Legal court battles over patent infringement can be understandably messy, as is the case of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Motorola.

Read more about how the two companies are "courting" trouble in the full article, located after the jump.

Like all types of addiction, a Bluetooth headset can also be abused. Recently, we received reports that manufacturers Motorola, Plantronics, and Jabra are facing class action lawsuits involving the Bluetooth headset which caused permanent hearing loss to a number of plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs' contention was that if these manufacturers had included a note of warning or safety information in the device, the users would have been informed and they would've taken caution. The negligence has resulted in marketing an "unsafe" product to the masses. The Bluetooth headset, for instance, can be coiled around one ear and can produce ear-damaging 106 decibels at maximum volume, even when used for a mere five minutes.

Everyday workers find the Bluetooth headset an extremely convenient and futuristic gadget that fit their busy lifestyles. However, one executive who uses the headset for 12 hours a day says “If I could have it implanted in my head, I would." That ain't helping the case, is it?

Borrowing quotes from a couple of commenters, "But what about CLAWHAMMERS, where are their warning labels?" If you ask us though, both the users and the manufacturers should be held responsible for whatever effects the Bluetooth headsets caused. But that's just us. What do you think?

It's a fact that we are more connected to our employers, teacher, friends, classmates, strangers, and the internet more than ever thanks to PDAs, mobile phones, and laptops. What's wrong with that? Isn't that supposed to make life better?

Too much of a good thing is bad.

It's lead to the idea of "CrackBerries". It's what most people cal their BlackBerries, these days. It's called as such because of the way that people depend on the gadget so much for their daily lives. Studies have shown that out of 2,300 executives surveyed, 1/3 of them believed they spend way too much time with their gadgets. Most would probably grow anxious if they didn't have their Blackberries near. Thus, the connection with the addicting drug "Crack" and BlackBerry.

There have been books and seminars written about turning off BlackBerry, mobile phones, and PDAs at selected times of the day to slowly get off the gadget dependency. Some suggested that lunch and driving on the way to work and going home would be appropriate times. This would result to less stomachaches and vehicle accidents.

However, the "addicted" are making their stand. They're basically saying that their lives have improved thanks to BlackBerries and gadgets. 77% of the executives surveyed earlier said that it improved work/life balance. It helped them manage office matters when they're out in the field or at home; they became efficient workers.

How many people are CrackBerry addicts? Let's take a look at some figures. First quarter fiscal 2006 ending June 3, Research In Motion Ltd.(RIM) shipped 1.2 M units of BlackBerry, totalling to 5.5M subscribers. Although, not all of them may be addicted, but even just a third of that would be a large enough population. What is the US Government doing to help decrease this addiction? They warned employers that keeping employees on the CrackBerry gravy train could lead to lawsuits due to employees suffering with their personal lives.

In the end, Aristotle's Golden Mean would be better. "Keep everything in moderation."

AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth could be in for a bit of legal trouble.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit tore through George W. Bush's domestic eavesdropping program. In a 43-page opinion, the judge declared the warrantless wiretaps to be unconstitutional. They violate the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. The National Security Agency has been ordered to immediately stop all monitoring of the phone calls and emails of Americans suspected of dealing with terrorists.

Telecommunications and internet companies who have been accused of working with Bush in the eavesdropping program could be in for some serious legal problems. There are already lawsuits against AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth because of the eavesdropping. Now that a judge has found that warrantless wiretapping is illegal, the cases against them can only get stronger.

Of course, there wouldn't be a strong case against the telecoms if this ruling is appealed to a higher court and then overturned. So maybe, all the telecoms have to do is wait. Maybe the Bush administration will win the court battle in the end.

No, we don't expect this issue to end there. Who wants to bet this ends up in the Supreme Court?

This is going to be a memorable year for Dell, what with all the events surrounding the company this year.

Laptops that go "Kablooie?" Check. Actually, check that multiple times.

Asking for government help with their exploding laptop situation? Check.

Getting sued by China? Well... yeah, now they have that to add to the list.

Dell's gotten at least 20 lawsuits from China because of what they deemed false advertising. The problem: their laptops had a cheaper chip inside than what was advertised.

Dell's Inspiron 640M laptop was supposed to be using Intel's T2300 chip, allowing it to run multiple apps simultaneously. Instead, some laptops in China and other countries got the T2300E, which not only doesn't support that function, but is also cheaper than the T2300.

According to their spokesperson Sharon Zhang, their ads weren't replaced in time to inform consumers of the switch in some laptop models, causing the legal fiasco they're currently dealing with. Dell has contacted the parties involved and offered a full refund if they weren't satisfied with the product, as well as offering a public apology on their website.

Dell's going to need to pull off a lot of lucky breaks and calculated maneuvers if they intend to fix their situation. Otherwise, they're only going to get sales from terrorists who are too lazy to make their own bombs. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

What do you get when you mix a mobile game developer, a game title that sounds suspiciously like a well-known and well-endowed video game character, and a bunch of lawyers?

Potential legal troubles, that's what.

Ozura Mobile, makers of cellphone game Lava Kroft, may very well find itself in worse trouble than their mobile heroine. Eidos Entertainment, developer of the Tomb Raider game franchise, has been thinking of legal action against the Singaporean company due to the many similarities between Lava Kroft and Lara Croft, star of the Tomb Raider series.

Much like Lara Croft, Lava Kroft is billed as a treasure seeking young woman who can't help but find herself in dangerous situations in the search for priceless artifacts. This is especially problematic for Ozura Mobile as Eidos already has a Tomb Raider game for the mobile phone.

Bottom line: If you're planning on making a game with a similar premise as an existing game from a big developer, think of a more original name and storyline that won't get you sued.

The "pirate checks" that are performed by Windows XP machines with WGA installed have been stopped by Microsoft. The decision to bury the details about Windows Genuine Validation (WGA) in the endless legalese of a confusing EULA caused a backlash from consumer rights organizations and sparked class action lawsuits in the US.

Computer repair facilities and technicians also complained that Microsoft left them holding the bag by not telling them about the implementation of and functionality associated with its WGA software update to Windows XP. "I bought my software legitimately, I validated it, I go to Microsoft for updates, and if they want to check it then, that's okay, but coming back every day is too much," said Ian Smith, an XP user who has been adversely affected by the situation.

Microsoft certainly has the right to protect its intellectual property, but it was not a good policy for them to hide the true nature of the WGA update from customers.

It was largely the unified and overwhelming reaction of the market against the WGA update that finally caused Microsoft to capitulate and disable the daily phone home feature of the program.

Unfortunately, the rest of the features of WGA remain in tact. Including "occasional" phoning home to Microsoft to verify that the copy is genuine, (annoying) on screen "helpful reminders" for users who have a  copy of XP that doesn't pass muster, along with the eventual possibility of Microsoft deciding one day to create a new add-on to WGA that would disable the functionality of a users system all together unless Microsoft gives it the OK.