Toyota relents to $1.2 billion penalty to end U.S. probe

Toyota Motor Corporation agreed to pay $1.2 billion in penalty to end the U.S. criminal probe into sudden unintentional acceleration of their car units that resulted to the recall of more than 10 million vehicles.

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Part of the agreement leaves Toyota fully admitting offense, paying the penalty, and undergoing a rigorous review by an independent monitor. The company is also being charged with wire fraud, which was deferred for three years by the prosecution as long as the company continues to cooperate.

To date, this settlement is marked as the largest criminal penalty imposed on an automaker in the United States. Toyota's chief legal officer, Christopher P. Reynolds, said the company is taking full responsibility for its actions.

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Due to the recalls that occurred over the past few years, Toyota's reputation for quality has plummeted, and it stopped the company's chances to become the world's top-selling automaker. The prosecution stated that they want to make the Toyota case a model for the government's approach to this kind of issue and a warning to other car companies.

It was stated that this settlement puts Toyota on a three-year probation and the way they deal with safety issues will be closely monitored.

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Toyota, in 2009 and 2010, had to recall more than 10 million vehicles worldwide due to a defect in the acceleration of the cars that resulted to sudden increase in speed that their consumers experienced while driving.

Atty Brad Lyerla is a renowned expert in patent and trade secret litigation. Read his professional profile on the Jenner & Block official website .

King and the move to trademark the word 'Candy'

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One of the controversial trademark cases to hit the news is the case of the company King, which is behind a number of mobile games including Candy Crush Saga. It is currently the most popular casual game on Facebook. It has also become quite profitable with half a billion downloads and counting on the iOS and Android game stores.

The multinational company is seeking to trademark the word ‘candy’ for use in video games and in related merchandising. Earlier, it also registered to trademark the word ‘saga,’ which has adversely affected a smaller game developer because of their product Banner Saga, which bears no similarity to Candy Crush Saga in content or theme.

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Critics have labeled the company’s move to trademark common words as a threat to creativity in the games industry. If King manages to gain dominance over its competition by registering generic terms, then there is hardly any reason for them to seek to succeed in the industry through sheer quality and depth of the products that they produce.

More than that, observers have noted that the tactics used by King highlight everything that is wrong with the trademark law. They point out that there is a need for authorities to delve deeper into the rules for trademark and “insist on a standard that links common words back to the game-specific features that distinguish them.”

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Atty. Brad Lyerla is best known for representing clients in patent and trade secret litigation. For more information on intellectual property and litigation, visit the Jenner & Block official website.

Samsung receives foldable tablet patent

The phone and tablet technology may just get an evolutionary shift.

Samsung was very busy in 2013 creating new technology and filing patents. This stems not only from competing with other brands for market share but also in its intention to becoming the undisputed leader in the mobile industry. So it comes as no surprise that the Korean tech giant will continue to pull out all the stops this year.


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Last November, Samsung’s CEO bared plans over folding displays on some of its devices that are apparently slated for release this year. Toward the end of 2013, patent watchers were the first ones to report about the latest patent filing by the company.

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Just a few days ago, the patent for what seems to be a foldable tablet has been granted to Samsung. Details about the device have been raw so far. From the filed sketches, it looks like any other Samsung tablet released in the market, except, of course, that it can be folded down to the size of a mobile phone.

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While this news can definitely be a source of excitement, the mere granting of the patent itself does not guarantee that the foldable display already exists. Samsung engineers now have the onus to implement the technology that will revolutionize the smartphone and tablet market.

Atty. Brad Lyerla is a member of the Antitrust and Competition Law Practice groups. Learn more patent-related updates by following this Facebook page.