Google (GOOG) Disputes German Legislation and Nokia (NOK) & RIM caught in Patent Infringement Battle

On Thursday, the German parliament started discussing legislation, which, if it came into effect, will grant approval to the nation’s news publishers to charge a fee from search engines for displaying links to, and snippets of, news articles. Financial Times reported that search engines will need permission, which is chargeable, from publishers to display links along with snippets or teasers from news articles.

If the law is given a green light, the company that stands to lose the most is Google. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG) publicly campaigned against the legislation in an effort to secure public support. The campaign is called "Protect your Web -- find what you're looking for”, highlights the fact that the proposed ancillary copyright legislation being passed would mean the end of an era where users could access information on the Internet for free. A lawmaker from Germany's Christian Democratic Union said to The New York Times that he is confident the legislation will pass.

In other news, yet another patent-infringement battle rears its head. This time it is Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK) and Research In Motion Limited (USA)(NASDAQ:RIMM) . Computer World reports that the former has requested a court in California to put an arbitration ruling in place, thereby blocking sales of some BlackBerry models. The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which was the arbiter, has put a limit on Research In Motion from making devices that offer a certain type of wi-fi unless it pays license fees, but RIM has not paid up till now. RIM is refusing to pay as they have already entered into a previous licensing agreement with Nokia. BBC reports that Nokia will also charge RIM via a case involving antenna, email and navigation technology.

Reuters stated that Samsung is introducing a brand new Android-powered Galaxy camera. The camera can be used to upload pictures to social networking sites via mobile data or WiFi. This technology is available in other cameras; Samsung’s solid financial and marketing strategy might make it a tough competitor for the Japan-dominated digital camera market.