Tech Law

Fox, CBS and NBC filed lawsuits against Dish Network Thursday over a feature found in a new digital video recorder that lets subscribers automatically skip the advertisements on recorded shows from major networks. Dish countered by asking a judge to declare that the feature does not infringe on any ...

Executives at Google no doubt are heaving signs of relief at the outcome of the latest -- and possibly last -- phase of the Java copyright and patent trial: The jury unanimously found that Google did not infringe Oracle's patents. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is presiding over the trial in...

Before Apple and Samsung launched a new chapter in their multicountry, multiargument patent dispute, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, told the two sides to sit down and try to iron out their differences. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-su...

After dropping to $31 per share on Tuesday, Facebook's stock is hinting at a turnaround Wednesday morning, hovering around $32.15 per unit. Unless the stock surges past its $38 per unit launch price, however, it is hard to imagine how those responsible for its disappointing debut -- a group that inc...

Google has officially closed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. This could transform the search engine giant from a software player to a maker of hardware: smartphones, tablet PCs and even set-top boxes. More importantly for Google is gaining control of Motorola's patent portfol...

The European Union's antitrust ax is about to fall on Google, but the company can still avoid the worst repercussions. That is the essence of the message from EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia. After a year-and-a-half investigation into Google's activities in the market, there are four areas of con...

As Facebook launched its IPO on Friday, it was hit with yet another class action lawsuit over its practice of tracking of users even after they had logged out of its website. The amended consolidated class action complaint was filed by Stewarts Law in a San Jose, Calif., federal court. The timing of...

After months of legal wrangling between technology titans Oracle and Google, phase two of the case has headed to the jury, where 11 good people will decide whether Google actually infringed on Java-related patents, and more importantly whether this was a threat to Oracle's business. The two patents ...

Nvidia and Intellectual Ventures have partnered to buy a set of patents developed and owned by IPWireless. The patent portfolio comprises approximately 500 wireless patents, including in such areas as LTE, LTE-Advanced and 3G/4G technologies. The acquisition is viewed as another sign that the compan...

Facebook's acquisition of photo-sharing app Instagram was in the spotlight on Friday following a report that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating the deal on competition grounds. The FTC reportedly has even asked for input on the deal from rivals Google and Twitter, although it isn't clear...

The Oracle v. Google copyright infringement and patent violation trial is continuing with the second phase, despite key unresolved issues from the copyright portion of the case. Following the jury's partial verdict earlier this week, Google is seeking a new trial on the copyright phase. Meanwhile, a...

Many people believe they can say what they want on the Internet as long as they use a pseudonym. After all, it is easy to set up an account using an anonymous alter ego. In addition to believing they can post whatever they want, they may also think they are protected by the First Amendment. They m...

The jury hearing the Oracle-Google copyright infringement and patent violation case rendered a partial verdict in the copyright phase of the trial on Monday. Although its findings appear to favor Oracle, the jury deadlocked on a key question about fair use, prompting Google attorneys to call for a m...

The jury hearing the Google-Oracle copyright violation and patent infringement case is expected to return a verdict on the first phase of the trial -- possibly a partial verdict -- as early as Monday. The jurors retreated to consider the charges last week, after attorneys for Oracle and Google deliv...

The U.S. Federal Communication Commission may have settled for a gentle slap to Google's wrist after investigating alleged violations of the federal Wiretrap Act via its Street View program, but Google's legal woes stemming from that issue are far from over. Europe reportedly is preparing to look at...