Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung says it is working on an anti-Apple legal plan with Google, confirming the search giant’s direct involvement with its legal issues for the first time, and suggests a patent settlement is in the pipeline. Having seen the Galaxy Nexus slapped with a preliminary injunction last week, which it promptly appealed, Samsung now says it has a “game plan” with Google, The Korea Times reports, on how to squeeze more royalties out of its Cupertino rival.

Exactly what that plan might entail is still a secret, with Samsung refusing to detail it publicly. “It’s too early to comment on our game plan [with Google] in the legal battle; but we will do our best to get more royalties from Apple, which has benefited from our technology,” a supposed Samsung insider told the Korean site. “The fight is becoming more dramatic and the possibility of a truce in the form of a cross-licensing deal, seems to be becoming likely.”

Samsung has a demanded 2.4-percent royalty rate for iPhone and iPad units using technology it has patented, but Apple argues such a fee is not in keeping with the FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing terms. Complaints by Apple, among other, have seen Samsung made the subject of an antitrust investigation by the European Commission.

Google has already publicly lent its support to HTC in a previous case of patent-related war with Apple, and in fact sold HTC a set of patents it went on to use in a counter-strike against the iPhone maker. The Galaxy Nexus case is potentially even more threatening to Android, however, as the smartphone is Google’s de facto flagship device, and in which it had a significant hand in designing and guiding to market.

Samsung is currently waiting to hear whether the preliminary injunction will be frozen or not. The company argued that Apple had not sufficiently demonstrated that the infringed patent in question causes substantial  damage to iPhone sales.

Samsung: We’re working on an Apple attack with Google is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung has appealed against the preliminary injunction blocking US Galaxy Nexus sales, arguing Apple cannot prove that iPhone market share is legitimately threatened by the Android phone. Apple secured the early injunction late last week, convincing a US judge that the Galaxy Nexus is likely to be found infringing on at least one of four patents the Cupertino company holds. However, Samsung insists that Apple’s case fails to prove that the potential loss of market share caused by the third-gen Google phone is as “substantial” as the Federal Circuit’s requirements.

“The Court’s finding that Apple will suffer irreparable harm was based on legally insufficient evidence that Samsung and Apple are competitors” Samsung’s retort suggests. “The Court’s order is inconsistent with the Federal Circuit’s directive that market share losses must be substantial.”

What Apple has not yet demonstrated, Samsung reckons, is that the substantial loss alleged is attributable to the feature said to have infringed. In this case, that’s technology covered by patent 8,086,604, “Universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system,” which covers search and filtering systems.

“The Court’s causation finding as to the ’604 patent was erroneous, or at a minimum raises substantial questions” Samsung argues. Judge Lucy Koh, who granted Apple the preliminary injunction, has interpreted the ’604 patent as relevant to Siri, the virtual personal assistant which has been a central point of Apple’s advertising for the iPhone 4S.

However, Samsung is hoping that the appeals court will see ’604 as covering a far narrower range of functionality than Judge Koh, and says that Siri is a “different feature than the unified search covered by the ’604 patent.”

Samsung has asked that the preliminary injunction be stayed, either as long as the appeal against the decision in Apple’s favor take, or alternatively – and for a shorter period – until the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit comes up with a decision itself. Apple is yet to comment on the motion.

[via FOSS Patents]

Samsung demands Apple’s Galaxy Nexus ban be frozen is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It hasn’t been Samsung’s best week. Just days after Judge Lucy Koh granted a preliminary ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she’s following it up with a similar granted request on the Galaxy Nexus. Judge Koh had already signaled that she thought Apple’s lawsuit over four patents might have merit, but it’s only now that she’s deciding the potential damage is worth halting sales of the phone until there’s a final trial verdict. Samsung will no doubt try to appeal the dispute, which centers on Android 4.0’s slide-to-unlock mechanism (among other elements), but there’s a lot more urgency here than with the outgoing Tab 10.1: the Galaxy Nexus is still a current-generation device, and just became Google’s Android 4.1 phone flagship. Samsung’s odds aren’t great given that Apple has already used one of the patents to give HTC grief with its imports.

Update: As patent lawsuit guru Florian Mueller found, the clincher for the ban was the patent on unified search that’s linked to Siri. Although Judge Koh is inclined to believe Apple’s view regarding all four patents, that search patent is the one whose violation would reportedly merit more than a slap on the wrist. She’s similarly convinced that Apple’s patents are legitimate and likely won’t be dismissed anytime soon.

Apple lands preliminary ban against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update: search patent the key) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Dan Levine (Twitter), Reuters  | Email this | Comments

Apple has opened its purse and swiftly paid the $2.6m bond required to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US, after a court granted a preliminary injunction against the Android slate. The bond – a drop in the ocean given Apple’s current financial status – will be subject to forfeit to Samsung should the injunction be subsequently deemed improper. However, Samsung has requested that the block on sales be held off until its appeal can be heard.

Samsung’s argument is that it is likely to have Apple’s complaints thrown out when its appeal is heard, suggesting that the preliminary injunction will not only damage its relationship with carriers in the US, but that the public will be negatively impacted as well. The request for a stay is limited only until Samsung’s request to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to admit additional evidence has been heard, where the company will argue that it has further examples of why Apple’s allegations are unfounded, but which were not considered by Judge Lucy Koh who granted the preliminary injunction.

Whether that is granted remains to be seen. Samsung is pushing for an expedited decision on Friday this week, while Apple would have preferred until Monday to ready its counter-arguments; there’s still the possibility that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will not accept Samsung’s new evidence, in which case the company might struggle to prevent the injunction for the moment.

As for the actual impact of the ruling on Samsung’s business in the US, that could be mixed. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has already been superseded by the newer Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, but the LTE versions of the original model are still available through US carriers. Samsung could tweak them aesthetically them to bypass the design patent Apple alleges has been infringed, but that would introduce a delay in sales and, in the end, might not be considered an efficient use of time when the model is already old.

[via FOSSPatents]

Apple coughs up $2.6m to block Samsung tablet sales is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has won a preliminary sales injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the US, the biggest blow so far in the two company’s ongoing patent war. The ban on US sales of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 – not, though, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 we reviewed last month – granted by US District Judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday evening was justified by the similarity of the tablet’s appearance to iPad design patents Apple holds. Apple must post a $2.6m bond to enact the injunction.

“Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products,” the judge’s order read, AllThingsD reports. “While Samsung will certainly suffer lost sales from the issuance of an injunction, the hardship to Apple of having to directly compete with Samsung’s infringing products outweighs Samsung’s harm in light of the previous findings by the Court.”

Unsurprisingly, Apple is happy with the decision. “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Samsung, meanwhile, is likely to appeal the injunction, and accuses Apple of being too narrow in its patent interpretation. “Apple sought a preliminary injunction of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, based on a single design patent that addressed just one aspect of the product’s overall design,” the company said in a statement. “Should Apple continue to make legal claims based on such a generic design patent, design innovation and progress in the industry could be restricted.”

Apple filed for the ban back in May, with negotiations between it and Samsung breaking down shortly after. The company has not said when it might enact the ban.

Apple wins US Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.