Samsung Electronics Co., Apple Inc.’s rival in the smartphone market, is seeking U.S. patent protection for a mobile device with dual screens.

Application 20130314338, published in the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Nov. 18, covers a dual display apparatus and the method of its operation.

According to the application, the technology would make it possible for a user to see a second display, either through the first, or on a surface opposite to the first. This would enable a user to conduct two simultaneous operations, such as playing a game and holding a face-to-face conversation with another user.

The South Korean electronics company filed the application for this patent in May 2012.

Apple Inc. (AAPL:US) and Kodak GmbH reached an agreement over use of the “Retina” trademark in Russia, the Russian legal information agency RAPSI reported.

The Moscow Commercial Court approved the settlement, according to RAPSI. Initially, Apple had sought cancellation of Kodak’s “Retina” mark, according to the news service.

Under terms of agreement, Apple will use the mark with display devices supplied by LG Display and Samsung Electronics Co. in its products, while Kodak will be limited to using the mark with its own products, RAPSI reported.

Frucor Beverages Ltd., a New Zealand producer of soft drinks, bested the Coca-Cola Co. in a battle over bottle shape, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Coca-Cola had claimed that Frucor was infringing its trademark by bottling PepsiCo Inc. products in bottles the U.S. company claimed resembled the shape of the Coca-Cola bottles, according to the newspaper.

New Zealand’s high court agreed with Frucor that the bottles were sufficiently different and, in each case, clearly marked with Pepsi’s brands, the newspaper reported.

The court also said it took Coca-Cola almost a year after the bottles’ introduction to complain about their shape and hadn’t filed infringement actions in any other country where beverages packaged in that particular bottle shape were sold, according to the Herald.

WWE’s ‘Second City Punk’ Mark Opposed by Chicago Comedy Club

Second City Inc., operators of the Chicago comedy club, have until March 26 to file papers in opposition to World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.’s “Second City Saint” trademark application, according to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

WWE, based in Stamford, Connecticut, filed an application July 19 to register the term for use with entertainment services focused on wrestling. Its performer CM Punk once wrestled as a member of the Second City Punk team.

Second City is where many well-known comedians once performed in early stages of their career, including Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Joan Rivers, Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Stephen Colbert.

Boundless Learning Inc., a Boston-based online education company, is near settlement of a copyright suit brought by three publishers of college textbooks, according to a Dec. 16 court filing.

Pearson Plc (PSON)’s Person Education unit, Cengage Learning Inc. and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH’s MacMillan Higher Education unit sued Boundless in federal court in New York in March 2012, complaining that the company’s educational material infringed their copyrights.

In their complaint, the publishers said Boundless “replacement textbooks” copied the “distinctive selection, arrangement and presentation” of their own books, along with “other original text, imagery and protected expression” of the publishers and their authors. The publishers said Boundless gets “an F in originality.”

They asked the court for awards of money damages, attorney fees and litigation costs, and for an order barring further infringement of their works.

Arial Diaz, founder of Boundless, said in a Dec. 17 blog posting that there is a confidential settlement in the case, in addition to a public judgment and court order. He said the company now has a “clear path” for building and marketing its textbook alternatives, “without treading on” the publishers’ rights.

Plaintiffs lawyers said in a Dec. 16 court filing that they are reviewing draft settlement papers. They have requested a status conference on Jan. 3.

The case is Pearson Education Inc. v. Boundless Learning Inc., 1:12-cv-01986, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). 

(Bloomberg)