The
future of the patent dispute between global IT behemoths Samsung Electronics
and Apple Inc. is uncertain following a German court's dismissal of two patent
suits on Friday.
The Mannheim Regional Court in Germany on
Friday rejected a patent infringement suit filed by Samsung against its US
rival over its third generation wireless technology, while also dismissing
Apple's claim that Samsung infringed on the firm's slide-to-unlock technology.
"It's unfortunate that the court has
reached such a decision. We will lodge an appeal soon to make clear that Apple
has infringed our patent," Samsung officials said in response to the
ruling. "It is also not over yet considering that we raised two other
infringement cases against the US firm over patents in December last
year."
Although Samsung is also planning to
concentrate on fighting the suits it filed in other countries such as Japan and
Australia, its loss of all three suits against Apple in Germany is raising the
possibility of the two firms agreeing on a cross-license.
By offering each other certain sums, the
agreement could help them avoid a long-term battle which does not benefit
either, industry sources say.
The two companies are major competitors
fighting for the top spot in smartphone manufacturing and sales, but they are
also partners in supplies.
"But the timing of an agreement may come
later as the two would have to watch for a period when they both have the
results to maintain their dignity," said an industry source.
In the meantime, Munich-based intellectual
property analyst Florian Mueller, who is keeping a close watch on the ongoing
patent battle, said there is a high possibility that Apple will appeal.
"While Apple typically declines to
comment, I believe they too will appeal, especially since the Mannheim court's
interpretation of the slide-to-unlock patent was narrower than the one the
Munich Regional Court adopted in a case that Apple won against Motorola two
weeks ago, a fact that shows that there's room for interpretation and the
appeals court could decide either way," he said.
Apple claimed victory against Motorola over
its slide-to-unlock technology in a German court on Feb. 16.
Another pending case involving Apple's
slide-to-unlock technology ? over a utility model ? is scheduled to take place
in Mannheim on March 16.
"(Friday's) decision does not reduce the
likelihood of success of Apple's other slide-to-unlock case against Samsung"
said Mueller. "The slide-to-unlock utility model has a large number of
claims and some of those are much broader and don't have the related
limitations."
Considering that Apple also has brought five
other infringement suits against the Suwon-based firm, the German courts will
be busy dealing with those suits in the time being.
A win in any of the suits would result in a
sales ban of Samsung products mentioned in the suit.
Samsung, on the other hand, will have to wait
until June to get the ruling results of the two additional suits it filed in
the Mannheim court.
In total, the two firms are engaged in about
30 different patent battles in nine countries ? Germany, Australia, the UK, the
US, Japan, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Korea ? on issues that include
design, user interfaces and wireless communications technologies of their
wireless gadgets.
Cho Ji-hyun
The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
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