Hasta La Gadget!

At the moment, Samsung and Apple are set to go before Judge Lucy Koh at the beginning of December for a preliminary injunction hearing. Apple wants an injunction against 8 Samsung devices that were found to be infringing on its patents, and if the company has its way, it could get that injunction before December 6. FOSS Patents reports that late last week, Apple requested that Judge Koh move the date of the injunction hearing up.

It isn’t any surprise that Apple is doing such a thing. Apple won the trial, and now it wants to move as quickly as possible to get a sales ban on the devices that were declared to be infringing. Samsung is looking to have a sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 lifted after the jury said that the tablet wasn’t infringing on any of Apple’s patents, and the hearing to determine the fate of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is scheduled for September 20. Apple is now asking that its own motion for injunction take place before the hearing for Samsung’s motion, and it’s pretty easy to see why.

One of the reasons Apple would want its preliminary injunction hearing moved up is because that may prevent Samsung from selling those infringing devices during the holiday season. Just like Samsung did throughout the trial, Apple is calling for the equal treatment of both parties, claiming that its request for injunction is more important than Samsung’s request to reevaluate the ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple has also filed a “Rule 50″ motion to overturn the jury’s ruling on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, so preventing the dissolution of the injunction on the device altogether is another top priority for the company.

It’s difficult to say at this point which way Judge Koh will sway. She may give into Apple’s request based on the call to treat both parties equally, but on the other hand, she may feel uneasy granting a new round of injunctions when one current injunction may have been unfairly ordered. We shall see in the coming days and weeks, but for now, have a look at our story timeline for the latest on the Apple-Samsung patent trial.

Apple asks Judge Koh to bump up Samsung injunction hearing is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today it appears that Samsung has been found free of any patent infringement in at least one part of their mobile device patent court case against Apple in Japan. There are several cases still being fought in matters relating to Apple and Samsung patents and design rights around the world, as it were, Japan only the most recent to release a partial verdict. This verdict has been reported by both Bloomberg and Reuters at this point, so we’re expecting an official update within the next few hours as well.

The reports at hand note that the Tokyo District Court has made it clear in its verdict reflects Apple’s accusation that Samsung infringed upon a patent of theirs that covers music and video data with a server. The verdict appears at the moment to say that Samsung has not been found guilty of said infringement and that they’ll owe no damages to Apple at the present time. This verdict also appears to be a partial reading while other matters are being released at a later time.

It’s important to know that each of the cases currently going on around the world that involve Samsung and Apple do not necessarily connect to one another. There was a case in South Korea recently that had both Apple’s iPad and iPhone ranges banned from sale entirely due to infringement found on technology owned by Samsung in the country. A similar infringement was up for trial in the recent Apple vs Samsung trail in the United States and Apple was found to have done no wrong, with Samsung’s ownership of the technology being covered under fair use laws, this allowing Apple to utilize without acquiring a license from the other company.

This case in Japan is a different matter entirely. With Samsung appearing to be free of patent infringement in this one matter across their entire Galaxy line of Android devices, we’ll likely see similar verdicts for whatever else Apple is claiming in the patent universe as well. Stay tuned as the Japan bit of this worldwide set of court cases between these two tech titans continues!

[via Engadget]

Apple vs Samsung Japan: no patent infringement found yet is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A report today suggests that Samsung is doing two things after their Apple trial verdict left them in an irritable legal situation: speaking with carriers and shaking hands with Microsoft. This report comes from The Korea Times where they suggest that Samsung will be partnering closely with Microsoft in the near future to cut their dependency on Google’s mobile operating system Android. This report should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, since Android runs the vast majority of Samsung’s wildly popular mobile line of devices.

According to what the Korean Times notes is an official from Samsung’s telecommunications division, “Samsung has been in talks with major U.S. carriers to jointly develop modified design technology. This will be effective, though we can’t unveil more details for the time being.” This of course means that Samsung will update the software they’ve got on devices affected by their recent court case with Apple. They’re also hoping to avoid any and all sale bans on their devices in the United States (and abroad, too, but most notably inside the USA.)

You’ll notice this week that Samsung has released a couple of devices running Microsoft’s newest mobile operating system Windows Phone 8 as well as their tablet-based PC software Windows RT. Have a peek at our Samsung ATIV Tab hands-on as well as our Samsung ATIV S original announcement to see what these devices are all about. The ATIV S has not yet been shown off with Windows Phone 8 running on it, but will be out very soon – it’s also the first Windows Phone 8 device to be officially announced for the market – that’s big news!

Samsung also spoke up at IFA 2012 on the situation via their CEO who noted:”“Regardless of any hindrance, we will continue to provide the best product in the industry”” Another comment recently appeared coming from Samsung on the possible banning of their devices in the USA as well: “We will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products on the U.S. market.”

Have a peek at recent post-trial events in the timeline below and let us know what you think Samsung should do with their US-based mobile device lineup at this time. It’s not going to be a pretty picture for them when it comes to legal battles with Apple from here on out, that’s for certain – but they’re resilient!

Samsung tipped to lean towards Microsoft after Apple trial is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple and Motorola have apparently started discussing a licensing deal for some of Motorola’s standard-essential patents in Germany. FOSS Patents reports that Motorola announced the work-in-progress deal last night, though the two have yet to agree on the price that Apple will pay for licensing. As many of you already know, Motorola and its new parent company Google have taken Apple to court, attempting to get a number of iDevices banned for patent infringement.

This case between Motorola and Apple echoes the recently-ended patent suit between Apple and Samsung. Apple came out on top in that case, and things are looking pretty good for the iPhone maker in Germany now as well. Standard-essential patents must be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND), so now the two companies are trying to work out those terms. If Motorola and Apple can’t agree on a suitable FRAND rate, then the royalty Apple will be paying Motorola will be decided by the German court.

Naturally, this licensing deal only applies to Apple devices sold in Germany, so elsewhere in the world, the legal battle rages on. Motorola might have a difficult time moving forward with its case, as FOSS Patents points out that now Motorola will have to rely on non-standard-essential patents to try to get what it wants out of Apple. In that case, the worst Google and Motorola will probably be able to do is pump up the royalty rate Apple would have to pay.

It’s worth pointing out that essential patents don’t always stand up well in court. Samsung pointed to several of its essential patents in the trial against Apple, but that strategy didn’t work out as the jury found that Apple wasn’t infringing on them. Will Motorola and Google get what they want out of this case? That’s still hard to call, but with this licensing deal in Germany, it might make it difficult for Motorola to continue on. Stay tuned.

Apple and Motorola working on licensing deal in Germany is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Apple are continuing their assault on Samsung in the courtroom with further legal action against the manufacturer, attempting here early in the week to have 8 Android devices banned from the USA. These devices are all smartphones and the majority of them come from the Samsung Galaxy S II generation of Samsung smartphones. Along with that set of devices there’s also a 4G iteration of the original Samsung Galaxy S as well as a few other oddities.

The full list includes the Galaxy S 4G, each of the Galaxy S II devices that’ve been released in the USA over the past year, and the Droid Charge, Galaxy Prevail, and Galaxy S Showcase. These devices were each found “guilty” so to speak of patent infringement in one way or another in the 3-week court case that had its verdict read at the end of last week. This Apple vs Samsung trial has been what many have labeled the most important technology-related legal trial of the year as both sides of the battle are major players in the ever-growing mobile gadget market.

• Galaxy S 4G
• AT&T Galaxy S II (AT&T)
• Galaxy S2 Skyrocket
• T-Mobile Galaxy S II
• Galaxy S2 II Epic 4G
• Galaxy S Showcase
• Droid Charge
• Galaxy Prevail

We’ve had hands-on looks and reviews done of many of the devices you see above, each of their linked names leading to a post containing said material. These devices appeared in the full Amended verdict that was released over the weekend as well. The Samsung Galaxy S II line has been on the market for over a year with the international version of the original device not appearing here as it’s not sold inside the states. Similar trials are happening currently in several countries around the world.

A similar case in Korea recently results in not only Samsung smartphone bans, but the banning of Apple products as well. This South Korean case banned the iPhone, the iPad, and the Samsung Galaxy S II from being sold inside the country until further notice. Back in the USA, only one device is currently banned from Samsung’s sales lineup, and it’s about to be on appeal since it was not found to infringe on Apple’s patents in the case at hand: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Have a peek at our timeline below to see other key points in this trial and stay tuned to the main news feed to see if Apple does indeed get a court order on Samsung to stop the sales of their best-selling smartphones. Note also that the Galaxy S II lineup is still in stores as the Galaxy S III is now Samsung’s hero lineup – also available in stores across the USA right this minute.

Apple orders ban on 8 Galaxy smartphones in USA is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.