Tag: lawsuit

Hong Kong Court clears Apple in the Name Dispute

The Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in the Proview Technology vs Apple case, the former owns the iPad name in China. Apple claims that a Hong Kong court has sided with it in a similar battle

“Apple bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago, Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple.”

Proview’s lawyer said that the court ruled that the trademark couldn’t be sold to a third party before hearing ends, meaning that it has no real affect on the dispute in China. Its like one way or another Apple is surrounded by Lawsuits.

[China Daily]

February 16, 2012
China government Ban on iPad causes removal of stocks from stores.

Government authorities and retailers in China have started removing stocks of iPad from the shelves in the market, in response to a ruling issued in December. According to Hebei Youth Daily, local representatives of the country’s Administrations of Industry and Commerce (AIC) have started confiscating Apple’s tablet from retail outlets, with some merchants are voluntarily removing the device from their storefronts as a pre-emptive measure.

As a part of a local campaign this incident only took place in the city of Shijiazhuang, but vendors weary of the outcome have started to take precautions. Remember this is the same country where people literally give body parts to own iPads.

February 13, 2012
Google gets fined in France for Free Google Maps

Really? A Parisian commercial court in France has fined Google to pay a fine of €500,000 for giving its maps for free. Bottin Cartographes, who was on the other side of the lawsuit claimed that the Company ( Google) has leveraged the market by giving away its Google Maps service for free, while others try to make a living off it.

“We proved the illegality of [Google’s] strategy,” said the prosecution counsel.

Google plans to Appeal the decision, and believes that the company has not eliminated competition in this segment and is purely giving away its services because it can.

Honestly, since when are Awesome products for free, looked down upon?

February 3, 2012
French court denies iPhone 4S sale ban to Samsung

Its like winning and loosing all round, Apple was denied injunction lift suspension and Samsung was denied primary sale ban in France. The french courts yesterday denied Samsung’s request to ban the sales of Apple iPhone 4S in France. The court called the reaction out of proportion with its claims of intellectual property theft and ordered Samsung to pay a fine of €100,000 (about $134,000) to cover Cupertino’s legal fees.

The case is one of many legal battles being waged between Samsung and Apple in the United States, Italy, and several other countries over intellectual property protecting their smartphones.

December 9, 2011
Apple’s Appeal to suspend the temporary injunction lift for Galaxy Tab rejected in Australia

First Apple managed to get an injunction against the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, The Korean company managed to get the courts to temporarily lift the injunction . Apple then appealed this lift of injunction, But it seems that this appeal was denied by the Aussie Court, as is being reported by The Register. Samsung will be now allowed to sell its Galaxy tab 10.1 throughout the holiday season, gathering up enough sales to recover initial costs of ad investments.

Samsung says the device will on on the shelf on Monday, December 12, with list prices of $579 for the 16 GB WiFi Galaxy 10.1 Tab, and $729 for the 3G version in Australia.

[The Register]

December 9, 2011
Apple’s request for block of Samsung sales in the US denied

US District Court Judge has rejected Apple’s request to block the sales of Galaxy devices. The two companies are engaged in a bruising legal battle that includes more than 20 cases in 10 countries as they jostle for the top spot in the smartphone and tablet markets. Apple sued Samsung in the United States in April, saying the South Korean company’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copies the iPhone and iPad.

It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed”.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.

December 3, 2011
Samsung to depose Jonathan Ive and other Apple employees

Samsung plans to depose a couple of Apple employees including Jonathan Ive, Shin Nishibori, Christopher Stringer and Douglas Satzger to name a few. This is part of the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung. Sammy was looking for a sit down for deposition before November 1st, although each one was unavailable for various reasons.

November 3, 2011
Samsung requests Source Code to ban iPhone 4S sales in Australia

Samsung and Apple wars rage on as this time around the South Korean Giant is looking to get revenge in Aussie-Land. Samsung has requested the source code for iOS 5 firmware including Siri, and has also asked for details on Apple’s subsidy agreements with Australian carriers Vodafone, Optus and Telstra. This is a part of the ongoing Apple Vs Samsung Lawsuit that caused a denial of sales of the Galaxy Tab in Australia. Apple believes Samsung has no need to access the information, but the lawyers from Samsung argued that there are fewer subsidies available for Samsung’s products if subsidies are given for the iPhone 4S, and hence the information was critically important. The South Korean also said that the source code is important to ensure that Apple ins not infringing on patents.

“Based on the accompanying firmware, [an expert] can tell how the chips are working in the phones, To form a final view on whether patent 621 is infringed, [an expert] needs to see the documents that set out the source code for that firmware.”

-Samsung counsel Cynthia Cochrane

Apple had sued Samsung earlier this year in several parts of the world claiming that Samsung had produces copycat devices that infringed a multiple of Apple device design and software patents. Due to which Apple was successful in lowering and banning sales of various Samsung devices in countries like Netharlands, Germany and Australia.

November 2, 2011
German court permanently bans Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Apple vs Samsung, Indian courts approached

German judge Johanna Brueckner-Hoffman has ruled in Apple’s favor on Friday by banning Samsung from selling its GALAXY Tab 1o.1 tablets in Germany.

The court is of the opinion that Apple’s minimalistic design isn’t the only technical solution to make a tablet computer, other designs are possible

– Said the Judge

Apple has also blocked Samsung from selling its GALAXY Tab 10.1 in Australia until a court there rules whether or not the tablet infringes on 10 of Apple’s patents. Apple has also approached the Indian courts to seek ban on sales of the Galaxy 750 in India. The benefit for Samsung here is that Apple will not be able to use the german courts ruling, because the name of the two devices is different. i.e. the Galaxy 750 in India and Galaxy Tab 10.1 rest of the world. Whether Samsung India was already expecting the legal battle is unknown.

Samsung, meanwhile, plans to appeal the ruling in a higher court and a spokesman said

We are disappointed with this ruling and believe it severely limits consumer choice in Germany.”

September 10, 2011
After EU Apple seeks to ban Samsung sales in Japan

It has happened so many times that we don’t even bother to care. Apple has moved to a Japanese and filed a new complaint against Samsung in Japan alleging that multiple Samsung devices infringe on its patents. Apple plans to ban sales of Samsung’s GALAXY S and GALAXY S II lines of smartphones, as well as its original GALAXY Tab Android tablet, Reuters reports.

Ryuji Yamada, CEO of Japanese provider NTT DoCoMo, is now saying that Apple’s lawsuit will not have any effect on next month’s Galaxy Tab launch. “We have heard from Samsung that there will be no obstruction to sales,” Yamada confirmed.

September 9, 2011
HTC takes aim, sues Apple using x-Motorola Patents

In the wonderful world of manufacturer patent-wars, a new twist has developed today. HTC has sued Apple using newly obtained firepower: nine patents picked up from Google last week. Theses patents have travelled from Palm – to Motorola – Google (who has bought Motorola) , Google transferred these patents to HTC last week, to power the HTC vs Apple suit.

HTC CFO had earlier said that HTC was trying to figure out and resolve problems with Apple. Looks like the sit down with Apple’s nasty lawyers didn’t work out for the Taiwanese Giant.

September 8, 2011
Apple Wins German injunction against Samsung, Galaxy Tab 7.7 removed from IFA

Apple has won the injunction filed in German Courts for the immediate halt in sales and display of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Several vendors in and across Europe have stopped selling the Galaxy Tablets launched this year. Samsung pulled its new Android tablet from both the IFA show floor and its German website on Saturday, in compliance with a Friday decision handed down by the same Düsseldorf Regional Court court that banned sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 last month. The 7.7-inch slate had previously been on display with a sticker that read “Not for sale in Germany,”.

Samsung said that it “respects the court’s decision,” and vowed to do everything it could to defend its intellectual property.

September 5, 2011
Apple blocks sale of the Galaxy Tab in EU : Case in Germany

Apple has won a preliminary injunction to stop the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the whole of the European Union except for the Netherlands. A new ruling by a regional court in Dusseldorf, Germany has granted Cupertino a preliminary injunction, blocking the sale and advertising of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple has a similar ongoing lawsuit in the Netherlands. Should Samsung continue to sell the tablet, the company could face fines of up to $350,000 for each violation. Apple also won the injection in Australia blocking the sale of the said tablet.

Samsung plans to appeal the injunctions, but the likely appeal will take about a month to be heard by the judge who granted the injunction.

August 10, 2011
Apple Faces Patent Infringement, For LG owned Fast Boot up process

A company called Operating Systems Solutions (OSS) is suing Apple for OS X’s fast booting operation.Apple’s function, seen the the Macbook Air launched this year, violates at least one protected claim, which details a four-step method for speedy booting, and involves files like config.sys and autoexec.bat.

The patent was originally granted to LG Electronics, back in 2002, but is now currently owned by Operating Systems Solutions (OSS).

[Patently Apple]

August 9, 2011
Apple testing Retina Displays from LG and Samsung for iPad 3

According to Korean Times, Apple is testing 2048 x 1536 displays for the iPad next.

Apple’s upcoming iPad 3 will feature an improved display to support quad extended graphics (QXGA), a display resolution of 2048×1536 pixels with a 4:3 aspect ratio to provide full high definition (HD) viewing experience,

According to their source the iPad 3 is the actual name of the device and not iPad HD. Apple did change its supplier of its primary chipset from Samsung to TSMC earlier this year. This happened due to the series of legal actions b/w Apple and Samsung. Apple however may not find a better manufacturer than Samsung or LG for the display.

July 19, 2011