PATENT

Congress is tantalizingly close to passing patent reform that President Barack Obama has hailed as an economic booster, but the legislation is expected to do little to divert money away from patent litigation and toward innovation.

China's telecom giants are building up a war-chest of patents to help give them an edge in the legal battles raging between the world's smartphone makers, aided by Beijing's push to transform the country from workshop to innovator.

Samsung Electronics shares rose early on Thursday after a Dutch court rejected most of the patent infringement claims by Apple, whose visionary chief executive Steve Jobs resigned, raising Samsung's hopes of closing the gap with the U.S. firm.

China's telecom giants are building up a war-chest of patents to help give them an edge in the legal battles raging between the world's smartphone makers, aided by Beijing's push to transform the country from workshop to innovator.

TiVo Inc, a maker of digital video recorders, reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat expectations and said it is looking at ways to boost the value of its patents.

In a remarkable and near-amusing turn of events, Stanley Kubrick's movie 2001: A Space Odyssey has come to the rescue of Samsung in its patent dispute with Apple which will decide the fate of four key Samsung products, Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The bubble in mobile phone technology patent values may just have popped.

The bubble in mobile phone technology patent values may just have popped.

Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion is all about owning a slew of patents to defend itself against its rivals -- Microsoft and Apple -- in the legal arena where patent licensing fees can be negotiated through lawsuits and countersuits.

Hearing on Microsoft’s claims that the Google’s Android run devices infringed on its patents will begin at the U.S. International Trade Commission will begin on Monday.

Jefferies & Co. upgraded its rating on shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) to hold from underperform and raised its price target to $25 from $22.

Google Inc.'s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. will have positive impact on Apple Inc., Barclays Capital said in a note. But Jefferies believes Apple is likely to strike back in patent war.

A proposed combination of two Canadian patent licensing companies will make it easier to extract lucrative licensing deals from technology giants, would-be buyer WiLan said on Thursday.

Mosaid Technologies asked shareholders on Thursday to take no action on an unsolicited C$480 million ($490 million) offer from rival patent firm WiLan, the latest sign of swelling global interest in increasingly valuable patents.

Kodak's patent auction can benefit shareholders as well as the U.S.

Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings probably will not lead Microsoft to respond by buying Nokia, an industry analyst says.

Microsoft has gained the upper hand in by getting its patent battle with Motorola Mobility moved to its preferred federal court in its hometown of Seattle.

Apple could buy companies like Nokia or InterDigital, or maybe just some patents

A games company is accusing Zynga of infringing its patents and asking that it shut down its most popular games for the Facebook social network, including FarmVille and Mafia Wars.

Following Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, with one of the largest patent libraries in the industry, speculation is rife that Apple will respond in kind.

Google paid less per patent than Apple's syndicate did in recent smartphone wars