168w ago - Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella who were fired by Activision earlier this week are now suing the publisher for wrongful dismissal, unpaid royalties and the right to control "Modern Warfare-branded games."

They've issued a strongly-worded statement via their lawyers responding to Activision's claims of "insubordination" as follows:

The statement claims that, in Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, West and Zampella created "two of the most successful videogames in history" and, get this, "the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public."

"Activision terminated their employment weeks before they were to be paid substantial royalty payments as part of their existing contracts for Modern Warfare 2" the statement reads.

"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach of fiduciary duty,' which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st" said...

187w ago - Nokia has said that it is suing its US rival Apple for infringing patents on mobile phone technology for the iPhone.

Nokia said it had not been compensated for its technology, and accused Apple of "trying to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation".

To quote: The 10 alleged patent infringements involve wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.

Apple, which did not comment on the news, saw its shares dip slightly,

The breaches applied to all models of the iPhone since its launch in 2007, Nokia added.

Finland's Nokia said that it had agreements with about 40 firms - including most mobile phone handset makers - allowing them to use the firm's technology, but that Apple had not signed an agreement.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president of Legal & Intellectual Property at Nokia.

"Apple is also expected to follow this principle."

He added that during the last two decades, Nokia had invested approximately 40bn euros (£36.2bn; $60bn) on research and development.

248w ago - Taito issued a public statement today confirming that it is "seriously considering" to take legal action against digital artist Douglas Edric Stanley for his unauthorized of Space Invaders assets in Invaders!, a 9/11 based modification of the 1987 arcade original.

Without Taito's consent, the game was shown off as part of the exhibit "30 Years of Space Invaders" at this year's Leipzig Games Convention.

Demoed at GC earlier today, the game ignited controversy with alien-like creatures from the Space Invaders franchise blasting holes in a digital mock-up of the World Trade Center.

Press Release: TAITO COMMENT REGARDING THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF SPACE INVADERS AT THE GAMES CONVENTION IN LEIPZIG

Los Angeles (August 22, 2008) - TAITO Corporation (TAITO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Co., Ltd., today stated unequivocally that the "Invaders!" installation by Douglas Edric Stanley and displayed at the Games Convention held in Leipzig, Germany was produced entirely without TAITO's knowledge and that the use of the world-famous Space Invaders® content was wholly unauthorized.

The "Space Invaders: Die Jubiläumsshow!" ("Space Invaders: the Anniversary Show") exhibition of the Computer Game Museum Berlin hosting the installation was...