Another day, another lawsuit. If you thought these suits were going to slow down and peter out, you’re not in for much luck.
The two smartphone giants are once again at loggerheads after Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung in Germany last week. Apple is seeking the ban on a number of Samsung’s smartphones in Germany.
The suit claims that ten Samsung smartphones violate Apple’s design patents. A separate suit claims that five of Samsung’s tablets also violate patents, including the Galaxy S II.
But only last month, the Dusseldorf court said it is unlikely to grant Apple an injunction against Samsung’s revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which was changed to stand out from the iPad for which Apple claimed it had remarkable design similarities.
Apple had previously attempted to seek a ban on Samsung’s tablet product range. Last month, Apple believed that Samsung violated at least ten of its patents. Samsung struck back at Apple by alleging four of its own patents were infringed, including one involving a smiley face emoticon.
Both Samsung and Apple have been at each other’s necks since April last year, when Apple brought its first patent infringement case against the Korean smartphone and tablet giant. Despite a series of injunctions and sales bans, Samsung still expects record profits.
The tit-for-tat legal bickering is not expected to die down any time soon. The patent war between the two companies has spread to over 30 cases in 10 jurisdictions, including Australia, Europe, and the U.S.
While Samsung remains on the most part the defendant in most cases, the company is hardly complaining. Apple’s attempt to block the sale of its products invariably made the Galaxy Tab a “household name”.
A Samsung spokesperson acknowledged the lawsuits, but declined to comment.
Image source: CNET.
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