Here are your Apple news items and rumors for Friday:
Apple Blocks Out the Sun: While Tim Cook hasn’t pulled a C. Montgomery Burns just yet, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is watching its plans for a new major retail location in London come under fire for getting in the way of Earth’s natural light source. According to a Friday report at Reuters, plans for a new Apple Store in London’s financial district could potentially fall through because of nearby properties’ right to sunlight. Hines Interests is the prospective buyer of the land in question where Apple would rent and build its new store. The current owner, City of London, is looking for ways to actually supersede laws that would allow the property’s neighbors to block the development of the property on grounds that the new stores would block out sunlight. It’s unknown if Apple plans to introduce its latest product, the iSun, to illuminate the neighborhood in bright but unpleasant LCD screen light.
Obama Could Ban Tablet Bannings: If Apple moves to block Samsung’s (PINK:SSNLF) Galaxy Tab or other iPad and iPhone competitors from releasing in the United States in the same way it has in Australia, Germany and other countries, it turns out President Barack Obama can overturn the block. According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal (via 9 to 5 Mac), the president has the ability to waive rulings made by the International Trade Commission. This means that if any of the numerous patent infringement complaints filed by mobile device makers in recent months results in the blocking of an Apple, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) or any other maker’s device, the president can unblock it post-haste. Samsung probably should tell Obama about the whole 2001 thing.
Openwave and Wi-LAN Target Apple: Speaking of patent infringement lawsuits, two smaller companies filed against Apple this week, according to MacRumors. First, Openwave filed a complaint with the ITC looking to bar not just all iPhone and iPad models from sale in the U.S., but also Research In Motion‘s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry Curve and PlayBook devices. Openwave claims all of these devices violate five patents held by the company across a swath of different applications and design elements. The second is Wi-LAN, which claims Apple has infringed on the companies wireless technology patents.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
