Samsung has been given an embarrassing legal spanking by the French courts, which refused to grant a sales ban against the iPhone 4S and demanded that it pay Apple €100,000 ($134k) in legal fees. Although the sum is likely far less than Apple has actually paid its legal team in France, the decision is a blow to Samsung which had been enjoying a limited run of success against its Cupertino rival in Australia and the US.
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‘patent’ Stories
Samsung iPhone 4S French ban attempt rejected
Apple 3D display & Kinect-style tracking system still in labs
A newly filed Apple patent application suggests the company is still working on a Kinect-style 3D motion tracking system, that could create a virtual desktop responding to a user's hand and finger movements rather than keyboard and mouse actions. The application, Three-dimensional imaging and display system, describes a system where "user input is optically detected in an imaging volume": in short, both of a user's hands are tracked in the space around an Apple computer, and on-screen or projected virtual controls - such as dials, buttons or pens - can be manipulated as if touching them in real life.
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Samsung readies anti-Apple “hard-line stance” and $200m legal fund
Samsung may have been reasonably magnanimous in its defeat of Apple's US preliminary injunction attempts, but the Korean company's execs haven't lost their fighting spirit even if it's generally only wheeled out when off the record. "If we win in Paris as well, that’s truly a big blow to Apple ... We are ready to aggressively sell the Tabs" a Samsung exec told the Korea Times on condition on anonymity, while CEO Choi Gee-sung has confirmed a $200m legal fund has been put aside to field Apple's courtroom attacks in 2012.
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Apple licensed iOS patent to Nokia but Samsung deal collapsed
Assumptions that Apple uses its patent portfolio to strongarm rivals into costly, time-wasting revisions of hardware and software, rather than as a way to milk them of cash, may have to be reconsidered with the news that the Cupertino company has licensed out at least one of its UI elements. In fact, Apple apparently licensed an iOS "scrollback" feature to both Nokia and IBM, according to heavily-redacted legal documentation shared with The Verge, and indeed even offered a similar deal to Samsung back in November 2010.
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Apple’s US Samsung sales ban demands refused
Apple‘s attempts to have Samsung’s smartphones and tablets banned from sale in the US have been rejected in the US courts, with a ruling late on Friday throwing out the possibility of a preliminary injunction. ”It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed” US District Judge Lucy Koh concluded in the San Jose court, Reuters reports, arguing that Apple had not sufficiently demonstrated that its design patents would not be overturned in the eventual trial.
Apple made to specify design alternatives for Samsung
Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in a worldwide legal battle for months regarding the South Korean manufacturer's smartphones and tablets infringing on the Cupertino company's designs and patents. Documents have surfaced today revealing that in seeking to ban Samsung's devices, Apple had to provide design workarounds to clarify exactly what sorts of designs would not be considered infringing. The list of alternatives is quite humorous.
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Apple squeezes out longer Samsung tablet ban in Oz
Apple has managed to extend the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban in Australia for a further week, despite an appeals court describing the block as "clearly wrong", after an appeal of its own to the high court. Samsung had been given permission to put the 10-inch Android tablet on sale in the country from today, but Apple squeezed in a quick appeal request which forced an extension to the injunction until December 9, ABC reports.
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Apple patent reveals device data sharing via camera-based handshakes and invisible inks
A new patent application from Apple released today reveals the company's recent foray into new methods for establishing communication between devices close to each other for the purposes of sharing data. In its application, Apple proposes the use of next generation camera systems and identifying marks such as barcodes and possibly even invisible ink to allow recognition and verification between devices. If you're trying to see which company is pushing the boundaries between device-based data sharing, Apple certainly makes a compelling statement with this patent filed today.
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Apple’s “clearly wrong” Aussie Samsung tablet ban overturned
Apple's sales injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia has been overthrown, with an appeals court dismissing the original block as "clearly wrong" and allowing the Android slate to go on sale this Friday. The Cupertino company secured a short stay until the end of the week so that it could ready an appeal of its own, but was told by the Sydney court that if it wanted to extend the tablet ban - handed down in October when Apple convinced a judge that Samsung had "slavishly copied" its iPad design - it would need to convince the High Court.
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HTC juggles 3G in German patent case
HTC may claim its 2012 range will "focus on the product" to restore the company's upward momentum, but the current line-up could be yanked from German shelves if patent courts have their way. The company is under attack from patent holder IPCom over 3G/UMTS standards used without licensing in its smartphones, a charge HTC claims has been negated by the dismissal of the patent, but which, FOSSPatents reports, may not be as clear-cut as presented.
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Apple has tablet “monopoly” says judge as Samsung appeals ban
Samsung has accused an Australian judge of "fundamental errors" and of misunderstanding the law, as the company protests its recent legal failures against Apple. Challenging the Galaxy Tab 10.1 sales ban awarded last month in the appeals court this week, Samsung described the original ruling as being "grossly unjust" SMH reports, and arguing that Justice Bennett "misunderstood and misapplied the basic requirements" around deciding whether Apple's patents were in fact valid.
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Steve Jobs exhibit at US Patent Office Museum open now
This past week the United States Patent Office Museum (not to be confused with the actual patent office, mind you,) set up a lovely display of over 300 patents that have Steve Jobs' name on them, all this behind a gigantic set of iPhones as a monument to his innovation. This is all set up at the museum in Alexandria, Virginia, and you can find it in the atrium of the office's Madison Building headquarters. You'll be able to get in free and see all softs of interactive exhibits, a gallery of portraits, and a theater where short films will be shown. Fun stuff for your holiday weekend!
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