German court dismisses second Samsung patent suit against Apple

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014


In an early morning ruling on Friday, the Mannheim Regional Court dismissed the second of five 3G/UMTS standards patent suits Samsung leveled against Apple.



Judge Andreas Voss handed down the ruling that echoed the German court's rejection to a similar suit one week ago, though he stopped short of announcing the reason behind the decision, reports Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents.



Mueller, who attended the hearing, explains that the outcome may be based on the validity of specific details regarding the case, and notes that Samsung's two losses don't necessarily affect the company's three pending claims. However, if the basis of the ruling stemmed from patent exhaustion, it is likely that the remaining wireless patent cases will be thrown out.



The South Korean electronics maker has brought five suits against Apple in Germany, arguing that the Cupertino, Calif., company infringed on certain 3G/UMTS wireless standards patents.



So far, Samsung has been largely unsuccessful in Mannheim as it lost the first two complaints in the span of one week, however the company has the option to appeal to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court.



In addition to the 3G patent claims, Samsung has lodged two separate non-standards-related patent complaints against the Cupertino, Calif., including one involving the use of emoticons on mobile devices.





Mannheim Regional Court in Baden-Württemberg, Germany







Today's news comes after Apple filed its own suit in Germany seeking a ban on Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone as well as nine other handsets and five tablet models.



The iPad maker was successful in forcing a redesign of the Galaxy Tab, though a subsequent suit claiming that the new design still infringes on the iPad's looks is seen as an unlikely win for Apple.



Most recently, Apple was dealt a blow by a Dutch court that found the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to not infringe on the iPad's industrial design.



The epic patent battle began in Germany when Apple first sued Samsung in April 2011 for allegedly copying the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad. Since then, the two companies have been at loggerheads over a number of lawsuits, with cases in 10 countries spanning across four continents.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    old-wizold-wiz Posts: 194member
    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?
  • Reply 2 of 17
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post


    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?



    The problem for Apple is your suggestion would give a free hand to all those ripping of Apple's IP. Apple have to defend their innovation even as if it results in all these counter or preemptive suits. I'm sure if Apple sat back and kept quiet while everyone ripped them off, they would be facing far less but what good would being ripped off have done Apple?
  • Reply 3 of 17
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post


    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?



    I have it on good authority that Apple's legal team are, in no way, shape, or form, involved in the production of their thoroughly excellent products and services.



    Hence, you should get your wish.
  • Reply 4 of 17
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post


    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?



    Why can't they sue each other and focus on good products? I am pretty sure the engineers aren't moonlights as lawyers.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    Why can't they sue each other and focus on good products? I am pretty sure the engineers aren't moonlights as lawyers.



    It appears that this might be the case for Samsung...
  • Reply 6 of 17
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post


    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?



    The problem s that Samsung is focused on copying Apple designs.
  • Reply 7 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post


    Wouldn't it be nice if these companies stopped suing each other and focused on good products?



    Why is this myth propagated? Apple isn't a singular person with limited time and attention span, or even resources for that matter. They're the largest company on the planet by market cap. They have $100B war chest. They have an entire department of lawyers.



    People act, as another person posted, that Apple's engineers are moonlighting as lawyers. It's not like Apple is cash strapped either.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post


    The problem s that Samsung is focused on copying Apple designs.









    And Apple likes to steal telecommunications and cloud ip
  • Reply 9 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Just_Me View Post


    And Apple likes to steal telecommunications and cloud ip



    Sorry, i must have missed where Apple has been proven to have stolen anything?
  • Reply 10 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kozchris View Post


    Sorry, i must have missed where Apple has been proven to have stolen anything?



    I think there were one or two patents that, at least with a cursory overview, looked like they couldn't have been anything but stolen. But you're right, I don't think anything has been proven yet.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,179member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kozchris View Post


    Sorry, i must have missed where Apple has been proven to have stolen anything?



    Really? It was in the same story where it was proven Samsung did.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    They must have been caught with their SHORTS down
  • Reply 13 of 17
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Just_Me View Post


    And Apple likes to steal telecommunications



    You mean patents that have been incorporated into industry standards and are licensed (implied) by the various chip manufacturers, right?
  • Reply 14 of 17
    just_mejust_me Posts: 590member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Pendergast View Post


    You mean patents that have been incorporated into industry standards and are licensed (implied) by the various chip manufacturers, right?





    Nope. There are plenty others.. Those chip manufactures have open cases against Apple.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    elrothelroth Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Just_Me View Post


    Nope. There are plenty others.. Those chip manufactures have open cases against Apple.



    We're still waiting for you to actually name something. Gonna be a long wait I fear. Until then, why don't you spend your time getting some details and evidence, instead of filling up a comment board?
  • Reply 16 of 17
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,179member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elroth View Post


    We're still waiting for you to actually name something. Gonna be a long wait I fear. Until then, why don't you spend your time getting some details and evidence, instead of filling up a comment board?



    Being found guilty of patent infringement is far from equivalent to grand theft. Companies are often completely unaware that some other company is laying claim to a feature on their device until it's already incorporated. Other times there's simply a disagreement whether another's IP is really being used.



    A quick and dirty Google search for "Apple guilty of patent infringement" will find a few cases where they were found by courts to be using IP without permission. To call it theft is pretty ridiculous.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    S they
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    The problem for Apple is your suggestion would give a free hand to all those ripping of Apple's IP. Apple have to defend their innovation even as if it results in all these counter or preemptive suits. I'm sure if Apple sat back and kept quiet while everyone ripped them off, they would be facing far less but what good would being ripped off have done Apple?



    Well, apple is still pretty much selling all the iphones and ipads that they can make, even while being ripped off. So it doesn't seem to be affecting them much. I get your point though, they do have to actively defend their IP and tradmarks, but at times, it seems they go too far (ie. Lawsuits aganist companies with an apple in their logo, etc).



    Quote:

    Being found guilty of patent infringement is far from equivalent to grand theft. Companies are often completely unaware that some other company is laying claim to a feature on their device until it's already incorporated. Other times there's simply a disagreement whether another's IP is really being used.



    And that's one of the flaws of a system that needs reform.
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