2012 CES Preview

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is kicking off next month at the Las Vegas Convention Center beginning January 10th through January 13th. The International CES is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), a trade association boasting over 2,000 member companies that works to promote industry growth in areas ranging from market research to technical training, industry promotion and business development. 

Highlights

Microsoft draws down

Microsoft announced that this year's CES will be the last show that the company will contribute to in a significant capacity. Microsoft will be delivering a keynote address this year for the fourteenth and last time, also withdrawing their commitment to a large booth beyond 2012, although they will still maintain a small presence in future shows. Speculations have been flying regarding the reason, including Microsoft demanding a lock on future keynote addresses and withdrawing from the show in retaliation for being denied. However, Microsoft maintains that CES's schedule doesn't mesh well with Microsoft's product release schedule, which typically lands in the third quarter of the year. Microsoft's lackluster showing at this past year's CES consisted mostly of products either outside of mainstream electronics or products that were already on the market, supporting their reason for withdrawing from the show as a lack of return on the significant investment.

CES premieres app developer event

This year the 2012 CES will feature the first presentation of the Developer University, a venue dedicated to developers to showcase their apps, APIs, platforms and SDKs to colleagues and potential investors. The Developer University will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 12 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The event consists of consecutive 30 minute program presentations followed by a networking event for industry attendees. CES registration and an RSVP is required to attend this event. 

About Lambert & Lambert:
Lambert & Lambert is a contingency-fee based invention marketing and patent licensing firm that specializes in consumer products. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lambert & Lambert provides services to inventors, product developers and small companies throughout the world and currently has products selling in numerous retailers.
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ITC Ruling Against Motorola

December 2011 - The International Trade Commission has issued an initial ruling in the patent dispute lodged against Motorola by Microsoft in October of 2010.

Microsoft has claimed that various Motorola products infringe on no less than nine patents currently held by Microsoft. In their initial ruling, the ITC has isolated one of the nine patents cited in Microsoft's complaint, determining that Motorola infringed on four separate claims of U.S. Patent no. 6,370,566, which consists of designs and systems that generate group scheduling and meeting requests on mobile devices.

Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and General Counsel David Howard issued a statement saying, "We are pleased with the ITC's initial determination finding Motorola violated four claims of a Microsoft patent. As Samsung, HTC, Acer and other companies have recognized, respecting others' intellectual property through licensing is the right path forward."

Recently the ITC issued an import ban on HTC products that it found to have infringed on patents currently held by Apple, and may choose to institute a similar ban on Motorola. Despite this, Motorola's General Counsel Scott Offer has stated, "We view it as a huge win" because Microsoft is "down to one patent." 

Among the Motorola products potentially affected by this ruling are the Motorola Droid, Atrix and Xoom, and the total number as reported by Microsoft itself stands at eighteen altogether. The ITC is expected to issue a final ruling after more review by the end of April, 2012. 


About Lambert & Lambert:
Lambert & Lambert is a contingency-fee based invention marketing and patent licensing firm that specializes in consumer products. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lambert & Lambert provides services to inventors, product developers and small companies throughout the world and currently has products selling in numerous retailers.

Contact:
Tim Sherman, Director of Customer Service
Tel: 651-552-0080   |   Fax: 651-552-7678
info@lambertinvent.com

Links:
Lambert & Lambert Homepage   Lambert & Lambert Invention Blog
Lambert & Lambert on Facebook   Lambert & Lambert on Twitter