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After obtaining preliminary injunctions in a number of countries, Apple’s lawyers have managed to block the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. The injunction although not permanent, stays valid until a full hearing which is scheduled to happen sometime next year.

The case which started with Apple claiming infringement of up to 13 patents, at the end came down to two patents, one of which credited Steve Jobs as its inventor. Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Justice Annabelle Bennett today said Apple had a prima facie case that Samsung had infringed two of its patents relating to touch screens and the gestures that control them.

Samsung had agreed to not start selling or even marketing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia until a decision was arrived at, and at one point of time even contemplated scrapping the release of the product due to the excessive delays.

Samsung, in its response to the decision voiced its disappointment saying:

“Samsung will be seeking legal advice on its options. Samsung will continue its legal proceeding against Apple’s claim in order to ensure our innovative products remain available to consumers. We will continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology.”

The last sentence refers to a number of patents owned by Samsung related to wireless networks, which the iPhone 4S allegedly infringes. Samsung has been quite vocal about its decision to counter-sue Apple, eyeing at a ban on the iPhone 4S in various countries including Australia.

Although we aren’t intellectual property experts, at first look Apple’s claim of Samsung “slavishly” copying iOS devices does seem true to a certain extent, as can be seen in this post.

Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, goes onto speculate:

The two patents on which today’s ruling is based aren’t Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones and tablet computers, across all vendors.

If Apple wins the Australian case at the end of the main proceeding, all Android-based products will effectively be shut out of the Australian market forever, unless Google or its device maker partners settle with Apple.

For now, this decision essentially means that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 won’t ever make its début in Australia. Even if the outcome of the final hearing (which won’t start before next year) goes in Samsung’s favor, the market by then would have evolved a lot making the Galaxy Tab 10.1 outdated.

[via SMH, iTnews]

Source: Apple Vs Samsung: Australian Court Bans Samsung From Selling Galaxy Tab 10.1

As anonymous Samsung officials had suggested, Samsung has announced on its website that plans to get the iPhone 4S banned in France and Italy, for which it would file motions in courts of both countries. The motions filed are based on alleged infringement of two of Samsung’s patents related to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

A blog post on Samsung’s Official Global Blog read:

Samsung’s preliminary injunction requests in France and Italy will each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets. 

The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation.

Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review.

The last line, revealing the company’s intentions to sue Apple in other countries, might mean that their lawsuits in these two countries were rushed so as to capitalize on the iPhone 4S launch and also to get it banned as soon as possible. The reason these two markets were chosen according to a Samsung spokes person speaking to WSJ were:

because they are “key markets” in Europe, citing also “the local legal system and processes.”

The patents in discussion are subject to FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms of licensing, and as Florian Mueller puts it, the question of a ban arises only if Apple refuses to pay the royalties associated with this patent:

This is what the FRAND issue comes down to: if those patents are essential, then there are two questions to be analyzed by a court: Does Apple have to pay? And if so, how much can Samsung ask for under a FRAND framework? But an injunction can only be justified if and when Apple refuses to pay a FRAND royalty that it owes in the binding opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction.

For what its worth, the iPhone 4S would be available for sale in France and Italy not on October 14th but the last week of October, giving Apple’s lawyers enough time to prepare a response.

Samsung’s anonymous officials who spoke to The Korea Times in September, got their claim of “NFC being included on the iPhone” totally wrong. It might still be in the pipeline, but obviously hasn’t found a place on the iPhone 4S.

So do you think Samsung is being too optimistic about getting the iPhone 4S banned?

[via Samsung Tomorrow]

Source: Samsung Seeks To Ban iPhone 4S In France And Italy

As anonymous Samsung officials had suggested, Samsung has announced on its website that plans to get the iPhone 4S banned in France and Italy, for which it would file motions in courts of both countries. The motions filed are based on alleged infringement of two of Samsung’s patents related to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

A blog post on Samsung’s Official Global Blog read:

Samsung’s preliminary injunction requests in France and Italy will each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets. 

The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology. We believe it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation.

Samsung plans to file preliminary injunctions in other countries after further review.

The last line, revealing the company’s intentions to sue Apple in other countries, might mean that their lawsuits in these two countries were rushed so as to capitalize on the iPhone 4S launch and also to get it banned as soon as possible. The reason these two markets were chosen according to a Samsung spokes person speaking to WSJ were:

because they are “key markets” in Europe, citing also “the local legal system and processes.”

The patents in discussion are subject to FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms of licensing, and as Florian Mueller puts it, the question of a ban arises only if Apple refuses to pay the royalties associated with this patent:

This is what the FRAND issue comes down to: if those patents are essential, then there are two questions to be analyzed by a court: Does Apple have to pay? And if so, how much can Samsung ask for under a FRAND framework? But an injunction can only be justified if and when Apple refuses to pay a FRAND royalty that it owes in the binding opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction.

For what its worth, the iPhone 4S would be available for sale in France and Italy not on October 14th but the last week of October, giving Apple’s lawyers enough time to prepare a response.

Samsung’s anonymous officials who spoke to The Korea Times in September, got their claim of “NFC being included on the iPhone” totally wrong. It might still be in the pipeline, but obviously hasn’t found a place on the iPhone 4S.

So do you think Samsung is being too optimistic about getting the iPhone 4S banned?

[via Samsung Tomorrow]

Source: Samsung Seeks To Ban iPhone 4S In France And Italy

Samsung has received another setback in its legal fight with Apple, when a German court banned the sales of the Galaxy Tab 7.7  in Germany on the 2nd of this month. This news didn’t come out of the court rooms until Samsung announced on September 4th, that it was forced to withdraw the Tab 7.7 from Germany’s annual trade fair IFA to respect the court’s orders.

This news comes after Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 were given more or less the same treatment in most parts of Europe.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Galaxy Note 5.3 were Samsung’s major product launches at IFA, and managed to grab quite a few eyeballs throughout the tech sphere. Samsung’s efforts to remove all traces of promotional material relating to the one of its grand attractions at IFA – the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has been pictured throughout the web, some of which you can find embedded below:

The first few responses after the removal of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 from their booth from Samsung’s side didn’t admit any new court ruling, the spokesperson chose to not even mention the Galaxy Tab by name. Here is an excerpt from an interview of the spokesperson with AndroidPit, translated into English by Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents:

AndroidPit: People saw that you removed all Galaxy Tabs 7.7 and covered [parts of the tables] with a sheet. What’s the matter with this?

Samsung: We have decided — on a current occasion — to replace the product with our other IFA highlight product, the Galaxy Note, since, as the press reported, we weren’t going to offer the product for sale in Germany anyway, so we want to show our customers the other product — the [Galaxy] Note — more closely.

AndroidPit: Does this have to do with Apple by any chance?

Samsung: On this one I have to ask you for your understanding that I’m not allowed to comment on an ongoing [legal] proceeding.

AndroidPit: So this apparently means you want to focus more on the Galaxy Note and you have therefore taken a decision on short notice to rearrange your exhibits?

Samsung: The Note was going to be our highlight product anyway and since the other product wasn’t going to be sold in Germany at any rate, I believe it’s also better for the consumers here [at the show] and simpler and in the interest of trade show visitors that we really show only those products that are really going to be released in Germany.

Later a Samsung Korea spokesperson, in a statement to Bloomberg, admitted that the move was indeed a consequence of the court order. This embarrassing move is definitely a big loss for Samsung, considering that IFA is the European equivalent of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the United States.

For all those keeping tabs, Apple has scored an initial victory over Samsung in most of Europe and Australia forcing it to stop the sales of many of its products, at least temporarily, in these regions. And for what its worth, Samsung won’t be selling the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in the United States either. 

These legal battles are far from over, in fact the next spot where Samsung could possibly face a ban on its products is the US, where Samsung is citing Stanley Kubrick’s ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ movie as prior art against iPad design patent. A hearing over this issue is scheduled for October 13th in a court in California, where Apple has already filed for a preliminary injunction.

[via FOSS Patents, Bloomberg]

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