For those who have been following this case for a long time, we know that in Germany, the previous ruling was that Samsung was required to stop its shipments for a time. This particular trail was against a 3G standard-essential patent. Samsung managed to show the courts after the ruling that Apple had technically not yet shown its burden of proof given its position as a defendant. Furthermore, Samsung now potentially qualifies to file for damages caused by the dispute. Samsung continues to try to sue Apple for damages over SEP's, but in the UK it hasn't worked in Samsung's favor.
Samsung's first try at three SEP assertions against Apple in Germany failed since the courts couldn't identify the infringement. Samsung really has been unsuccessful on this end, and it's tried in courts nearly 25 times and failed each of those times in Germany.
Even more than the 3G SEP, Samsung's other German lawsuits have also flopped. Some of these trials included iPhone's voiceover feature, and also a emoticon input method patent. There is really just some small functions that these debates surround. Our guest lecturer in the patent course this week, Mr. Jonathan Wells, shared with us the statistics that there are nearly 250,000 patents relevant to a single smartphone. This is really an astounding number.
This is not to say that Apple is a victor in Germany, either. Apple tried to assert a patent claim against Samsung for a design-related issue with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, and though it hasn't stopped Samsung altogether, it did manage to create a temporary ban on the device.
As the patent battle moves to international spaces, we'll see how it unfolds.. There is no clear victory
There is so much money being thrown around in Germany over Apple and Samsung's bitter feud with one another. I wonder who will win the next battle since obviously the patent war is no where close to ending...
ReplyDeleteI think what would be very interesting, but most unlikely, if Samsung wins in Germany with their new case for summer 2013. That would definitely shift the tables.
ReplyDeleteThis just makes me wonder why companies would actually bring themselves into such a situation of a never ending war. It is also funny how the timeline works. If it takes so long for investigations and the lawsuit to reach a final conclusion, wont the products be sold to consumers already? For example, since new models keep coming out, would an import ban of previous models not be useless since consumers would not purchase those models anymore?
ReplyDelete