Apple ordered to publish notice that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab doesn’t copy the iPad

A few weeks back, a UK judge ruled that the Samsung galaxy Tab was “not as cool” as the iPad and dismissed Apples claims that Samsung had copied the design of its tablet. While Samsung may have been offended by the backhanded victory it was given, we’re fairly certain that their lawyers and executives are [...]]]>

UK judge rules Apple must publicly admit Samsung did not copy iPad design

Bloomberg reports that UK Judge Colin Birss has ordered Apple to post notice on the Apple UK website -- as well as Financial Times, the Daily Mail, Guardian Mobile magazine, and T3 -- stating that Samsung did not copy the iPad's design. This comes on the heels of the ruling from the British High Court stating that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, 7.7 and 8.9 are sufficiently different from Apple's design, and that all of them are strongly based on prior art. Apple must leave notice on their UK website for six months informing consumers of the ruling.

Apple's counsel of course pushed back against the ruling, citing that in essence they would be forced to advertise for their competition, telling the court “No company likes to refer to a rival on its website.” Of course, no company wants to spend millions to defend their products from invalid lawsuits, either. 

We hate legal squabbles around here. But we love this turn of events, only because this sort of punishment just might make those billionaires think twice before filing the next frivolous lawsuit. Hopefully, Judges in the US are paying close attention.

Source: Bloomberg

 

Apple demands retailers remove Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1 from shelves

Apple has sent letters to U.S. retailers selling Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and Galaxy Nexus phone, warning them not to sell the devices. Following a patent dispute earlier in the month Apple obtained preliminary injunctions preventing the Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus from imported into, or sold within the United States. In the case of the Nexus, however, sales are set to continue after the ban was delayed on appeal, and that device looks set to continue shipping from the Google Play Store soon.

In its letter, quoted on FOSS Patents, Apple demands that retailers refrain from "importing, offering to sell, or selling [the devices] within the United States," saying the injunctions apply "not only to the named Samsung entities, but also to anyone 'acting in concert' with them." It goes on -- "Apple thus believes that the order extends to you."

Whether Apple is legally in the right remains to be seen, (and that's a debate for folks smarter than us). But the attempted strong-arming of retailers shows just how badly the iPhone maker wants to prevent consumers from being able to buy these competing (and, they would argue, infringing) products. People close to the matter at Best Buy and Wal-Mart tell us that they've been complying with the order regardless of Apple's aggression. One such source told us, "We had planned to remove the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the shelves the evening the news [of the injunction] broke, and we received word from our district manager to go forward with the plan immediately." Despite this, some U.S. retailers are? still offering the devices for sale, and that's what seems to have provoked this response from Cupertino.

A statement released by Samsung condemned Apple's actions, saying "Apple’s menacing letters greatly overreach, incorrectly claiming that third-party retailers are subject to the prohibitions of the preliminary injunction, which they clearly are not."

Source: FOSS Patents; via: The Verge

This is what an Apple takedown notice looks like

Rene and his team over at iMore got their hands on a copy of Apple's takedown notice that's being sent to retailers who stock the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus. According to their source, they received both electronic (fax or e-mail) and physical copies of their demands, the text of which follows:

Re: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C-11-01846 (LHK)

[Name redacted]

We represent Apple Inc. in the above-referenced action.

We enclose a copy of the June 26 preliminary injunction ordered entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in this case together with a copy of Apple's U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 (the '604 patent'). With the posting of the requisite bond, the order is now in effect.

The order provides as follows:

For the foregoing reasons, Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED. Accordingly, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC; its officers, partners, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, subsidiaries, and those acting in concert with any of them, are enjoined for making, using, offering to sell, or selling within the Unite States, or importing into the United States, Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and any product that is no more than colorably different from the specified product that infringes on U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604.

(emphasis added).

As the italicized language provides, the order applies not only to the named Samsung entities, but also to anyone "acting in concert" with them. Apple thus believes that the order extends to you because you may be selling, offering to sell, or importing Samsung's Galaxy Nexus.

Please comply with the order by ceasing immediately to engage in any of the specified acts (e.g., importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States) in connection with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and any product that is no more than colorably different from it and embodies the '604 patent's design. At a minimum, Apple believes compliance with the Court's order requires immediately removing for sale the Galaxy Nexus from all physical and online venues under your direction or control.

Please contact the undersigned if you have questions.

Along with the letter came the pertinent US District Court ruling, weighing in at another 100 or so pages. It's clear that Apple is in this until the very end, and will use any tactic available to them under the law to carry on their feud with Samsung. Meanwhile, the fact remains that the ban on the Galaxy Nexus was lifted, and even Samsung admits the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an obsolete product. To us, this seems like a lot of money being spent (guess who eats that cost in the end?) that could be used to build inexpensive 7-inch iPads and larger screen iPhones, like consumers seem to want. The scanned copy of the letter itself is after the break.

Source: iMore

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Galaxy Nexus banned in the U.S. following preliminary injunction in Apple patent case

You read that right, sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the U.S. have been temporarily banned after the court granted Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Nexus in their ongoing patent lawsuit.

As soon as Apple posts a bond of approximately $96 million (the estimated costs for Samsung should [...]]]>

HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE delayed by US Customs over Apple patent ruling

Back in December you might recall that the International Trade Commission ruled that HTC was infringing upon one of Apple’s patents (#5,946,647 if you must know) and a ban was to be placed on the importation of a number of HTC devices.

The good news for HTC was that the ban wasn’t immediate and they had until April 19th to rectify the situation or face the ban on a number of their devices. Further good news is that the patent in question was for the UI behavior that pulls up a menu in response to a user selecting a recognizable numeric sequence or string of text like a phone number or email address and so it could be corrected via a software update.

Well April 19th came and went without any grave consequences, but HTC confirmed in a press release this afternoon that both the AT&T One X and Sprint EVO 4G LTE are now being held by US Customs as a result of the ITC exclusion order.

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

No word yet on whether this will delay the May 18th launch of the Evo 4G LTE on Sprint and while the AT&T One X has made it out to some users in its first week of availability the stock has already dried up online and with no new stock coming in stores will likely follow soon.

Nick Gray, our resident HTC addict, has both an AT&T One X and T-Mobile One S at the moment and verified that both still launch the dialer when selecting a phone number which would seem to be in conflict with the ITC’s ruling.

It’s unfortunate to see this great hardware from HTC held up by a seemingly trivial software detail and it seems impossible that with this ITC exclusion order hanging over their heads that HTC wouldn’t have dealt with the issue by now.

We’ll update you as we find out more.

Update: The launch of the Sprint Evo 4G LTE has been postponed with Sprint now simply indicating that it will be “coming soon.”

What do Apple and Microsoft’s June developer conferences mean for Android?

This June is going to be huge for mobile operating systems. Not only is Google hosting I/O, where they should be announcing several exciting things, but Microsoft will be announcing products and services at the Windows Phone Developer Summit, and Apple will be detailing iOS 6 at WWDC. I plan on going over some of the things I think we’ll see at I/O in another post, right now I want to talk about the competition.

Windows Phone could very well be on the verge of taking off. The Lumia 900 is reportedly selling well here in the States. Big name developers are finally gravitating towards Windows Phone. And the platform is about to receive a huge push from carriers like Verizon and AT&T. Knowing this, it’s still hard to tell what to expect from Microsoft at WPDS.

We know that Microsoft is going to try and lure developers at the conference. How? Showing off “Windows Phone 8,” as it’s rumored to be named, and giving away free devices to attendees are good bets. Boasting more carrier support might also be in the set list.

Back in late April, Reuters reported that Verizon was going to put some serious weight behind Windows Phone. Saying that the US’ largest carrier was working closely with Microsoft like they did with Google on the original Droid. For developers, this news is huge. Some of the original developers making apps for Android right before the Droid dropped are still the most popular apps today. If Microsoft were to announce nothing more than Verizon’s plans for just how seriously they’ll be supporting Windows Phone 8 devices, the Windows Phone Developer Summit would still be a success.

Even if Microsoft did announce something huge, like the Lumia 900 coming to more carriers in the US or Verizon as a launch partner for Windows Phone 8 this fall, these kind of events are rarely covered in-depth by anybody other than technology publications. So the general public is rarely immediately affected by the things announced. In other words, don’t expect Android’s market share to take a sky dive this June. I do, however, think the Windows Phone Developer Summit will be the next phase of Microsoft’s rise to relevancy.

As for Apple, no one knows anything. Even going by past years at the Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, we’re still just guessing. In the past, Apple has announced the next iPhone at WWDC. Last year they waited until the fall though, and just spent the conference discussing software changes. There’s good reason to believe that will be the case this year. But unlike Microsoft, the things Apple could announce may be immediately disruptive to Android and Google. Especially since Apple likes to announce a product, and get it out as soon as possible.

The two most popular rumors surrounding iOS 6, expected to be detailed at WWDC, include maps and social networking.

The social networking rumor is new this week, but carries a lot of weight. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will be updating iCloud to include photo sharing. Allowing for comments, likes, etc. on iCloud will essentially turn Apple’s cloud based storage service into a full-blown social network. With the amount of people already using iCloud, they’d have a ton of users right off the bat. And more would undoubtedly want to join. I could see entire families switching to iOS just so everyone can use the photo sharing feature built right into iCloud. All it would take is one member of the family already using it and everyone else would be sucked right in (I’ve seen it happen with things as small as Facetime. True story.).

It’s hard to imagine the full scale of damage iCloud photo sharing could have on Android. There may be an exodus of people looking to get in on Apple’s exclusive social network, or it may do nothing at all. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on though.

The other half of the two most popular iOS 6 rumors will be crazy huge for Google. But it might not be all bad.

Apple is expected to announce a new maps app in iOS 6. One that has nothing to do with Google. Yes, seriously. Even though Google Maps is largely regarded as the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to geography, Apple will be ditching the service and releasing their own competing service. The immediate thing this means for Google is that as soon as Apple throws the switch and their maps app hits iOS devices everywhere, Google will lose millions upon millions of users in a flash. The damage there will be instantaneous. But it could go even further.

Let’s say for a moment, that like the Mac Press would have you believe, iOS 6 maps is going to blow your mind. There’s supposed to be some awesome 3D technology implemented in the app, and it’s supposed to be super reliable. If the app is good enough, Apple may actually be able to lure in customers it. If it’s not amazing, then it works to Google’s advantage. Google will be able to lure in customers by boasting the leading name in mapping software, Google Maps. No matter what happens, Apple’s maps app will have an effect on Android. There’s no doubt about it.

Those are just some of the things I expect to see detailed at Microsoft and Apple’s developer conferences this June. Who knows what else could be detailed, and how they can affect Android. What kinds of things do you expect Microsoft and Apple to announce at their developer conferences this June? Any new services or products? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple and Samsung feud may finally end?

For a few years now, we have witnessed the long standing rivalry between the two phone giants, Samsung and Apple. The string of lawsuits and attempts of products bans from both parties make it appear that they're irreconcilable.

Just recently, reports were out that Judge Lucy Koh ordered a meeting between the two companies. Could this mean peace? The meeting is seen to be an attempt to end the ongoing madness and is said to be set on May 21 and 22.

If we will base the outcome of this meeting on their history, there's no doubt that the meeting will be intense and tension-filled. But with the court/mediator around, there may be hope for lasting understanding between the two companies. Until then, we have to wait and see.

Just to refresh your memory (if you want to), you may check out the great infographic provided here on the Samsung vs Apple Patent War.

Tags:

• google vs apple
• legal patent
• patent wars
• samsung vs apple

Samsung protesters tell Apple iSheep to “WAKE UP”

We know Samsung has an unhealthy obsession with Apple, but this is getting a little weird. This week in Australia, Samsung hired a marketing agency called Tongue to conduct some kind of guerrilla marketing campaign where they sent a bus of protesters to an Apple store and taunted people with the message “WAKE UP.” Check out the video below and let us know what you think.

They also created a website called Wake Up Australia that includes a countdown to the Galaxy S III launch. See if you can crack the code and figure out the next Galaxy launch date.

German court said enough is enough, throws two patent between Samsung and Apple cases

A Manheim regional court in Germany today launched two disputes between Samsung and Apple patents: the first on Apple ' s trial on Samsung ' s technology 3 G/UMTS, the second on Samsung ' use of s slide to unlock gesutres on its devices. The negative decision of Samsung is the third in a row in Germany, while the decision against Apple is the first of two, the second scheduled for a hearing March 16.

The Court decision comes just a few weeks after a Court in Munich decided that Motorola had indeed infringed on Apple ' patent s slide to unlock, resulting from changes being made to Motorola ' s unlock feature.

Today ' s decision is just a drop in the bucket, as it is of at least 14 disputes between Samsung and Apple pending in Germany, with more to start around the world. Samsung has already promised to call today ' decision, while Apple will probably do the same.

The back and forth between Apple and other manufacturers is by no means complete, but it is refreshing to see a judge as fed up with her as everyone is. With Apple, Samsung, Motorola and HTC all set to release some heavy devices - hit in the coming months, we ' ll be sure to keep you posted as the ravages of the war on.

Source: free software patents