An ITC Judge said that Samsung infringed an important piece of an Apple patent by including a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tablets. If this decision is upheld, a decision that is expected in August, the ITC can order any infringing device to be barred from importation into the United States. Apple had claimed that that the Samsung Galaxy, Nexus, and Transform devices are all made with the infringing technology. Applie filed a complaint in mid-2011, accusing Samsung of infringing its patents when manufacturing many of their smartphone and tablet devices. ITC Judge Thomas Pender said in a discussion in October, that Samsung infringed 4 of Apple's patents but did not infringe 2 others listed in the complaint. The full commission said it wanted the judge to take another look at the portions of two patents where he initially found that Samsung infringed.
Apple is also waging an offensive war on several fronts against Google, whose Android software powers many Samsung devices. The legal battles between Samsung and Apple have now taken place in over 10 countries as they fight for market share in the mobile industry. Google's Android software has become the world's number 1 smartphone operating system. Apple's battle against the software has dragged to hardware vendors that use it, including HTC and Samsung.
Samsung also supplies parts to Apple, producing multiprocessing chips, flat screens, and memory chips for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Apple has reduced orders from Samsung for chips and screens.
It is interesting to consider how this litigation will play out and whether or not Apple will decide to continue this process and sacrifice relations with Samsung as a supplier. Perhaps they're not mutually exclusive, but it's hard to imagine high profile patent litigation cases while also wanting cooperation on the business side of things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzRefGDPgk
#1 Rule to negotiation: Separate the people from the problem
ReplyDeleteThesis of "The Prince" by Machiavelli: Be ammoral, not immoral.
I'm considering your analysis of business strategy, I don't think cutting off supplies to Apple is a credible threat. Remember, Samsung as a supplier's making money off this too!
Very interesting and informative article/video Aviv! We should definitely look at this closely and its impact that it will have with Samsung as a supplier to Apple. Apple has been taking several hits lately so I do wonder what is going to happen in the next couple months.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article and analysis. The scale of phones threatened to be barred is so extravagant, but does not seem likely. These infringement cases done by the ITC almost never end up with products being barred. Plus, these lawsuits will not hurt their relationships that much as Apple and Samsung have been suing each other for years now. Plus business is just business, and each companies only uses the other because its profitable for them.
ReplyDelete@maamaablacksheep, I agree that there can be both litigation campaigns and business cooperation. That being said, it is interesting to consider how public this relationship is becoming and how that is not necessarily reflective of their relations as two businesses complementing one another.
ReplyDelete@Dove, I think you're totally right. If most of the infringement cases ruled on by the ITC never actually manifest in an injunction, I wonder what the value is of having it in the first place. Also, given that these cases take so long, many of the technologies that are at risk of being banned are effectively irrelevant in the marketplace because of new models and generations of technology. Once again, the litigation process needs to match with the pace of the tech industry itself.
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