As usual, Apple thought Friday night on a holiday weekend was the perfect time to push some more paper through in its ongoing patent lawsuit against Samsung. According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, after Samsung asked to add the latest iPads, iPhones and iPod touches to its list of claims and the court approved the addition of the iPhone 5, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1, Apple is trying to put six more devices on the list. Listed in the motion are the Galaxy S III running Android Jelly Bean (but not Jelly Bean itself), Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Rugby Pro and Galaxy S III mini. As usual, the case will proceed, we’ll wait to hear if these requests are approved by the court and in the meantime, iThings and Galaxys alike will continue to fly off the shelves. Given the season, for now it’s time to be thankful we’re not one of the lawyers spending their day working on this. That leaves us plenty of time for more interesting activities, like hand-to-hand combat against fellow shoppers for the right to purchase slightly discounted items.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Source: FOSS Patents
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Nothing truly says “I’m sorry” like a large sum of cash, and Apple will have to open up its wallet to Samsung thanks to “false and misleading” information it published in a court-ordered statement. A UK high court ordered Cupertino to post an apology on its British website stating that the Galaxy Tab didn’t copy the iPad, which it did. However, according to a new judgement by the the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, it also added statements “calculated to produce confusion,” like references to other unrelated judgements. Though Apple issued a second apology, the court is taking the unusual step of forcing it to pay all of Samsung’s legal fees for the entire case on an “indemnity basis” — in other words, to compensate the Korean maker for losses suffered due to the original statement. If you’d like to parse the legalese for yourself, hit the source.
Filed under: Tablets
UK court says Apple notice was ‘false and misleading,’ orders full repayment of Samsung’s legal costs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Nov 2012 10:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has pulled down a legal statement on its U.K. website, posted after it lost an appeal in a U.K. court against a ruling that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets do not infringe the design of the iPad. It had been ordered to acknowledge the ruling in a public post. However yesterday, at another hearing at the U.K. Court of Appeal, Apple was criticized for adding “incorrect” and “untrue” information to the statement — and ordered to remove it within 24 hours, and replace it with a compliant notice within 48 hours. The original statement had the tone of a non-apology (see full statement below).
“I’m at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this,” Bloomberg quoted Judge Robin Jacob saying yesterday. “That is a plain breach of the order.”
The statement was still on Apple’s U.K. website earlier today but has now been removed –
The court rejected Apple’s request yesterday for 14 days in which to post a new, compliant statement. The BBC quotes Lord Justice Longmore telling Apple’s lawyer, Michael Beloff: “We are just amazed that you cannot put the right notice up at the same time as you take the other one down.”
Another judge, Sir Robin Jacob, is reported to have added: “I would like to see the head of Apple [Tim Cook] make an affidavit about why that is such a technical difficulty for the Apple company.”
The court gave Apple 48 hours to repost a compliant notice. (Update: Apple has published a compliant version of the court notice in U.K. newspaper, The Guardian this morning — as spotted by TNW.)
The original web statement, with the offending paragraphs highlighted in bold, follows below
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
“The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”
“The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.”
That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.
However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.
After losing an appeal in a UK high court last week against a judgement that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets do not infringe the design of the iPad because their design is just not cool enough, Apple has now published an acknowledgement of the court’s judgement on its U.K. website — in line with the court order. You can’t call it an apology — quite the opposite: Apple makes it clear it does not agree with the court’s decision by pointing out that it has had court wins against Samsung for the same design patent in Germany, and noting its huge win against the Korean gadget maker in the U.S this summer.
Apple also focuses on the judge’s reasons for dismissing its patent claim — quoting the judge’s detailed ruling on exactly what makes the iPad’s design so much cooler than the Galaxy Tab, in which he talks almost lovingly of the “extreme simplicity” of the iPad’s design; its “undecorated surfaces”; “crisp edge” and “combination of curves”.
Apple then contrasts that with what the judge had to say about the Galaxy Tab: “very thin, almost insubstantial” with “unusual details on the back” — and the conclusion: “not cool”.
Here’s Apple’s acknowledgment in full
Samsung / Apple UK judgmentOn 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
“The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”
“The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.”
That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.
However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.
The acknowledgement has not been published on the homepage of Apple’s U.K. website but there is a link to it — right at the bottom of the page, next to the notification about Apple’s use of cookies
In addition to the online acknowledgement of the court’s judgment, Apple is required to publish an acknowledgment as adverts in U.K. newspapers.
In the latest scuffle between Apple and Samsung, a Tokyo court has ruled that the iPhone 4 and 4S do not infringe on two of Sammy’s patents. According to The Asahi Shimbun, a decision on September 14th found Apple had not violated a patent related to app downloads, as Samsung’s method is different. A dispute regarding flight / airplane mode also went in Cupertino‘s favor on October 11th, because the technology in question was regarded by the court as incremental. Only one case against Apple remains undecided in Japan — for a patent on using “homescreen space” — but, as usual, don’t expect that to be the last chapter in the neverending story.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Apple, Samsung
Japan court rules Apple did not infringe two Samsung patents originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has lost an appeal against a ruling in a U.K. High Court that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab does not infringe the iPad’s design. The original ruling by Judge Colin Birss said Samsung’s tablets were not cool enough to be confused with Apple’s because they lacked the “extreme simplicity” of the iPad. That ruling has now been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The original ruling also stated that Apple must run adverts on its website and in newspaper saying Samsung did not copy the iPad. Reuters reports that the Court of Appeal’s Judge Kitchin said today the notices must be in a font size no smaller than Ariel 14.
Samsung provided the following statement
We welcome the court’s judgment, which reaffirmed our position that our GALAXY Tab products do not infringe Apple’s registered design right. We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners and that the origins of Apple’s registered design features can be found in numerous examples of prior art. Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.
We’ve also reached out to Apple for comment and will update with any response. the company said it has no comment on the court’s decision.
The Northern District Court of California has overturned a sales ban against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple in patent litigation against Samsung, Reuters is reporting.
This follows a ruling at the end of last month by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh could decide whether or not to lift the ban on U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1-inch tablet. Koh had previously refused to rule on the matter.
“We are pleased with the court’s action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple’s design patent and that an injunction was not called for,” Samsung is reported as saying in a statement.
We’ve contacted Apple and Samsung for further comment and will update with any response. Samsung provided the following statement: “On September 28, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit made a ruling, permitting the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to consider our request to lift the preliminary injunction on the GALAXY Tab 10.1. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure the availability of our innovative products.”
Apple filed for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet back in May ahead of the trial. In the U.S. the dispute focuses on the iPad D’889 design patent — Apple’s trade dress — but the jury in the Apple vs Samsung trial subsequently decided Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 had not infringed this design patent, effectively invalidating the earlier ruling banning U.S. sales.
However it’s not necessary the end of the road for the Tab 10.1 design disputes — FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller notes that after a hearing scheduled for early December Apple can still win a permanent injunction against Samsung’s slate “over the D’889 tablet design patent if it prevails on the related part of its Rule 50 (“overrule-the-jury”) motion”.
Apple won an E.U.-wide preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 last year – although this was subsequently lifted in all countries except Germany, where the sales ban was granted. The dispute over the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the E.U. rested on Apple’s Community Design 000181607 for the iPad.
Back in May, Motorola won an injunction against the sale of several Microsoft products in Germany, but it appears it won’t be going into effect after all. Reuters reports that a US appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to prevent the company from enacting the sales ban. The conflict traces back to standards essential patents covering H.264 video encoding. Motorola claims that Microsoft infringed on several of its standards essential patents with numerous products, including Windows 7 and the Xbox 360.
The German courts agreed with Google-owned Motorola, granting an injunction against the offending products, but the company was unable to pursue any sales ban at that time. Motorola had already been shackled with a restraining order…
In another face of the ever turning world of patent battles, Reuters reports Microsoft has snagged a victory over Motorola as the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in its favor today. Motorola had obtained an injunction in Germany against Microsoft products — including the Xbox 360 and Windows 7 — based on its h.264 patents back in May, but today the court upheld a previous decision putting enforcement on hold because of Microsoft’s existing lawsuit against Moto for breach of contract. Microsoft’s push to leverage its patents into licensing payouts from manufacturers of Android devices have seen the two at each other’s throats since at least 2010, when the folks from Redmond lodged an ITC complaint over nine patents and followed up with another suit accusing Motorola of charging unfair license fees for its patents. Motorola fired back with its own pair of lawsuits — all of this a year before we heard it would be acquired by Google — and the battle was on. Whether or not this moves us any closer to any resolution remains to be seen, but at least Bavarian gaming consoles are safe, for now.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Google
US Appeals court rules Motorola can’t enforce injunction against Microsoft in Germany… again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One of the hallmarks of the US judicial system is its seemingly inexhaustible system of appeals — a system for which Samsung is likely most grateful at the moment. Its earlier entreaty to Judge Lucy Koh to have the Galaxy Tab 10.1 preliminary injunction lifted may have been denied, but the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is giving the Korean company another bite at the Apple. That court has granted Samsung’s request to have the injunction issue remanded so that the trial court can re-consider Samsung’s motion to dissolve it. The ruling enables Samsung to argue that the injunction should be lifted because the jury failed to find infringement of the tablet design patent upon which the injunction is based. Will Judge Koh lift the ban? Perhaps, but we’re pretty sure that the crowd from Cupertino will be doing plenty to prevent that from happening. Stay tuned.
Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tells Judge Koh to revisit Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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