Apple, Nokia on collision course

Apple may be preparing to bring out the big guns to fight Nokia in court over alleged patent violations, but that isn't stopping Nokia Siemens from tooting its own horn about a piece of its technology that has cropped up in iOS 4.2, reports Daily Tech.

iOS 4.2 was officially released for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad last week. While the update was mostly a big deal for iPad users, Nokia points out that the iOS 4.2 also includes support for its network-controlled 'fast dormancy' technology.

According to Nokia, this allows for the iPhone to more efficiently communicate with cell networks and helps to decrease network congestion. In addition, this allows for better battery life for users.

The Supreme Court has agreed to referee a $290 million dispute between Microsoft and a Canadian technology company, according to KAKE.

At issue is a tool in the Microsoft Word program - and the claim by the Canadian company that the feature violates patent projections.

Microsoft was hit with the multimillion-dollar judgment over the alleged violation. But now it is appealing - asking that the dollar amount be erased. Toronto-based i4i sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind the feature that lets the program interpret and display a document's contents.

LG Electronics, the world's third-largest mobile-phone maker, was accused by a Taiwanese research group of infringing 22 US patents on mobile phones, air conditioners, Blu-ray disc players and LCD televisions, notes Bloomberg.

Industrial Technology Research Institute, based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and supervised by the nation's Ministry of Economic Affairs, filed four lawsuits against LG.

The complaints were submitted on 26 November in a Texas federal court.