Will this patent dispute ever end? We heard last week that Apple has managed to successfully been able to get the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Australia, while a US district judge has also indicated that the Tab does infringe Apple patents.
Well, to no surprise really, Samsung have announced their intentions to apply for an injunction against Apple and the release of the iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia, as well as the company looking at the possibility of also getting the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 banned as well.
The injunctions in each country relate to slightly different things, below is what Samsung are claiming against.
Patent Claims in Japan:
1) One HSPA patent which relates to a method for deciding amount of power consumption during data transmission
2) Three user interface patents that are essential for displaying information on the screen, specifically UIs for the “in flight mode” indicator (airplane icon); for customizing a smartphone’s home screen; and for browsing applications categorized in a tree structure (in an apps store).
Patent Claims in Australia:
1) Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving packet data using pre-defined length indicator in a mobile communication system (WCDMA)
2) Method and apparatus for data transmission in a mobile telecommunication system supporting enhanced uplink service (HSPA)
3) Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data with high reliability in a mobile communication system supporting packet data transmission (HSPA)
Samsung also said as part of their press release that “In light of these violations, Samsung believes the sale of such Apple devices should be banned. Apple has continued to violate our patent rights and free ride on our technology. We will no longer stand idly by and will steadfastly protect our intellectual property”.
As it stands both companies are embroiled in around 20 patent cases around the world, both blaming each other for the various patent disputes.
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