Apple’s Galaxy ban bid rejected by German courts…….again

Another day, another failed Apple lawsuit.  Samsung’s latest flagship models, the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1N, have escaped unscathed after the Munich Regional Court rejected Apple’s bid to block sales of the devices in Germany.

Our good friends from Cupertino seem hell-bent on causing complications for Samsung’s big German sales push. Samsung had already redesigned the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 as the 10.1N as a result of a previous Apple lawsuit.

The patent war really gathered a head of steam in 2011 with Apple as the real driving force behind it. Unfortunately, 2012 seems to be promising more of the same with Apple entangled in court room battles with many of the major Android manufacturers.

Perhaps if Apple spent as much time on innovation as they do trying to sue the competition they might have produced something more imaginative than the underwhelming upgrade that was the iPhone 4s.

via: Androinica

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Categorized as Android Lawsuits, Android News

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German Appeals Court Sticking To Galaxy Tab 10.1 Injunction But For A Different Reason Than Apple’s Claim

And the Apple and Samsung news just continues to flow like water.  In recent news the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (an appeals court) is sticking to a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and also states that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 may be in jeopardy of violating similar patents.  However, unlike the original file claim, the appeals court is basing this conclusion on a violation of a German unfair competition law, Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG (you’re going to have rely on Google Translate for that one folks).  And the lower court’s ruling was based on a “Community Design” which is equivocation to a U.S. design patent.  We initially saw the injunction issued in early August of last year where in the following September it was upheld and quickly appealed by Samsung to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.  

Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents summarises todays decision by the court and offers his unique perspective:

Apple can’t replicate the German decision in other countries since German unfair competition law is pretty unique. A win based on an EU-wide design right would have been strategically more valuable to Apple. Even though Samsung formally lost its appeal because the preliminary injunction remains in force, it succeeded in defeating Apple’s design right.A couple of months ago, Samsung launched a modified version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, named 10.1N, in Germany. In late November 2011, Apple requested a preliminary injunction against the 10.1N. For now, the 10.1N is still on sale. The Düsseldorf Regional Court held a hearing the week before Christmas and will announce a decision on February 9, 2012. The fact that Apple won today doesn’t necessarily mean that it will succeed against the 10.1N. If Samsung is allowed to continue to sell the 10.1N, the commercial relevance of today’s appellate decision is next to nil.While today’s decision was made by an appeals court, we are still talking about fast-track proceedings triggered by a request for a preliminary injunction (and an appeal against one). All those decisions are preliminary, and what matters most is the full-blown main proceeding in which Apple’s design-related claims against a total of 15 Samsung products are at issue. It’s too early to tell what the outcome of that case will be.In my opinion, the strategic value of those design-related lawsuits is relatively low. Preliminary injunctions based on such claims can have a temporary disruptive effect, but the world-spanning dispute between Apple and Samsung primarily hinges on the outcome of the parties’ technical patent infringement claims against each other. The first two patent infringement lawsuits Samsung brought against Apple in Germany have been dismissed. Decisions on Apple’s related claims will come down in the coming months.

I don’t know about you but I’m getting a little annoyed with these proceedings.  It’s getting more and more difficult on a daily basis for manufacturers to stay out of Apple’s cross-hairs. Feel free to leave your thoughts or rants in the comments below.

If you’ve missed any of our previous coverage regarding Samsung and Apple’s battles as well as Apple vs everyone else, check out our coverage below.

via: FOSS Patents

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Dutch court blocks Apple’s attempt to ban the Galaxy Tab 10.1

We reported yesterday that Apple is spending a ton of money to protect their slew of patents against potential violators, and have very little to show for their efforts. Today, the Dutch Government is rubbing a little salt in Apple’s wounds by rejecting Apple’s appeal to block sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the Netherlands, upholding a judgement made in a lower court back in October.

The court in the Hague which issued today’s ruling stated that the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 were different enough to allow them to go on sale side by side. Sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be allowed to continue in the Netherlands, and Apple moves on to the next patent battle with their tail between their legs.

As a reminder, there are still a plethora of Apple vs. the world suits out there, and time will tell whether Apple will see its legal endeavors come to fruition. In the meantime, they sure are costing themselves and their rivals a lot of money on legal fees and legal department time with little to show for it.

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Dutch Court Denies Apple’s Appeal and Allows Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Sales To Flourish

Man, I hate Apple.  Did I type that out loud?  Sorry about that folks, there’s just something about a company who sues everything with a heartbeat because they’ve produced a slate device in the shape of a rectangle, has a touch screen, a power button and allows you to swipe things.  It’s just downright getting annoying now.  Well, it’s nice to see that a court in Hague has stuck it to Apple as they denied their request to ban the tab 10.1 in the Netherlands.  The folks over at NU.nl have reported that late last year another Dutch court ruled similarly in which the Cupertino boys quickly appealed with the ridiculous notion that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab was too similar to the iPad 2.  Today, the Hague court quickly determined that Apple had no leg to stand on here and that the two devices exhibited plenty of differences to compete in the market together.  Stay tuned because as you know, the legal battle isn’t over.  This is but one patent dispute among many between the two industry giants.  However, today, Samsung gets to claim the small but righteous victory.  Any thoughts?  Feel free to plug away in the comments below.

[via NU.nl by Engadget]

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Categorized as Android Lawsuits, Android Manufacturers, Android News, Android Tablets

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