01
Sep
Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-UK-preorder

Yes, Apple Is Accusing The Galaxy S III Of Infringing Its Patents, No, This Is Not Surprising Or Really All That Important

Posted by in Legal, News

Have you heard?! Apple now says the Galaxy S III is infringing on its patents. Woe is us!

Except, this is a.) completely unsurprising, and b.) not really important in the grand scheme of things. Yesterday, Reuters reported that Apple had tacked on the Galaxy S III (including the Verizon version specifically, for whatever reason), the Note 10.1, and the original Galaxy Note to its upcoming California lawsuit against Samsung. And yes, they'll probably add the Galaxy Note II just as soon as Samsung gets around to releasing it here in the US.

GALAXY-S-III-Product-Image-5_B

But, innovation! Thermonuclear war! The Galaxy S III was designed around avoiding Apple patents, right?

17
Aug
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Google's Motorola Files New Lawsuit Against Apple At The ITC, Seeks Import Bans On Pretty Much Everything Apple Makes

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, Motorola, News

According to Bloomberg, Motorola Mobility has just filed a new lawsuit against Apple at the ITC. Now, ordinarily, we might not report on the filing of such a suit - especially when the complaint hasn't been made public (we have basically zero details). What makes this particular filing important, though, is that it is the first lawsuit filed by Motorola now that it is officially, 100% a part of Google. That's a big deal.

It means Google signed off on this action. It means Google isn't interested in playing a purely defensive role in the mobile patent wars. And while this is sort of by proxy (MMI is in many senses separate from Google), the fact that Motorola filed this suit at all says a lot.

25
Jan
android-vs-apple

Editorial: Android May Be Winning (Or Not Losing) Battles Against Apple In Court, But Don't Expect An End To The Lawsuits Any Time Soon

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Legal, News
Last Updated: January 27th, 2012

A recent Newsweek article has been making the rounds claiming, through an unnamed Apple "insider," that Apple has spent north of $100 million litigating its various grievances against HTC since late 2010. Verifying the accuracy of this number is pretty much impossible. But that doesn't really matter. It may just as well be $80 million, $150 million, or $300 million - the conclusion drawn would remain the same: Apple is spending quite a chunk of income on its growing lawsuit habit.

Apple currently has open suits against Motorola Mobility, Samsung Electronics, and HTC in the ITC (International Trade Commission), a number of US District Courts, and various other buildings in which judges are known to sit in ornate leather chairs for long periods of time around the world.

03
Dec
galaxy-tab-8.9

Apple Instructs Samsung On The Finer Points Of Tablet And Smartphone Design

Posted by in Legal, News, Samsung

Apple is famous for crafting beautifully designed products, but it is a little condescending to start giving design advice to its competitors. Nevertheless, this is exactly what Apple has done in a legal brief filed with their earlier request for a ban on Samsung's devices in the United States (a request which was denied by a district judge a few days ago). The legal brief from Apple describes both what their U.S. design patents cover and what the patents do not cover. The latter is especially interesting as they are essentially guidelines on what Samsung can do to avoid being sued in the future.

03
Dec
galaxy-tab-8.9

Respite For Samsung As U.S. Judge Denies Apple's Request To Block Sales Of Galaxy Devices

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung

The patent wars between Samsung and Apple are stretching everyone pretty thin, lawyers and judges from 10 countries are contending with over 20 cases, manufacturers are having to make last minute adjustments to devices, and most importantly reporters, including yours truly, are having a hard time keeping up with it all.

Bringing the discussion stateside, on Friday a U.S. District Judge in California denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung. Apple had earlier sued Samsung in the U.S. claiming that the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and the iPad. However, the Judge disagreed and noted that "it is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed".

17
Oct
samsung-logo

Samsung Retaliates Against Apple, Files For Preliminary Injunction To Ban iPhone 4S In Japan And Australia

Posted by in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung

Samsung just announced in a blog post today, that they have filed preliminary injunctions in the Tokyo District Court and in the New South Wales Registry to ban the sale of Apple's iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia, respectively. Additionally, in Japan, Samsung have also requested an injunction to bar the sale of the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2.

According to Samsung, the injunction request in Australia is premised on Apple infringing various patents relating to wireless telecommunications standards, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). In contrast, in Japan Samsung has filed on the basis of Apple infringing one HSPA standard-related patent and three user interface patents.