INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

China has arrested more than 4,000 people for violating intellectual property rights since November and will enforce tougher punishments to combat the rampant problem, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a record 219,614 patents in 2010, with IBM grossing the highest number of patents followed by Samsung and Microsoft.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling that reinstated an antitrust lawsuit alleging major record labels conspired to fix prices and terms under which music would be sold over the Internet.

Online music sites are still around and still popular, as seen by the latest investment into SoundCloud, a Germany-based file sharing service.

American packaged foods company Kraft Foods has filed a law suit in an Indian court against Indian biscuits and dairy business company Britannia Industries for trademark and copyright violations of its popular Oreo cookies.

An appeals court sided with Uniloc in its patent-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft Corp but ordered a new trial on damages.

Richmond, Va.-based law firm LeClairRyan has poached on at least 15 Nixon Peabody lawyers, including 5 partners, who will focus on expand upon the firm's capabilities in intellectual property, bankruptcy and commercial litigation practices in the newly established Rochester, N.Y. office.

Sony Corp. has filed a patent suit against LG Electronics, seeking to stop its import of mobile phones to the US. It is the latest in a series of patent complaints that have plagued the technology industry.

Patent wars punctuated the technology landscape in 2010. Lawsuits were filed with myriad motivations, some seeking permanent injunction, some monetary compensation and some bullying others to accept licensing agreements.

Key patent lawsuits that punctuated the smartphone industry in 2010.

Hoping for some monetary damages, Hopewell Culture & Design have sued Apple and Android makers for the infringement of double-click patent.

A federal jury has found two former engineers of Wyko Tire Technology Inc., guilty of stealing trade secrets from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Unlikely cronies Apple, EMC and Oracle are part of the Microsoft-led consortium CPTN Holdings, which acquired 882 Novell patents as part of Attachmate's $2.2 billion acquisition of Novell.

U.K. chipmaker Imagination Technologies, which licenses and sells its designs to Intel and Apple, said interim pretax profits doubled on strong revenue growth from both licensing and royalties. The volume of partner chips shipping with Imagination’s IP has nearly doubled to 107 million.

Patent collecting company Intellectual Ventures, which was started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has filed patent lawsuits against nine companies.

Viacom is taking the fight over copyrights to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit, appealing the decision that spared YouTube - and its parent company, Google - from a hefty judgment.

A federal judge in California Court has ordered the destruction of genetically engineered sugar beets after finding that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had likely violated federal law by allowing the plantation of the stecklings without analyzing the potential environmental impact.

Hershey Co., producer of Reese's chocolate candies, has filed a lawsuit against Mars Inc., complaining that the wrapping of the latter's Dove line of peanut butter and chocolate bars copy its packaging.

Novell's Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon said on Wednesday that UNIX copyrights are in Novell's hands, quieting fears that Microsoft had clinched its UNIX copyrights.

Social networking site Facebook is planning to trademark the word 'face' as it wants to stop other companies from using the term in a way which damages its own brand.

Givenchy has filed a federal lawsuit against BCBG in California district alleging that their Nightingale bag has been copied and sold by BCBG as their Rembrandt bag, which results in trade infringement. The Givenchchy bag retailed for $2,175 whereas BCBG sold their bag for $118.