Apple yesterday lost a court hearing related to the 3G technology they used in their iPhone 4 and early iPad 2 models. The International Trade Commission ruled in favour of the Korea-based Samsung, and the decision could see the affected Apple products banned from sale in the States. Apple will appeal the ban, which is also subject to review from President Obama.
The ITC decision is at odds with recent EU rulings on a similar case. European authorities have said they will take action against Samsung for seeking a ban against Apple products, and are opposed to banning the products of willing patent licensees on 'public interest' grounds.
All smartphone manufacturers are subject to a huge number of individual patents, most licensed in exchange for a tiny fee per product in order to ensure all companies conform to universal standards. Patent licenses are often controlled by a set of rules known as FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms).
The latest development marks somewhat of a reversal of fortunes. Last August, the most high-profile American trial yet resulted in Apple being awarded over €750 million (on appeal reduced to around €460 million) when Samsung was found to be infringing a patent related to the basic design of Apple products. A related injunction saw Samsung's Galaxy Nexus devices being temporarily banned from being imported into the US.
International legal battles
This week's victory marks the first major US legal success for Samsung, but it is merely one success in a lengthy series of multi-billion euro patent cases between the world’s two largest smartphone and tablet manufacturers. The ‘war’ has been waged across numerous international jurisdictions.
Japanese, British and South Korean courts have ruled that Samsung designs did not infringe upon Apple patents, while Apple has achieved temporary success in German and Dutch courts (although in Holland an initially successful ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets has since been overruled). There are still many more appeals and trials looming, however, including another major US one, with the iPhone manufacturer claiming almost 20 individual Samsung products violate Apple patents.
Although the Apple vs. Samsung patent cases are the most high-profile examples of technological legal warfare, there have been a variety of other examples. Last month a lengthy case between Motorola and Microsoft finally drew to a close after it was dismissed by the ITC. Motorola, now owned by Google, had tried to ban US sales of the Xbox 360 and claim massive royalties based on the game console's wireless technology.
As electronics increasingly rely on thousands of individual technologies and functions, patent cases are likely to remain common despite many critics & courts arguing that an open patent landscape is necessary for every manufacturer to operate efficiently and practically. Obama has pledged to revise patent law and the ITC in an attempt to restrict product bans.
On the subject of Apple vs. Samsung, however, one observer told Bloomberg “there’s too much skin in the game now. It’s almost so ugly I don’t think they’ll come to any agreement. Both companies have a lot of cash and are generating a lot of money. It’s not like they have to worry about paying the legal bills.”
