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With $4.5 Billion Bid, Group Led by Apple and Microsoft Claims Nortel Patents

July 1, 2011

In a patent auction unprecedented in size and scope, a consortium of high-tech heavyweights banded together to buy Nortel Networks Corporation’s trove of more than 6,000 remaining patent assets for a record-shattering $4.5 billion. The winning bidder, a team of

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The Prior Art

Hangover Cure: Warner Bros. Settles Copyright Suit Over Tyson Tattoo

By Jan Wolfe

June 21, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg It looks like the tattoo on Ed Helms’s face in The Hangover Part II is there to stay after all. Warner Bros. has inked a deal to settle the copyright infringement suit brought by S. Victor Whitmill,

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The Prior Art

This Week in IP: Apps, Tats, and Patent Reform Hits a New Snag

By Jan Wolfe

June 10, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg Apple Steps in for App Developers Good news for app developers and iPhone users! Apple has decided to intervene on behalf of the seven iOs app developers sued for patent infringement by Texas-based patent-holding company Lodsys. In

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The Prior Art

App Backwards: Lodsys, Texas Troll, Targeted in Patent Suit

By Jan Wolfe

June 9, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg Lodsys, the litigious patent-holding company that filed suit in the Eastern District of Texas last week alleging that several independent developers of software applications used on mobile devices infringe its patents on in-app purchasing, is now on

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The Prior Art

Supreme Court Rules Against Microsoft in i4i Case

By Jan Wolfe

June 9, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg In a unanimous decision that won’t be well-received by tech industry heavyweights, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning against Microsoft in the closely watched Microsoft v. i4i case, rejecting the software giant’s argument to lower the

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The Prior Art

Microsoft Joins Article One’s New Preemptive Troll-Fighting Service

By Jan Wolfe

June 6, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg Article One Partners, a New York-based startup that crowdsources the search for prior art by rewarding researchers who find evidence that can be used to invalidate questionable patents, announced last week that Microsoft Corporation has signed on

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The Prior Art

Straight Outta Marshall: Local Lawyer Gilstrap Tapped to Replace Ward

By Jan Wolfe

June 3, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg When Judge T. John Ward–the man most closely associated with turning the Eastern District of Texas into a patent litigation hotbed–retires in October, his likely successor shouldn’t have much trouble finding his new workplace. After

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The Prior Art

Copyright Suits Can’t Keep Potential Blockbusters out of Theaters

By Jan Wolfe

May 26, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg Copyright infringement suits hang over two highly anticipated blockbuster sequels set for release over the Memorial Day weekend. In one case, a federal district court judge in Missouri ruled Tuesday that The Hangover Part II could open

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The Prior Art

Standing Still: Righthaven Litigation Campaign Hits New Roadblock

By Jan Wolfe

May 25, 2011

By Andrew Goldberg Could it be the beginning of the end for Righthaven? The Las Vegas-based copyright holding company, which has endured a string of legal setbacks in the last couple of months, suffered another one last week when a

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The Prior Art

Is The Dot Future Now? The ABC’s of the New gTLDs

By Jan Wolfe

May 12, 2011

Last week, the House Judiciary Subcommitte on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet held a hearing on ICANN’s new generic top-level domain (gTLD) program, which would greatly expand the number of Internet suffixes to potentially include anything and everything from

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