Apple patent documentation made public this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicates that the Cupertino-based company is exploring different ways to utilize the forward-facing camera on its devices. The patent, which was uncovered by AppleInsider , describes a system that could scan and detect a user’s face to unlock a device.

. Patently Apple does what they do and dug up a patent related to building 3D avatars: Earlier today we

Germany has been the site of quite a few patent battles between Motorola and Apple in the past, and there's another crater on the landscape over there: One of the High Regional Courts in that country has made a decision on Motorola's ongoing challenge against Apple over push notifications, saying that a motion by Apple to try and suspend an injunction by Motorola attempting to keep Cupertino from using iCloud over there has been denied. In other words, Motorola is free to continue its battle to try and prevent Apple from using push notifications.

A German judge has suspended a patent infringement suit filed by Apple against Samsung covering the company’s slide-to-unlock patent, Reuters reported on Friday. The Mannheim court said that it will await a decision in a separate lawsuit covering

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office recently published details surrounding a Samsung patent describing a new technology that will allow users to take an image and electronically wrap it around their devices, PatentBolt reported on Friday.

Apple is reportedly working on new ways to detect liquid damage in its devices, with an aim to cut down on the number of false warranty claims that are made by its customers.

Apple is asking for a preliminary injunction to block US sales of the Galaxy Nexus , according to the Wall Street Journal. The current suit, filed in San Jose's federal district court on Wednesday of this past week, accuses Samsung's phone of infringing on four Apple patents. The patents in question include "unified search," slide-to-unlock, data tapping (data detectors) and word completion technologies.

A German judge presiding over one of Samsung's seven patent infringement cases against Apple ruled in favor of the Cupertino company. The patent infringement case involves one of several 3G/UMTS patents held by the Korean manufacturer. The ruling did not give the reason why the judge rejected Samsung's argument

Samsung is reportedly planning to launch a tweaked version of its Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus tablet in Germany. The Galaxy Tab 7.0N will likely offer many of the same features of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus but with design changes that could help it avoid litigation from Apple. Apple and Samsung have been butting heads in courtrooms around the globe and Apple last year successfully banned Samsung’s local subsidiaries from selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung may be bold when it comes to its Apple fanboy commercials , but the handset maker is starting to back down on some of its products. According to BestBoyz.de , the tablet manufacturer is releasing a newly-designed Galaxy Tab 7.0N in Germany that does not infringe on Apple's patents or trademarks.