Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - Attention is
on a German court's second ruling regarding Samsung Electronics and Apple
Inc.'s ongoing patent dispute, scheduled to be made this Friday.
This comes shortly after Samsung lost a patent
infringement suit against its American rival over third-generation wireless
telecommunications standards at a Mannheim court in Germany last Friday. The
ruling was the first in a series of patent cases the two firms have filed
against the other in Germany.
Following the coming decision on Friday, a
third ruling involving a patent infringement case filed by Samsung will be made
on February 2.
If Samsung claims victory in either of the two
remaining patent fights in Germany, sales of Apple's flagship iPhone will be
banned until an appeal. It would be the first such case of its kind globally.
"We're keeping our hopes up for the
court's decision this coming Friday," said a Samsung official.
In related news, it was reported that Apple
filed another suit against Samsung in Germany only a few hours following the
decision reached in Mannheim, claming that Samsung's Galaxy Nexus infringes on
its "slide-to-unlock" feature.
The Cupertino-based Apple claims it obtained a
"utility model" registration for the feature in Germany in 2006 and
patented it with the US Patent and Trademark Office in October 2011 after
introducing it on the first iPhone in 2007.
The Galaxy Nexus is the most representative
gadget in Google's Android alliance with Samsung, being positioned as the first
phone powered by Android's latest Ice Cream Sandwich mobile platform.
"The Galaxy Nexus is an 'Android lead
device' for the latest Android version, which makes it particularly key to
Google's strategy," the Munich-based intellectual property analyst Florian
Mueller wrote on his blog FOSS Patents.
The Mannheim Regional Court is expected to
make some kind of a decision - possibly a ruling - on the issue on March 16,
said Mueller, who was the first to report Apple's claim against the Galaxy
Nexus.
A Samsung official in Seoul, however, said
that its legal team confirmed that Apple has not filed suit against the Galaxy
Nexus as it was not included on Apple's list of products that allegedly
infringe on its patents.
"We're aware that there was a hearing
involving Apple's slide-to-unlock feature after our patent infringement case
last Friday and a series of products in the Galaxy lineup were accused there,
but what we've discovered is that the Galaxy Nexus wasn't one of them,"
the company official said.
Germany has become a key country for the
lawsuits between Samsung and Apple over wireless technologies, designs and user
interfaces since Apple first accused Samsung of copying its products last year.
Due to Germany's comparatively fast and
inexpensive legal process along with its specialised patent-infringement
chambers, it has become a popular destination in Europe for many litigants,
including Samsung and Apple.
However, it is not the only nation where
lawsuits that date back to last year are taking place.
The two rivals are fighting each other in
about 30 different patent battles in nine countries, which are Australia, the
UK, the US, Japan, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Korea and Germany.
The Samsung-Apple suits involve issues
surrounding the design, user interface and wireless communication technologies
on multiple devices: The Suwon-based firm's flagship smartphone Galaxy S and
tablet PC Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as Apple's iPhone, iPhone 4S and the iPad.
"So far, Apple's and Samsung's claims
against each other have had a very high drop-out rate in multiple
jurisdictions. That, however, does not appear to dissuade both parties from
pursuing their claims," said Mueller. "There's too much at stake and
as long as neither party has leverage, there's no pressure to settle. Apple and
Samsung are currently the most profitable wireless device makers in the
world."
Cho Ji-hyun in Seoul/The Korea Herald | Asia
News Network
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