A US appeals court Thursday lifted a sales ban on Google-branded Samsung smartphones in a patent fight with Apple, saying there was no evidence sales were driven by features copied from the iPhone. The appeals court in Washington overturned an injunction issued by a judge in California for the Galaxy Nexus phone as part of the lengthy patent case, saying the lower court "abused its discretion." Judge Lucy Koh issued the injunction June 29, before a landmark jury ruling which found Samsung illegally copied features from Apple's iconic iPhone. She ordered the temporary ban, saying that Apple "has shown a likelihood of establishing both infringement and validity" of its patents related to the iPhone's Siri virtual assistant software. But the appeals court said Apple must show not only that it would suffer "irreparable harm" but "establish that the harm is sufficiently related to the infringement." "In other words, it may very well be that the accused product would sell almost as well … [Read more...] about US appeals court lifts ban on Samsung-Google phone
Appeals court
Appeals court upholds two death sentences in Vinalines case
Appeals court upholds two death sentences in Vinalines caseNguyen Nguyen By Nguyen Nguyen - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI - The Supreme People’s Court on May 7 upheld the death sentences for Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), and former Vinalines CEO Mai Van Phuc, on charges of embezzlement. Dung and Phuc were given the capital punishment for embezzlement and an 18-year jail sentence for intentionally violating State regulations on economic management causing severe consequences. The court opened the appeals hearing on April 22 as Dung and eight others appealed against the sentences handed down to them by a lower court in December last year. According to the indictment issued at the court last year, in 2007-2008, Dung and his accomplices violated regulations on investment, bidding and customs procedures for import and export through the purchase and repair of the floating dock 83M. The malpractice caused losses of VND366 … [Read more...] about Appeals court upholds two death sentences in Vinalines case
Appeals court against former ACB execs opens
Appeals court against former ACB execs opens Lan Nhi By Lan Nhi - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI – The Supreme People’s Court started to review the appeals submitted by Nguyen Duc Kien, former vice chairman of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), and other ACB former executives, in Hanoi City last Friday. In June, Kien was sentenced to 30-year imprisonment by the Hanoi People’s Court on the charges of fraudulent appropriation of property, intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences, tax evasion and illegal business. In addition, Kien was fined over VND75 billion for tax evasion. Besides Kien, seven defendants were sentenced from at least three to eight years in prison. Among the eight defendants, six submitted appeals letters. Kien appealed the entire verdict of the first instance hearing in both the punishment and the charges. He proposed the appeals court review the evidence used to accuse him and those that vindicate … [Read more...] about Appeals court against former ACB execs opens
Appeals court upholds jail terms for former Vinashin officials
An appeals court in the northern city of Hai Phong Thursday upheld sentences against eight ex-officials of the state-owned shipbuilding corporation Vinashin for losses of over VND910 billion (US$43.96 million) incurred under their administration. In the latest verdict, Pham Thanh Binh, former board chairman of Vinashin, has his 20-year-sentence unchanged. Seven others received jail terms of between ten and 19 years. All of them were convicted of "deliberately acting against state regulations on economic management." The court also ordered them to pay a total of VND1.06 trillion ($50 million) in compensation, of which Binh was held responsible for VND500 billion ($23.62 million). The second hearing was held after the former officials filed appeals asking for reduction in the sentences they received in March this year. The last defendant of the case, Nguyen Tuan Duong, former board chairman of Cuu Long Vinashin Steel Company, did not file an appeal. He was jailed for three years … [Read more...] about Appeals court upholds jail terms for former Vinashin officials
NSA’s phone spying program ruled illegal by appeals court
A U.S. spying program that systematically collects millions of Americans' phone records is illegal, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday, putting pressure on Congress to quickly decide whether to replace or end the controversial anti-terrorism surveillance. Ruling on a program revealed by former government security contractor Edward Snowden, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the Patriot Act did not authorize the National Security Agency to collect Americans' calling records in bulk. Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for a three-judge panel that Section 215, which addresses the FBI's ability to gather business records, could not be interpreted to have permitted the NSA to collect a "staggering" amount of phone records, contrary to claims by the Bush and Obama administrations. "Such expansive development of government repositories of formerly private records would be an unprecedented contraction of the privacy expectations of all Americans," Lynch wrote in a … [Read more...] about NSA’s phone spying program ruled illegal by appeals court