Serial entrepreneur and founder of Web 2.0 Summit Tim O'Reilly says the biggest negative trend in the technology industry is ‘patent trolls‘ who are having a huge impact on preventing innovation....

Read More: Tim O’Reilly says ‘patent trolls could be the end of Silicon Valley’

In an attempt to gain the upper hand in a lawsuit asserted against it for using of wireless patents registered by Samsung, Apple has filed a new federal case seeking to gain important information from chip-maker Qualcomm to determine whether its use of its processing technologies will be covered by separate licensing agreements, Litigating Apple [...]

Read More: Apple wants Qualcomm patent licensing documents to undermine Samsung lawsuit

In an attempt to gain the upper hand in a lawsuit asserted against it for using of wireless patents registered by Samsung, Apple has filed a new federal case seeking...

Read More: Apple wants Qualcomm patent licensing documents to undermine Samsung lawsuit

When the patent laws were first written, those who drafted them had no idea what they would eventually yield. Today, innovations in technology have exponentially increased the quantity and variety of patents filed every day. While it's good that companies and individuals continue to come up with new ideas, the system itself and those who [...]

Read More: Is the Patent War Stifling Innovation?

Earlier today, Microsoft and Samsung disclosed that they reached a cross-licensing agreement over patents. The key point: it's a bad blow to the notion that Android is free. Instead, it's more like "free" with huge Android OEM partners like HTC and now Samsung agreeing to pay Microsoft to use Android. Google must be pissed off.

And they are. Here's their statement:

“This is the same tactic we’ve seen time and again from Microsoft. Failing to succeed in the smartphone market, they ar [...]

Read More: Google On Microsoft’s Android Patent Tactics: It’s Extortion

Voice recognition is not new, I have been using it on mobile devices ever since Microsoft first released Voice Command back in 2003. Of course, the quality of recognition and the ability to control devices has improved significantly since 2003, but a new patent filing by Apple reveals the possibility for voice recognition going to a whole other level. The patent application describes a process for identifying your voice and understanding complex commands.


Read More: Patent Application Shows Apple Working To Improve Voice Recognition

"It's not like Android's free. Android has a patent fee. You do have to license patents."

That was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an interview last year with The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Microsoft was on the verge of releasing their first Windows Phone 7 devices, and knew their best hope in the market would be to go after Android — the same OS which quickly ran Windows Mobile into extinction. In the months that have followed, right or wrong, it looks like Microsoft is slowly but surely [...]

Read More: How Apple Led The High-Stakes Patent Poker Win Against Google, Sealing Ballmer’s Promise

Cue Queen. Microsoft, everyone's favorite proprietor of Android-related patents, just signed an agreement with ODM Wistron Corporation to cover its line of Android and Chrome OS products. Of course like the other similar agreements, the details were not announced.

Read More: Microsoft Signs Patent Agreement With Wistron For Android And Chrome Products

"It's not like Android's free. Android has a patent fee. You do have to license patents."

That was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an interview last year with The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Microsoft was on the verge of releasing their first Windows Phone 7 devices, and knew their best hope in the market would be to go after Android — the same OS which quickly ran Windows Mobile into extinction. In the months that have followed, right or wrong, it looks like Microsoft is slowly but surely [...]

Read More: How Apple Led The High-Stakes Patent Poker Win Against Google, Sealing Ballmer’s Promise