Apple annihilates Samsung in patent war

Apple won a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung last week. A San Jose jury found Samsung had violated six of Apple’s patents and awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages. The jury came up with its verdict so quickly, it left some wondering if they understood what they were doing in a case involving complex patent issues and more than a hundred pages of judge’s notes. Some jury members said they’d already made a decision at the beginning of the trail. The verdict, in favor of Apple Inc., awarded the company $1.5 billion to be paid by Samsung. Apple has also asked that eight Samsung products be taken off the US market: the Galaxy…

John Travolta sued by male masseur for sexual harassment

John Travolta is being sued for $2 million by a male masseur who claims the Hollywood star sexually assaulted him during a massage session at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The unidentified masseur, referred to as John Doe in court documents, alleges Travolta responded to an ad for his services and picked the masseur up in an SUV on Jan. 16. During the massage at a room in the Beverly Hills Hotel, Travolta stripped naked in front of the masseur, touched the masseur’s genitals and attempted to initiate a “reverse massage.” After the masseur repeatedly refused Travolta’s advances, the suit alleges, Travolta offered the masseur a three-way with a female Hollywood star and told him he…

Nerf sics lawyers on Nerf blogger Martyn Yang

Hasbro lawyered up on a fanboy blogger after he posted widely available images of a Nerf gun on his website. Australian Nerf fan boy Martyn Yang reviews Nerf guns on his blog and was contacted by Hasbro, who said they wanted to give him Nerf products as freebies for his readers. In a classic case of bait-and-switch, Hasbro asked the Australian civil servant and webmaster for the blog Urban Taggers to give them his address so they could send him the Nerf products. Once Yang sent them his Canberra address, Hasbro sent its Baker & McKenzie lawyers to serve him papers. Baker & McKenzie investigators later turned up and spooked Yang’s neighbors. Hasbro demanded that…

Megaupload shut down, founder Kim Dotcom arrested

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was arrested today in New Zealand, a day after his filesharing site Megaupload.com shut down by US prosecutors. Dotcom was arrested at the request of US authorities. Megaupload allowed anyone to upload and download video and audio files for free. User could pay extra for perks like faster download speeds. Rights holders claim Megaupload fosters piracy. Its business model encourages users to upload pirated material. Anonymous retaliated by shutting down government and entertainment industry websites including sites for the US Department of Justice, the US Copyright Office, The Recording Industry Association of America, The Motion Picture Association of America, Universal Music Group, the BMI record label and French copyright authority HADOPI….

Lady Gaga’s former assistant sues for unpaid overtime

Turns out Mother Monster lives up to her name – if you happen to work for her! Pop diva Lady Gaga’s former personal assistant Jennifer O’Neill is suing her former boss in a Manhattan federal court, claiming that working for Gaga was like being a modern-day slave. According to court documents, O’Neill claims working for the superstar meant “ensuring the promptness of a towel following a shower and serving as a personal alarm clock to keep [Gaga] on schedule.” She is now suing her former boss’ management company for US$380,000, the equivalent of 7,168 hours of unpaid overtime. Is Lady Gaga a slave driver, or was she just Born that Way? We’ll let the judge…

Apple vs HTC: Apple scores minor victory in Android fight

The US International Trade Commission has given Apple a partial victory in its patent dispute with HTC over the Android operating system. The ruling, however, was more favorable than expected as the Taiwanese company emerged victorious in three of the four patent claims. So what exactly did Apple win? Well, you know how you can tap on a phone number to auto-magically call that number when it appears in an e-mail or text? Apple says it owns that and other user interface features. As a result of the ITC ruling, HTC must discontinue offering the feature in its Android phones. HTC has some time to fix the code in its handsets that run Android, which…

NMA threatened over ‘Elf on the Shelf’ satire

On Dec. 12, Next Media Animation released a satirical animation about The Elf on the Shelf, a doll marketed by Georgia book publisher CCA and B. It got attention of the company’s lawyers, who sent a letter to NMA threatening legal action for alleged defamation and trademark infringement. “Elf on the Shelf all the rage for Christmas 2011″ drew upon a publicly expressed sentiment that the infant-sized elf doll — which, according to the accompanying storybook, keeps careful watch over a household on behalf of Santa Claus — is nothing more but a creepy way to coerce children into behaving and parents into buying Elf on the Shelf products. These ideas were taken to their…

Vivid Entertainment: ‘HTC violates our trademark!’

TMZ reports Vivid Entertainment has asked mobile phone maker HTC to stop selling its “Vivid” branded devices. The adult production company’s lawyers reportedly claim HTC is in violation of trademark, and could cause confusion in the marketplace. They have given HTC a Monday deadline to change the name of its product, or face a lawsuit. This isn’t HTC’s first naming controversy. The Taiwanese company drew international ridicule earlier this year when it released a phone named “ChaCha,” which is Spanish slang for a part of the female anatomy. While HTC was left blushing, the unabashed Vivid Entertainment has been expanding its adult empire into new mediums. It recently inked a deal with Google TV, which…