Written by Heather on Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Breaking News – Battle of the Titans

Well, at least in these tough economic times, lawyers can still make money. There have been rumors swirling, but today it finally happened: Apple is suing Palm for patent infringement for multi-touch and other technology associated with the iPhone. Apple has also petitioned the court to issue an injunction stopping Palm from releasing the Pre. After hearing this news, all I could think is ‘David vs. Golliath’, but in this case, I think David loses. Apple has more than enough resources to win. However, in an interesting twist, Microsoft has joined Palm in their defense, and is supporting Palm’s counter-suit. Palm is suing Apple for using the touchscreen in the first place. They claim they were the first true touchscreen device, and Apple has pirated their technology. In addition to Apple, Palm is also suing RIM, Google/Android, and Nokia. Google also has issued a suit against Microsoft over their dominance in the netbook market. Google is claiming that MS has made it impossible for any other OS to break into the market, and they want them to be labeled an illegal monopoly. There are additional rumors that MS is planning a takeover of RIM in order to have a larger smartphone market-share. Steve Ballmer, CEO of MS, stated that MS is always looking to ‘remove any roadblocks to the advancement of technology, and that anything that was bad for Apple made him smile.’ Ok, so he didn’t really say that last part, but you know he has to be thinking it. To get a clearer picture of all the legal battles, check out the complete details after the break.