Apple was granted a total of 1,135 patents in 2012, ranking it 21st among companies worldwide, up from 39th a year prior.

10 comments

Apple has shown continued interest in offering easy access to local emergency services when traveling through the iPhone.

12 comments

In a joint policy statement issued late Tuesday, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said companies that own so-called standard-essential patents should rarely be allowed to garner sales bans due to infringement findings.

18 comments

Coming on the heels of Google's agreement with the FTC, Apple on Friday filed a notice of appeal with a Wisconsin district court over its FRAND-related suit against Motorola, a case that was previously dismissed after the Cupertino company agreed to licensing terms laid out by the court.

6 comments

Google has warded off an antitrust investigation from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission by agreeing to license certain patents to its rivals in the mobile phone business.

71 comments

A patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday offers a look into how Apple manages retail store operations worldwide, from dynamic product signage to customized floor plan layouts.

10 comments

A filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday reveals that Apple is looking to patent the iOS Notification Center, a feature similar to Google's Notification Bar which allows mobile device users to keep tabs on a multitude of apps from a central hub.

55 comments

In a response filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday, Apple accuses Samsung of filing a motion to strike to avoid "inconvenient facts" regarding company's conflicting decisions to withdraw SEP-related litigation in Europe but continue pursuit of identical claims in America.

6 comments

Samsung products found to infringe on certain Apple patents may be subject to a sales ban if the U.S. International Trade Commission affirms and adopts an initial determination filed by one of its administrative law judges, who also recommended the Korean company post a huge bond worth 88 percent of its U.S. smartphone sales.

122 comments

A court document filed on Friday revealed that Apple is dropping all claims against Samsung's Galaxy S III Mini smartphone after the Korean company said it has no plans to formally import and sell the handset in the U.S.

32 comments

A patent filing published on Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office details an Apple invention pertaining to a computer input device that uses motion gestures, like tilting, brushing and tapping to manipulate a computer's GUI.

9 comments

In a rare non-computing related patent filing discovered on Thursday, Apple proposes a wind turbine that generates electricity from converting heat energy rather than rotational energy created by the rotation of the unit's blades.

37 comments

While curved glass enclosures have emerged as a hallmark of Samsung's latest smartphone designs, it was revealed this week that Apple has also expressed interest in the subject, developing a safer and more cost-effective manufacturing process that would allow the company to create thinner, higher-quality convex enclosure for devices as small as an iPhone but as large as a Thunderbolt display.

71 comments

Apple this week was granted a patent for the design of SIM card connectors found in most mobile devices, a critical step for the company not only in terms of its future mobile hardware initiative but also its capacity to fend off ongoing opposition from rivals over the evolution of the technology.

31 comments

Samsung has reportedly launched a new lawsuit against Apple's implementation of the iOS Notification Center, saying that the feature infringes on an active patent.

113 comments

The European Union's executive body on Friday formally accused Samsung of abusing its dominant market position to gain a foothold in legal disputes being waged against Apple, a complaint the South Korean electronics giant tried to avoid by pulling out of such litigation in Europe.

30 comments

Google's Motorola on Friday lost its UK patent infringement case against Microsoft after a High Court judge invalidated a property currently being used as the basis of an injunction against Apple's iCloud in Germany.

13 comments

In a court filing on Thursday, Apple announced its intent to appeal a ruling handed down from Apple v. Samsung Judge Lucy Koh denying a Samsung product ban, saying that the issue will be taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

10 comments

Samsung will soon face formal charges in an antitrust case from the European Commission, which claims the South Korean company broke competition rules by filing patent lawsuits against Apple.

33 comments

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, passed in 2011, is the cause of a recent increase in Apple-patent invalidations by the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

57 comments