In the ongoing sadness that is the legal battle between TechCrunch and Fusion Garage over the JooJoo tablet, Fusion Garage has moved to dismiss Michael Arrington’s lawsuit entirely. The Fusion Garage claim seems to center around there being a “lack of any formal legal relationship or contract” between the two companies, despite their openly working jointly on JooJoo’s development. Much of the filing is the legalese version of JooJoo’s previous response , and in parts reads like a terribly depressing (and one-sided) history of what could have been a terrific device. That is, before it became pretty much irrelevant .

Up until now, the only official shot of the Joojoo tablet was that seductive snippet of the corner. ‘Course, you got a pretty good look of the thing if you bothered to watch our sit-down with Fusion Garage’s Chandra Rathakrishnan, but it’s still a pleasing sight to see the company push out a nice gallery of press shots to really tickle the senses. We aren’t exactly sure if these guys have Cameron’s approval to use Avatar screen shots to promote their product, but at this point , we wouldn’t put anything regarding the Joojoo beyond the realm of feasibility. Oh, and if you were wondering how you’d eventually use this thing as an at-home movie viewer, the $29.99 dock accessory pictured above is the answer.

We had a chance to sit down and talk with Chandra Rathakrishnan of Fusion Garage yesterday for a more in-depth discussion than our previous meeting provided, and we learned a few interesting tidbits about both the Joojoo , as well as the company’s highly public troubles with Michael Arrington (before the latest move ). Amongst the more juicy items discussed, we got further technical info on the Joojoo itself, including the fact that the system has 1GB of RAM, a separate GPU for graphics processing (which Rathakrishnan says is capable of at least iPhone level gaming), and an interesting slot along the side. Just what kind of slot, you ask? Well apparently there are plans for a 3G equipped version of the Joojoo on the horizon.

Okay, well here we go. Michael Arrington says he filed a lawsuit yesterday against Fusion Garage over the CrunchPad / Joojoo situation, and he’s helpfully provided a copy of the complaint, which alleges false advertising, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of business ideas, fraud, and unlawful business practices. You’ll notice that list doesn’t include any breach of contract or intellectual property claims — a fair departure from what Michael said he’d be suing over , but not entirely surprising since it doesn’t seem like there was any contract here at all. Let’s take a quick skim through the rest of the complaint, shall we? Continue reading TechCrunch sues Fusion Garage over the Joojoo — we break it down TechCrunch sues Fusion Garage over the Joojoo — we break it down originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:28:00 EST

SF-38-303-C2_20091210160410_00000001 - After Fusion Garage left Michael Arrington and his Crunchpad standing at the altar, sad a dejected , only to go to a different wedding with some hussy named JooJoo , one thing seemed obvious: Somone was going to get sued, and soon. And that’s exactly what’s happened. And with INTERSERVE doing business as TECHCRUNCH and CRUNCHPAD INC versus FUSION GARAGE LTD, filed yesterday afternoon , that’s exactly what’s happened. This is the first step in what will no doubt be a long legal slog (at least in blog years), but if you’re into this kind of thing, dig in. This is not a happy plaintiff: SF-38-303-C2_20091210160410_00000001 -

After Fusion Garage left Michael Arrington and his Crunchpad standing at the altar, sad a dejected , only to go to a different wedding with some hussy named JooJoo , one thing seemed obvious: Somone was going to get sued, and soon. And that’s exactly what’s happened. And with INTERSERVE doing business as TECHCRUNCH and CRUNCHPAD INC versus FUSION GARAGE LTD, filed yesterday afternoon , that’s exactly what’s happened. This is the first step in what will no doubt be a long legal slog (at least in blog years), but if you’re into this kind of thing, dig in. This is not a happy plaintiff: What’s this mean for you?

The JooJoo, which used to be called the CrunchPad until its official unveiling this morning is a tablet. An internet tablet. But there are still a lot of things left uncertain. Here’s what we do know. 1.

We’re just getting settled in for Fusion Garage’s CrunchPad webcast — we’ve been promised CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan’s version of the 12-inch tablet’s bizarre saga , and we’ve certainly got quite a few questions of our own to ask. We’ll start updating just as soon as it starts, so make sure you’re up to speed on what went down over the weekend and get ready for some fireworks. Continue reading Fusion Garage CrunchPad video conference liveblog Fusion Garage CrunchPad video conference liveblog originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

The strange saga of the CrunchPad is getting even stranger: although Fusion Garage has a press conference scheduled for Monday , the company’s apparently been hinting to some members of the press that the split with Michael Arrington was no surprise, and that TechCrunch didn’t actually contribute anything of value to the CrunchPad. As you’d expect, that’s got Arrington on the warpath. In a post titled “CrunchPad Litigation Imminent,” he offers up an email from Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan and two letters dispatched from his lawyers to both Fusion Garage and would-be CrunchPad ODM Pegatron that paint a much different picture: Chandra calls the split “out of the blue,” Pegatron won’t produce anything without TechCrunch’s “explicit approval,” and there was apparently even talk of merger between Fusion Garage and Arrington’s CrunchPad, Inc. That certainly puts the timeline into dispute, but Mike’s various CrunchPad intellectual property claims are far less solid, and unexpectedly weak — even if you completely accept Arrington’s side of the story, his CrunchPad dealings don’t reflect his reputation as a bulldog Silicon Valley attorney. Let’s break ‘em down: Arrington claims he’s the “outright owner of the CrunchPad trademark,” but that’s simply not true: the CrunchPad trademark was only applied for on November 17, the same day Arrington says Fusion Garage notified him of the split

The strange saga of the CrunchPad is getting even stranger: although Fusion Garage has a press conference scheduled for Monday , the company’s apparently been hinting to some members of the press that the split with Michael Arrington was no surprise, and that TechCrunch didn’t actually contribute anything of value to the CrunchPad. As you’d expect, that’s got Arrington on the warpath. In a post titled “CrunchPad Litigation Imminent,” he offers up an email from Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan and two letters dispatched from his lawyers to both Fusion Garage and would-be CrunchPad ODM Pegatron that paint a much different picture: Chandra calls the split “out of the blue,” Pegatron won’t produce anything without TechCrunch’s “explicit approval,” and there was apparently even talk of merger between Fusion Garage and Arrington’s CrunchPad, Inc. That certainly puts the timeline into dispute, but Mike’s various CrunchPad intellectual property claims are far less solid, and unexpectedly weak — even if you completely accept Arrington’s side of the story, his CrunchPad dealings don’t reflect his reputation as a bulldog Silicon Valley attorney. Let’s break ‘em down: Arrington claims he’s the “outright owner of the CrunchPad trademark,” but that’s simply not true: the CrunchPad trademark was only applied for on November 17, the same day Arrington says Fusion Garage notified him of the split. Oops — and even stranger because Arrington’s said the CrunchPad was due to be launched on November 20 .