Google sued for alleged patent infringement
Street view system
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A Pasadena company has sued Google, alleging the Internet tech giant's Street View system violates its patent.
Vederi, LLC filed the patent infringement complaint against Google in Los Angeles federal court.
According to the lawsuit, Vederi co-founders Enrico Di Bernardo and Luis Goncalves own the patent to technology used on Google Street View that allows users to visually navigate streets within a geographic area.
Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets worldwide. It was launched in 2007, according to Wikipedia.
Vederi's first provisional patent application for its system was filed in 2000, the company said.
Di Bernardo and Goncalves met at Caltech in Pasadena while pursuing doctoral degrees, and conceived of the idea to build a system to let Internet users look at street-level views of neighborhoods in 2000, their suit states.
Named StreetBrowser, the Vederi system appeared on the City of Pasadena website for several years in the early 2000s, according to the lawsuit.
"We are confident that Vederi has strong patent rights that are directly infringed by Street View,'' said Vederi attorney David Dillard. "It's stunning how closely Google's Street View tracks the Vederi patented technology, down to the integration of advertising directly within the Street View product through branded icons.''
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Calabasas-based Fuel Doctor, which makes a small device it claims can increase vehicle miles per gallon by 25 percent, was sued by a consumer who says it did nothing for her car.
Mlissa Drinville filed her lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging false advertising and unfair competition.
She is asking for an injunction to stop the company from claiming the device increases fuel efficiency, along with unspecified damages. She also wants to add other consumers to the suit and make it a class action.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The girlfriend of the first husband of Jennifer Lopez filed suit against the actress today, alleging she interfered with a motion picture contract.
Telenovela actress/singer Claudia Vazquez of Covina brought the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. She is currently representing herself and seeking at least $10 million in damages.
Lopez's lawyer, John H. Lavely, did not immediately return a call for comment.
PASADENA, Calif.—A Caltech professor was named as the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists.
Amnon Yariv, a professor of applied physics and electrical engineering, will receive the award, along with 10 others, during a ceremony at the White House later this year.
“The extraordinary accomplishments of these scientists, engineers and inventors are a testament to American industry and ingenuity,” President Barack Obama said.
Carson officials moved ahead Tuesday evening with a lawsuit against Shell Oil Co. calling on the petroleum giant to clean up oil and chemicals oozing up from the Carousel housing tract. The city joined a 2012 suit brought forth by residents living north of Lomita Boulevard between Avalon Boulevard and Main Street demanding that benzene, methane and other raw petroleum chemicals be mitigated, and some compensation be awarded to residents.
PASADENA, Calif. — Three potentially habitable planets roughly the size of Earth were discovered in a pair of distant star systems, NASA officials announced today, but it’s still unknown if life could exist on any of them.
The planets were discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission, which was developed by scientists at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
