Friday Apple Rumors: Might as Well Be Blocking Out the Sun

Here are your Apple news items and rumors for Friday: Apple Blocks Out the Sun:
While Tim Cook hasnt 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 Earths natural light source. According to a
Friday report at Reuters , plans for a new Apple Store in Londons 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 propertys
neighbors to block the development of the property on grounds that the new
stores would block out sunlight. Its 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 Samsun gs (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 makers 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