an injunction against Microsoft using the name for its online office and web application suite. ( ... (view more)

Microsoft has been embroiled in legal troubles countless times in the past. Last year they were on the butt-end of a class-action lawsuit filed after a collective of consumers became enraged with the company's invasive Windows Genuine Advantage ... (WGA). Eventually, the company toned down its piracy policy, relegating WGA to second tier news. However, Microsoft is again on the wrong end of court proceedings, with a federal jury finding that it owes $1.5 billion for MP3 patent infringement. Alcatel-Lucent, a global communications giant with interests in everything from broadband to VOIP to ... (view more)

While traditionally known for beer and chocolate, Belgium is now making a name for itself as a strict enforcer of copyright laws. Copiepresse, Belgium's copyright enforcement group, has recently taken a stand against Yahoo. "We sent a formal letter ... to Yahoo [last week], requesting it to remove all links to our newspapers' content," said Margaret Boribon, secretary-general of Copiepresse. She adds that failure to comply will leave Copiepresse no choice but to take Yahoo to court. (Source: latimes.com ) Yahoo, like many other search engines, provides snippets of information and links to news ... (view more)

In the past two weeks, the world of wireless communications has been engulfed in the uncertainty over who originated the iPhone name . Until now, the conflict of licensing the iPhone label in the U.S. has involved only two corporations: Apple Inc. ... and Cisco Systems. In Canada, however, Comwave Telecom Inc. has made the claim that the iPhone license has been a registered trademark in Canada for a number of years. The company based in Toronto Ontario has been marketing voice-over-the-Internet services using the registered trademark iPhone since 2004. Comwave Telecom has also marketed a separate ... (view more)

Many consumers have never heard of the Cisco iPhone. Thus, Cisco's lawsuit, which claims trademark infringement on Apple's iPhone, came as a shock to many. But on Wednesday January 10th, Mark Chandler, Cisco's SVP and General Counsel, blogged about ... the case and why Cisco is putting its foot down. (Source: hardocp.com ) In the company blog, Chandler reminds readers that Cisco has owned the trademark "iPhone" since 2000, when Cisco bought the company Infogear. Infogear had owned the rights since 1996, before iMacs and iPods were on the market. Chandler also notes that Cisco has been shipping ... (view more)

These days, lawsuits are as common as windy weather in Chicago. But Luxpro has taken the art of suing one step further: the company has sued Apple as a result of Apple's former suit against Luxpro, claiming that Apple's lawsuit cost Luxpro lost ... sales. While the $100 million lawsuit is hefty enough to be noteworthy, another aspect makes this suit unique. The companies have already met in court in 2005 -- except at that time, the two parties were on opposite sides of the courtroom, with Apple as the plaintiff and Luxpro as the defendant. Apple had sued Luxpro for infringing on its iPod Shuffle ... (view more)

In the latest installment of tech-related lawsuits, online media company Intertainer has filed a lawsuit against three heavyweights: Apple, Google and Napster. Although Intertainer closed its doors in 2002, it was granted a patent in 2005. The broad ... patent gave Intertainer the rights for "managing, distributing, and/or retailing digital media assets." (Source: arstechnica.com ) The meaning and breadth of the patent description is hazy: not only to the typical reader, but also to patent lawyers. Eric Goldman, head of the High-Tech Law Institute, said "I have the same problem with this patent ... (view more)