The Google patent described sensors that, among other things, disable touch inputs when the product is positioned close to a person.
In a bit of bad timing for Schmidt, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a Google patent today for a celebrity facial recognition database.
FORBES: Google Patents A Celebrity Facial Recognition Database
According to Google senior patent counsel Suzanne Michel, sixty percent of patent lawsuits are now filed by such companies.
FORBES: At CES, Companies Large and Small Bash Broken Patent System
We estimate that Microsoft will make close to a billion dollars from Android which is backed by Google, patent licensing in 2011.
FORBES: Microsoft Getting Paid For Android Patents, Snags More Dough From Amazon's Kindle Fire Maker
Last year, for the first time, spending by Apple and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products, according to public filings.
FORBES: More than $20 Billion Spent on Patent Litigation in Two Years
On May 7th the first round of a three-part fight between Oracle and Google over patent and copyright claims relating to the Java programming language ended in a decision that denied outright victory to either firm.
Therefore, the price per patent Google paid, stripping out all the extraneous stuff, is likely only a couple of hundred thousand dollars per patent.
The recent improvement also adds some Euro flavor to Google's patent search by including submissions to the European Patent Office.
ENGADGET: Google Patents search gets upgrade, now filled with prior art and European patent goodness
So is the biggest search outfit, Overture , a little-known billion-dollar vendor that provides unbranded search services for other Web sites and has sued Google, alleging patent infringement.
Now Google's patent search is giving prior art some love as well with the addition of the aptly named "Prior Art Finder" to its patent search tool.
ENGADGET: Google Patents search gets upgrade, now filled with prior art and European patent goodness
Will this deal inoculate Google from future patent battles?
FORBES: The Patent Arms Race Explodes with Google Buy of Motorola
The ITC said it chose to end its investigation related to Motorola and Apple because Apple had successfully argued that Google's patent was invalid because it wasn't different enough from previous inventions.
So is the biggest search outfit, Overture (nasdaq: OVER - news - people ), a little-known billion-dollar vendor that provides unbranded search services for other Web sites and has sued Google, alleging patent infringement.
Google has ended one patent war with Microsoft over video compression technology used in the Xbox 360.
The initial public offering of RPX Corp, a San Francisco company that acquires patents to protect technology giants like Google and Cisco from patent lawsuits, marks the latest escalation in the patent wars.
Then if, and I it is a big if, a judge and jury can be shown that the relative importance of the MGT patent to casino operations is proportionally much greater than that of Vringo patent to Google, maybe the royalty could be more significant.
FORBES: Lawsuit Victories Against Apple And Google Fuel Investor Interest In MGT
Her method for probing the validity of a patent often starts with a Google search, moving on to Wikipedia and more obscure troves, like Japanese patent databases translated into English.
In closing arguments over the patent dispute, Oracle attorney Michael Jacobs accused Google of embarking on a "reckless path to patent infringement" when developing Android.
For example, Google has filed for a patent on the way Android handles notifications.
FORBES: It's Normal for Software Companies to Ignore Patents
It gives Google a hardware platform and patent protection for key aspects of its Android operating system.
It may even force Motorola, which was recently acquired by Google, to sign a patent licensing deal with it soon.
FORBES: Microsoft Getting Paid For Android Patents, Snags More Dough From Amazon's Kindle Fire Maker
Indeed, according to this Time magazine article, Apple and Google spent more money on patent litigation than research and development last year.
FORBES: Patent Wars Rage As Tech Industry Waits For Serious Reforms
Apple Inc. won a victory against Google Inc. in a patent case before a U.S. trade agency, which upheld findings by one of the agency's judges.
On Friday, an administrative law judge at the International Trade Commission ruled that Microsoft did not violate a patent owned by Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility when it made the Xbox.
FORBES: Trade Commission Judge Rules Microsoft Did Not Violate Google Patent
Google has decided to put its patent feud with Microsoft to bed... at least partially.
ENGADGET: Google drops claims against Microsoft, as patent wars appear to wind down
Well, that's just what Google's proposing in a patent application that's surfaced today.
Google was awarded an autonomous car patent in 2011, and secured a Nevada driving licence for its self-drive car in May 2012.
BBC: Toyota sneak previews self-drive car ahead of tech show
Microsoft is seeking, and now very likely to obtain, a German patent injunction against the Google Maps service, the Google Maps Android client app, and web browsers providing access to Google Maps.
The Chocolate Factory has the technology for its Google Glass locked down in a patent but it has to collaborate with fashion retailer Warby Parker to make its artificial eye tech look cool, says the New York Times.
FORBES: Google Glass: The Dork Look Isn't All That Popular Right Now
If you thought the patent war between Motorola (Google) and Apple was already over, you were mistaken.
应用推荐