It looks like two of the biggest names in smartphones are heading back to the court this week as Samsung and Apple are once again making accusations about ripping off features and designs in smartphones.
This is just the latest lawsuit of many that brings into question what can be patented and what cannot.
“There’s a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented,” Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. “Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition.”
This trial comes around less than two years after a court found that Samsung had infringed on patents of Apple. This led to Samsung paying $900 million, but they are appealing and the products with the technology have continued to be sold.
Jury selection will start today for yet another round of litigation as Apple say that Samsung have infringed on five patents with their new handsets, some of which include the Galaxy range of phones and tablet. Samsung meanwhile says that Apple included their ideas on the iPad and iPhones.
“Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices,” Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. “Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple’s innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices.”
Samsung said that they had broken down barriers in tech with their ultra-slim and lightweight handsets.
“Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry,” Samsung attorneys wrote. “Apple has copied many of Samsung’s innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products.”
Apple are saying that Samsung took the tap-from-search tech from them which allows anyone searching for a number of address on the web to just tap results to call that number or add the address to the map. Meanwhile Apple has said that Samsung stole their Slide to Unlock feature, which gives access to the device by swiping on the display.
Samsung also said that Apple has stolen some wireless tech that speeds up data sending, along with speeding up receiving of data.
Apple also demanded that Samsung pay them $40 in royalty fees for each Samsung handset that ran the software which Apple say Samsung stolen. This is over five times the amount that was previously sought in trial and also well above precedents between other companies in the past. The pay-out for Samsung could end up being around $2 billion. The costs of Apple, if the company loses, is said to be around $6 million.
“You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high,” said German patent analyst Florian Mueller. “But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it.”
The smartphone is packed with thousands of patented ideas, however Apple are claiming five of them.
The market share of Samsung has continued to grow. Samsung sold one of every three devices sold last year and they are leading the market. Apple came in second, with a higher price; they have around 15% of the global market.
Apple is saying that products of Samsung have infringed on their patents. These include the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1 and Stratosphere.
Meanwhile Samsung say that products of Apple have infringed on their patents and these include the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and MacBook Pro.
The courtroom in San Jose is only 15 minutes away from the headquarters of Cupertino, so the jury selection may be difficult. In cases that came before several prospective jurors were dismissed due to the fact that they had ties to the company.
