Tech Law

Netflix on Tuesday filed a patent infringement suit against Blockbuster alleging the bricks-and-mortar movie rental chain illegally copied its ideas. Netflix is seeking a court order that would force Blockbuster to change its online rental processes and pay patent royalties. The complaint was filed ...

As the recent BlackBerry case focused the world's eyes on the arcane field of patents, I was reminded of the 1999 Amazon.com "one click" case, which caused so many to condemn the U.S. patent system. At that time, critics called the system "broken" and a "disincentive to innovation." Now, the system ...

Lawyers for Apple Computer argued to a United Kingdom court that the iTunes Music Store is a data-transfer service, not a purely musical endeavor and as a result does not violate a long-standing agreement with the company that handles The Beatles business affairs. The argument was made during procee...

The U.S. Supreme Court is now hearing arguments in eBay v. MercExchange. It is not examining the underlying dispute between the two firms -- indeed, MercExchange has successfully challenged eBay's use of its buy now technology. Rather, the court is examining whether issuing an injunction against the...

A case that could dramatically alter the way keyword search advertising is sold has closely moved toward a court date, with Google's practice of letting anyone bid on certain keywords -- and whether the practice may constitute trademark infringement -- at issue. The case of Edina Realty, Inc. vs. Th...

The TiVo v. EchoStar Communications patent trial officially began on Wednesday. Now it's up to a Texas jury to decide whether the satellite TV giant stole TiVo's technology that allows viewers to skip commercials. In a case that could have stock market and cable television industry repercussions, Ti...

European Union regulators said they have warned Microsoft that Vista, the first new version of Windows in six years due out later this year, could face scrutiny on anti-trust grounds if third-party products cannot be made to work with the new platform. There is no formal investigation yet under way ...

The lengthy patent battle between e-commerce giant eBay and a small firm that says it came up with the popular "Buy it Now" technology first will get a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. The focus of the hearing will be whether MercExchange should be granted an injunction barring eBay ...

StreamCast Networks has filed suit against Skype and Kazaa in a U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, claiming copyright infringement violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as the Rico Act. StreamCast is alleging that it owns the...

Microsoft on Monday filed an appeal with the Seoul High Court to review the decision in the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) case against the software giant. The decision would force the firm to unbundle its Windows Media Player and MSN Messenger instant messaging service from its market dominant ...

The lengthy battle between The Beatles and Apple over whether the computer maker infringed on the legendary band's trademark by pushing into the music business will reach the highest court in the United Kingdom this week. Justice Edward Mann will hear arguments on whether Apple's iTunes online music...

Seeking to help protect children from the seedier side of the Web, some U.S. lawmakers are hoping to reignite interest in creating a ".xxx" domain where pornographic and adult content would be concentrated. Introduced late last week, the "Cyber Safety for Kids Act of 2006" would force the Department...

In the wake of a string of high profile data breaches reported by banks, retailers and credit card companies, a U.S. House panel on Thursday approved a bill drafted to protect consumers from identity theft and credit card fraud. The House Financial Services Committee cleared the Financial Data Prote...

Continuing its aggressive campaign to cut down on piracy of its products, Microsoft has filed eight lawsuits against eBay sellers, accusing them of distributing counterfeit versions of the software giant's programs. The suits were filed against individuals in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, M...

Shining new light on the issue of wireless privacy, the state of California has filed a US$10 million lawsuit against a firm that sells cell phone numbers. State officials filed suit Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court against Florida-based Data Trace USA, claiming the company misrepresented how it ...