That attitude, plus the fact that millions of users have come to rely on easy access to digital information via the Internet, suggests that the issue may quickly outstrip the current debate over copyright infringement between the recording industry association and a variety of Internet music distributors.
Or at least that is the theory, after a judge in a long-running and high-profile patent infringement case between Oracle and Google asked both companies to disclose which writers they pay for consultancy or favourable opinions.
Affymetrix Inc. and Incyte Genomics, two pioneering Silicon Valley genomics companies, said yesterday that they had settled all patent infringement litigation between them and had agreed to cross-license various patents.
A new day of testimony in the patent infringement trial between Apple and Samsung kicked off Friday with an iPhone history lesson from Philip W. Schiller, the most senior Apple executive yet to appear in court in the case.
On Friday, an International Trade Commission judge will release his findings in a patent-infringement case between Apple and Samsung concerning the design of the iPhone, its user interface and headset plugs.
The patent infringement case between Convolve and Seagate dates to 2000, when Convolve and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued Seagate and Compaq Computer seeking $800 million over technology that reduced the noise and vibration generated by hard-disk drives, the devices often used to store information in personal computers and computer servers.
Just over a week ago, the jury began deliberations on the ongoing patent infringement case between Google and Oracle.
On Monday, a patent-infringement dispute between Kodak and South Korea's Samsung Electronics that began in November 2008 ended with a licensing pact allowing the companies access to each other's electronic imaging patents.
"The licensing agreement avoids potential infringement suits between IV and Nest, but does not mitigate any potential legal liability/risk that Nest has with respect to Honeywell's portfolio," says Matt Mitchell, a patent attorney specializing in startups.
Rosetta Stone Inc and Google have agreed to dismiss the three-year old trademark infringement lawsuit between them and to meaningfully collaborate to combat online ads for counterfeit goods and prevent the misuse and abuse of trademarks on the Internet.
