Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and their partners
won court permission to buy the patent portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp. for
$4.5 billion. The group outbid Google Inc. in the biggest patent auction in history,
covering more than 6,000 patents and applications related to wireless and
Internet technology.
In a joint
hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Delaware, and Ontario
Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Morawetz in Toronto approved the sale after the
last minor objection to the sale was resolved.
“This truly is
a `wow` transaction,” said David H. Botter, an attorney for the main committee
of Nortel`s unsecured U.S. creditors.
After Nortel
filed for bankruptcy in 2009, it began selling its businesses, raising about $3
billion before the June patent auction. The patent portfolio was the last major
asset Nortel had to sell and will boost creditor recoveries.
The winning
group includes competitors-turned-partners of Apple, such as Microsoft, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), Sony Corp. (6758), Ericsson AB and EMC
Corp., Nortel said in a statement. Those companies bid under the name Rockstar
Bidco LP.
The auction,
held June 27 to June 30, involved 19 rounds of bidding and began with an
opening bid from Intel Corp. (INTC),
company attorney Lisa Schweitzer said in court. Before the auction, Google
signed a contract to be the so-called stalking-horse bidder with a guaranteed
offer of $900 million.
That offer,
which entitles the Internet search company to a breakup fee of $25 million plus
expenses, was exceeded by Intel when the auction started and then followed by
more offers, some in writing, some made orally, Schweitzer said.
Three companies
and two groups competed in the first round of bidding: Apple, Google, Intel,
the initial Rockstar group that didn`t include Apple, and Norpax LLC, a group
led by patent-buying company RPX Corp., according to court records filed in
Toronto.
The minimum
increase in the bids rose from $5 million to $100 million after the second
round of bids. After five rounds of bidding, Apple joined Microsoft as part of
the Rockstar bid and Intel dropped out, according to Canadian court records.
Google and
Intel joined forces after eight rounds of bidding and together stayed in the
auction until the 19th round, which was won by the Rockstar group.
The bankruptcy
case is Nortel Networks Inc., 09-10138, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of
Delaware (Wilmington).
India, China
Able to Win Drug Patent Flexibility, Minister Says
Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa acting as a group are better able to obtain
flexibility in patent enforcement so that poorer countries have more access to
treatments for AIDS, malaria and other diseases, said India`s health minister.
“There are
countries that would like patents to stay for decades and decades, meaning the
poor will have no access to these medicines,” India`s Minister of Health and
Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said in an interview in Beijing yesterday. “But
there are some flexibilities when there is an acute public health requirement.
We want those flexibilities to be there in case of new drug innovations.”
Azad was in the
Chinese capital for a meeting of health ministers from the so-called BRICS
grouping of nations, which today issued a statement supporting “innovative
mechanisms” for transferring intellectual property rights so that cheaper drugs
can be supplied to low and middle income countries. Yesterday`s gathering was
the first by the five health ministers, who said they may meet again in
September.
China said last
month it may seek compulsory licensing for an AIDS drug made by Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) Compulsory
licensing is when a government allows someone else to produce a patented
product without the consent of the patent owner, according to the World Trade
Organization. It is one of the flexibilities allowed under WTO rules that took
effect in 1995.
Under
compulsory licensing, the generic copy of a drug is mainly produced for the
domestic market and not for export, according to the WTO.
“We should be
able to have a more flexible method, so hi- tech developments in more developed
countries can be made available to lower income countries,” Tatyana Golikova,
Russia`s health and social development minister, said at a briefing held after
the meeting.
The ministers,
in their joint statement, said they had agreed to establish a working group to
discuss specific proposals for a possible patent transfer mechanism.
In addition to
India`s Azad and Russia`s Golikova, the meeting was also attended by China`s
Chen Zhu, Brazil`s Alexandre Padilha and South Africa`s Aaron Motsoaledi. World
Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan and Michel Sidibé, executive
director of the United Nations` UNAIDS program, also attended.
Apple Files
Second Trade Complaint Against HTC Over Devices
Apple Inc. (AAPL) filed a second patent-infringement
complaint against HTC Corp. (2498) at
the U.S. International Trade Commission, seeking to block imports of “personal
electronic devices” by the Taiwanese phonemaker.
The complaint,
which wasn`t immediately available for viewing, was filed July 8, according to
a notice posted
yesterday on the ITC`s website. The notice didn`t elaborate on the nature of
the complaint.
Apple has been
using the trade commission, which completes investigations in 15 to 18 months
and has the power to keep products out of the U.S. market, to pursue makers of
mobile devices that run Google Inc.`s Android operating system. The complaint
is the second lodged by Apple against HTC in the past 16 months and comes a
week after the filing of a patent case against Samsung Electronics Co.
“HTC is
dismayed that Apple has resorted to competition in the courts rather than the
marketplace,” said Grace Lei, HTC`s general counsel. “HTC continues to
vehemently deny all of Apple`s past and present claims against it and will
continue to protect and defend its own intellectual property as it has already
done this year.”
Taoyuan,
Taiwan-based HTC agreed last week to buy S3 Graphics Co. for $300 million after
the maker of video-game graphics chips won an infringement ruling at the trade
agency against Cupertino, California-based Apple. HTC also has its own patent
complaint against Apple at the commission, with findings scheduled to be
released Sept. 16.
A trade
commission judge is scheduled to issue a decision in Apple`s first case against
HTC on Aug. 5. Those findings are subject to review by the full commission.
Apple, which
has accused competitors of “widespread imitation,” also has patent battles at
the trade agency with Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.,
both makers of Android-based phones. The Samsung complaint targets both the
Galaxy phone and Galaxy tablet computer.
In March, HTC
released its first tablet device in the U.S. to rival Apple`s iPad and Samsung`s
Galaxy Tab. The device, called Flyer, has a 7-inch screen and uses Android,
while its second tablet, called EVO View 4G, offers faster connections over Sprint Nextel Corp. (S)`s fourth-generation
network.
Android is the
most popular mobile-device operating system in the U.S., accounting for 38
percent of the market in the three months ended in May, according to Reston,
Virginia-based researcher ComScore Inc. Apple`s iOS, used in the iPad and
iPhone, made up 27 percent of the market.
HTC on July 6
reported sales and net income that surpassed analyst expectations for the
second-quarter, ending June 30, after it released models with faster download
speeds and better displays. Both HTC and Apple more than doubled revenue from
mobile phones in the March quarter from a year earlier as they race to offer
their products in more markets globally.
Seeking to
expand its patent portfolio, HTC said in April it paid $75 million for wireless
communications patents from ADC Telecommunications Inc. According to the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office`s database, 171 patents have been assigned to HTC.
Apple, once
best known for its Mac computers, now relies on its iPhone for about 50 percent
of sales and the iPad tablet for 12 percent, according to first-quarter figures
compiled by Bloomberg.
The commission
issued a notice yesterday seeking information on any public issues raised by
the complaint. Such requests have become standard, to allow the agency to
determine if an exclusion order should be granted, should Apple win the case.
The new complaint
is In the Matter of Portable Electronic Devices and Related Software, Complaint
No. 2828, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington). Apple`s earlier
case against HTC is In the Matter of Certain Personal Data and Mobile
Communications Devices and Related Software, and the HTC case against Apple is
In the Matter of Portable Electronic Devices, 337-721, both ITC.
For more patent
news, click here.
Trademark
Celgene Sued by
Research Chemical Maker Over Trademark Claims
Celgene Corp. (CELG), a maker of
anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs, was sued by a Massachusetts company
that provides chemicals to researchers.
According to
the complaint filed July 8 in federal court in Boston, PKC Pharmaceuticals Inc.
is seeking a court declaration that it doesn`t infringe Summit, New
Jersey-based Celgene`s Revlimid trademarks.
PKC, based in
Woburn, Massachusetts, makes and sells chemical compounds for use in non-human
and preclinical pharmaceutical research. The company said in its court papers
it doesn`t sell drug products or drug substances, and that the chemical
compounds it produces aren`t intended for human consumption.
Under the
guidelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, companies such as PKC don`t
have to manufacture compounds to the same stringent standards required of those
who make drugs for human consumption, according to court papers.
PKC says it
strictly controls sales of its compounds to ensure they are used only for
research and not for human subjects. The company`s catalog contains a broad
range of information about the compounds, including which drug products contain
the substance with the same chemical structure as the research compounds it
sells.
One of the
compounds LC sells is lenalidomide powder. In its catalog, PKC lists the names
of the FDA-approved drug products that contain lenalidomide as an active
ingredient, the company said in court papers.
On March 28
Celgene sued LC in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, alleging the chemical
company was infringing its trademark. In that complaint, Celgene warned that
the company`s sale of lenalidomide powder was unauthorized, infringed the
Revlimid trademarks and that its sale of the product “could result in serious
health consequences for consumers and could have catastrophic effects.”
That case is
Celgene Corp. v. PKC Pharmaceuticals Inc., 2:11-cv-01697-WJM-MF, U.S. District
Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).
PKC said its
listing the Revlimid name in the catalog is “in keeping with its practices for
the other research compounds it sells,” and is “a common industry practice.”
It asked the
court to declare it`s not infringing the Revlimid marks, and to order Celgene
to quit asserting that PKC does infringe. It also seeks an award of attorney
fees.
The case is PKC
Pharmaceuticals Inc., v. Celgene Corp., 1:11-cv-11211-WGY, U.S. District Court,
District of Massachusetts.
Casey Anthony`s
Parents` Lawyers Seeks `Caylee Anthony` Mark
Mark R. Lippman, the lawyer who represented
the parents of Casey Anthony, has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office to register the name of Anthony`s murdered daughter as a
trademark.
According to
the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Lippman`s application to
register “Caylee Anthony” as a trademark was filed May 11. He said in his
filing that he wants to use the mark on T-shirts.
Casey Anthony
was acquitted July 5 of murdering her daughter. Lippman, of the Lippman Law Offices PA of Orlando, Florida,
said Anthony has refused all contact with her parents following the verdict,
the International Business Times reported.
Russian
Newspaper Distributors Turn Back Trademark Challenge
The Los
Angeles-based publishers of a Russian-language newspaper has defeated a
trademark-infringement case brought by the publisher of a similarly named
newspaper in New York.
Oleg Pogrebnoy
sued the Russian Newspaper Distributors Inc., in federal court in Los Angeles
in November 2010, claiming he was the rightful owner of the name of the
newspaper. The name, written in the Cyrillic alphabet, is translated as
“Kurier” in English. He also sought cancellation of the publishers` Cyrillic-alphabet
“Kurier” trademark.
U.S. District
Judge Percy Anderson, in a June 28 order, said Pogrebnoy failed to prove he`d
ever owned the Kurier name.
Pogrebnoy hadn`t
provided an explanation for the absence of the written agreement “or any facts
concerning his efforts to locate a copy of the agreement, which he claimed in
his deposition was at his parents` house” in the Ukraine, Judge Anderson said
in his order dismissing the case on a motion from Russian Newspaper
Distributors
The judge
ordered that Pogrebnoy pay Russian Newspaper Distributors` attorney fees.
The case is
Oleb Pogrebnoy v. Russian Newspaper Distribution, 2:10-cv-08532-PA, U.S.
District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
For more
trademark news, click here.
Copyright
Gateway Gaming
Claims Slot-Machine Game Copyrights Infringed
Gateway Gaming LLC of Piedmont, South
Carolina, a creator of games for casino slot machines, sued a Texas-based
competitor for copyright infringement.
Game Systems Inc., of Sansom Park, Texas,
is accused of marketing and selling games that infringe Gateway`s copyrights on
its “Lucky Duck,” “Mother-in-Law,” “Stars and Stripes,” “Mayan Lost City,”
“Texas Gold” and “Cool 7`s” games.
Gateway said it
began employing its games in 2007, and that Game Systems is marketing and
selling infringing games “Bucks Ducks,” “Jennie in the Bottle,” “All America,”
“Mayan Gold,” “Wild Cat Gold” and “Arctic 7`s.”
The allegedly
infringing games contain copies of the icons, graphics, images and screens
covered by Gateway`s copyrights, the company said in its pleadings. These have
been deliberately copied without permission, the company said.
Gateway asked
the court for both temporary and permanent orders barring the sale and
distribution of the infringing products. Additionally, it seeks money damages,
and extra damages to punish Game Systems for its actions.
The company
also asked for an order for destruction of all infringing products and for
awards of profits derived from the alleged infringement, litigation costs and
attorney fees.
Game Systems
didn`t respond immediately to an e-mailed request for comment.
The case is
Gateway Gaming LLC v. Game Systems Inc., 4:11- cv-00432-RAS-DDB, U.S. District
Court, Eastern District of Texas (Sherman).
Infringement
Claims Providing Rioters` Identification to Police
Making
copyright-infringement claims against those who posted videos of the riots in
Vancouver following the Vancouver Canucks loss of the final game in the Stanley
Cup playoffs has backfired against the claimants, the CKNW radio station said on its website.
Dave Texeira
who uploaded a video of a man being hit in the crotch by a police stun gun
grenade said the man in the video claimed copyright infringement and demanded
that Google Inc. (GOOG)`s
YouTube video-sharing site remove it, according to CKNW.
He told CKNW
that the copyright complaint contains identifying information about the man in
the video, and that he plans to turn it over to the police.
Texeira created
a website to help identify the rioters, and said that YouTube had been taking
down some of his videos of the riots following infringement claims by people
who appeared in them, CKNW reported.
