Archive for September, 2012

Unwired Planet, Inc. (UPIP) soars after announcement of patent infringement lawsuits against Apple and Google

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

Shares of , Unwired Planet Inc. (Nasdaq: UPIP) were up more than 9 percent from Wednesday’s closing price in morning trading on Thursday after the company announced that it filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple and Google.

Shares touched a high of $2.02 in morning trading, up from Wednesday’s closing price of $1.85.

The complaints charge Apple with infringing on 10 of Unwired Planet’s patents, and charge Google with infringing on 10 different patents, according to a September 20 press release. The 20 patents are related to smart mobile devices, cloud computing, digital content stores, push notification technologies and location-based services including mapping and advertising, the press release stated.

“Apple and Google generate substantial revenues from devices and services that rely on the intellectual property that Unwired Planet developed and patented over the last 15 years,” said Unwired Planet’s CEO Mike Mulica in the September 20 press release. “They should compensate us for the use of our patented technologies, which are foundational to mobility.”

The complaints were filed in Nevada, which was chosen as “one of 14 districts across the United States as a pilot patent district,” and has developed “specialized procedures to handle complex patent cases,” Mulica said. “As a result, we believe the Nevada district will be an ideal venue to resolve this matter with efficiency and expertise.”

Unwired Planet has about 200 U.S. and foreign patents and roughly 75 pending applications, Fores reported.

Shares of UPIP are down about 19 percent over the past three months.

Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) soars after announcement of new credit card payment system

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012

Shares of Groupon, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) were up more than 10 percent from Tuesday’s closing price in morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced the launch of Groupon Payments, a new service that offers merchants a low-cost option to accept credit cards.

Groupon shares touched a high of $5.17 in morning trading on Wednesday, up from Tuesday’s closing price of $4.69.

According to a September 19 press release, Groupon Payments allows any merchant that runs a deal with Groupon in the U.S. to accept payments “at the lowest rates in today’s market place.” The press release stated that MasterCard, Visa and Discover transactions will cost merchants 1.8 percent and a 15 cent transaction fee, and American Express transactions will cost merchants 3 percent plus a 15 percent transaction fee.

“Our goal is to provide merchants with the most affordable and powerful tools to run and grow their businesses,” said Mihir Shah, VP Mobile and Merchant Products at Groupon in the September 19 press release. “With groundbreaking pricing and service, Groupon Payments does just that.”

The technology was initially tested int he San Francisco Bay area. And although the rates may seem attractive, Groupon faces stiff competition from EBay’s PayPal unit and Square, a service founded by Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter).

Despite the competition, Groupon’s rates are somewhat lower than competitors’ rates. Square charges 2.75 percent per swipe, or $275 per month. PayPal charges 2.7 percent, the Associated Press reported.

Shares of Groupon are down about 50 percent over the past three months.