Four Apple Stories You Might Have Missed This Weekend

Didn’t feel like reading the latest Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) news from the weekend? Here are a few of the stories you might have missed since the market close on Friday.

Can’t Claim Lost Profit Damages in Patent Case

Last week we reported that Samsung (OTC: SSNLF) employed an interesting strategy in the damages portion of the recent patent battle with Apple. Samsung’s attorneys said that it was wrong and owed Apple a lot of money.

Apple believed that “a lot of money” meant $379 million including $113 million for lost profits. Friday, the federal judge presiding over the case said that Apple couldn’t ask for lost profit damages on four of the five disputed patents.

While the ruling limits Apple’s potential award, the judge said that it could still use all five patents for damage claims in other categories.

Related: Samsung in Apple Court: "We're Guilty And Owe A Lot Of Money"

Apple Wants to Acquire 3D Sensing Firm

According to AllThingsD, Apple is in talks to acquire Israeli 3D sensing firm PrimeSense. PrimeSense’s technology powers the Kinect motion-sensing feature in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s Xbox 360 gaming console. The deal, reportedly holding a price tag of $345 million, is close to completion according to sources. Other sources reported that the deal was completed but that does not appear to be the case.

Read our complete coverage of the deal here.

Italy Investigating Apple’s Handling of Profits at its Italian Stores

According to Italian website, l’Espresso, Italy is investigating Apple over its tax practices in the country. In focus is Apple’s Italian retail presence. Prosecuters in Milan are accusing Apple of transferring profits to its Irish subsidiary in Ireland instead of paying taxes owed to the country. Authorities believe that Apple underestimated its taxable income by more than $1 billion in 2010 and 2011.

Apple responded by saying, “Apple pays every dollar and euro it owes in taxes and we are continuously audited by governments around the world. The Italian tax authorities already audited Apple Italy in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and confirmed that we were in full compliance…”

Praise Continues for New Products

Apple’s new line of iPhones and iPads continues to attract widespread praise—something that was much more scarce when it introduced previous models of the products. The most recent praise came from Forbes where technology columnist Ewan Spence said, “The iPhone 5S is the best all-round smartphone on the market right now.”

Taking a quick glance at the newsfeeds for Apple from the weekend, a number of positive product reviews were published while criticism was scarce. This is hardly a scientific study but what is important to note is that sales appear to be healthy and analysts expect a strong holiday season for the company.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Tim Parker was long Apple.