Displaying items by tag: US

Apple has been granted leniency for infringing on Samsung’s standards essential patents (SEP). It seems that the White House decided that they just could not allow a ban even though the International Trade Commission ruled that Apple did in fact violate Samsung’s patents. Now bear in mind that these patents, because they are SEP, have to be offered under FRAND (Fair Reasonable, and Non Discriminatory) licensing agreements. This means that Samsung cannot charge outrageous fees to anyone as the SEP technologies are required to build certain devices. What it does not mean is that a company can refuse to pay any fees at all; this is what Apple did to Samsung at the same time they were trying to sue them in court for trade dress violations, a patent that claimed the shape of a smartphone, and other non-specific patents.

At yesterday's hearing before the Senate committee, the head of Apple, Tim Cook, has confirmed that the company will invest $100 million into production process in the United States, specifically in Texas. Computers will also be made from components manufactured in the states of Illinois and Florida with equipment made in Kentucky and Michigan.

There are two things about leaks that always concern me; the content of the leak, who it was leaked to, and … (Ok three things I look at when dealing with leaks) the timing. Now when the leak hit concerning Stuxnet and Duqu we took a look at the information and compared it with some information we were able to dig up including the timing of the attack and a few other factors. The leak seemed to fit the facts. At the time of the leak there was no mention of Flame, any program to gather intelligence, or even hints that there might be more out there.