Apple Files New German Lawsuit Targeting Ten Samsung Smartphones

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg reports that Apple has filed a new lawsuit in Germany against Samsung, seeking to ban sales of ten different smartphone models over alleged design infringement.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) filed another suit in Germany, seeking to ban sales of Samsung Electronics (005930) Co.'s smartphone models, including the Galaxy S Plus and the S II.

The suit targeting 10 smartphones was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court and is based on Apple design rights Apple in Europe, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said via phone today. Apple also started a separate suit against five Samsung tablet computer models related to a September ruling banning the Galaxy 10.1., he said.

Germany has already been the site of a significant amount of legal action between Apple and Samsung, with Apple winning an injunction barring the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country. Samsung has apparently circumvented that injunction with the release of a design-tweaked Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the German market, although Apple continues to press forward with its legal efforts against Samsung's tablets.

Article Link: Apple Files New German Lawsuit Targeting Ten Samsung Smartphones

 

[Xenc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Another day, another lawsuit.

 

[*LTD*]

Apple is pretty committed. Nice to see them keeping up the pressure and consistently following through on their claims.

 

[roadbloc]

Yawn. This got a boring a long time ago. Apple needs to stop flogging the dead horse. No-one cares and these lawsuits result in nothing.

 

[reefoid]

Apple is pretty committed. Nice to see them keeping up the pressure and consistently following through on their claims.

Following through on their claims? Might help if they could actually win more than they lose/are thrown out. Not sure what the point is either, isn't this the same court that last time round couldn't actually manage to stop sales in Germany even though they wanted to?

 

[*LTD*]

Following through on their claims? Might help if they could actually win more than they lose/are thrown out. Not sure what the point is either,

Apple might very well win an injunction again. It costs Apple very little to keep this going, both in terms of resources and in terms of consumer mindshare. It's in their best interests to keep subjecting Samsung's IP and their design decisions to legal tests.

We already know the way Samsung plays the game. They're rip-off artists par excellence. It would be silly to let them get away with it.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

And the patent troll known as Apple files another one.
This crossed being about protecting ip a long time ago. Proof of this is in the fact they are doing this now. Just targeting these phones now like when some of them have been for sell for almost a year now.
Apple is running scared and now trying to play dirty.

 

[Dr McKay]

Apple is pretty committed. Nice to see them keeping up the pressure and consistently following through on their claims.

And yet if this was Samsung suing Apple, you'd be spouting your usual "Those who can't innovate, litigate".

 

[416049]

why another one.... hmmm maybe they were bored in the office.

 

[reefoid]

Apple might very well win an injunction again. It costs Apple very little to keep this going, both in terms of resources and in terms of consumer mindshare. It's in their best interests to keep subjecting Samsung's IP and their design decisions to legal tests.

We already know the way Samsung plays the game. They're rip-off artists par excellence. It would be silly to let them get away with it.

But the injunction last time meant nothing, Samsung got round it by supplying from non-German sources as the court only had authority to issue an injunction against Samsung Germany.

So what, exactly, is the point of this? It doesn't ultimately stop any sales. Samsung just get on with their business and Apple look like more and more like a litigation company. I can see in 20 years time Apple being a law firm rather than a tech firm

 

[*LTD*]

And yet if this was Samsung suing Apple, you'd be spouting your usual "Those who can't innovate, litigate".

You can't easily litigate against the same entity you are shamelessly ripping off.

This is why Samsung has consistently been on the defensive, while what few of their attacks against Apple have been half-hearted at best.

They even admitted their guilt:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13671894/

Samsung just gave what amounts to an admission of guilt.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/10/19/26/0501000000AEN20111019000200320F.HTML

Samsung: Galaxy Nexus designed to avoid Apple patents

“The Galaxy Nexus smartphone, the first handset built using a new version of the Android system called ‘ice cream sandwich,’ is designed to bypass potential legal attacks from Apple Inc., the mobile chief of Samsung Electronics Co. said,” Lee Youkyung reports for Yonhap.

“‘Now we will avoid everything we can and take patents very seriously,’ Shin told reporters Tuesday on the eve of the Galaxy Nexus launch. His comments were embargoed until Wednesday,” Youkyung reports.
Youkyung reports, “Apple secured temporary sales bans on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet computer in Germany and Australia on the argument that it copied the iPad. The injunctions will likely force the Korean firm to miss out on the key holiday sales season in both countries.”

“Patents are very complicated and can be difficult to identify, Shin said, but Samsung tried to ensure that no known patent by Apple is included in the new Android smartphone,” Youkyung reports. “Despite such efforts, he could not say with certainty that the Galaxy Nexus, dubbed by media as Google and Samsung’s answer to the iPhone 4S, would be entirely safe from Apple’s legal offense. ‘We will see if (the Galaxy Nexus) will be 100 percent free,’ from Apple lawsuits, he added.”

-----------------------------------------------

This is gold.

Shin just admitted they have either a) been copying Apple shamelessly the whole time, or b) have no understanding at all about what Intellectual Property means and don't particularly care to find out, or c) both a and b.

So NOW Samsung will respect Apple's patented IP?? How many units have these crooks sold already? They get away with copying and *then* make a late admission of guilt, and tack on a "we hope we'll be in the clear" statement?

Wow.

You can't make this stuff up. You just can't.

 

[reefoid]

You can't easily litigate against the same entity you are shamelessly ripping off.

This is why Samsung has consistently been on the defensive, while what few of their attacks against Apple have been half-hearted at best.

They even admitted their guilt:

The only reason Samsung has been on the offensive is because Apple keep chasing them, usually on very spurious claims. How many of Apple's claims have actually been proven? Very few. As they say, throw enough **** and some of it will stick. And Apple certainly seem to enjoy throwing lots of **** around.

 

[samcraig]

You can't easily litigate against the same entity you are shamelessly ripping off.

This is why Samsung has consistently been on the defensive, while what few of their attacks against Apple have been half-hearted at best.

They even admitted their guilt:

You have it completely wrong and are stuck in your reality distortion field.

A) they haven't admitted they've copied Apple. Nothing in that cut/paste job you did even suggests that.

B) IP and patents are so vast and complicated that it is EXTREMELY easy to overlap or unknowingly use or create something that has already been patented. Especially since language to too vague.

C) Even if they WERE aware - they might have every intention of challenging patents for being too vague and/or what they seem as not worthy of being patented

D) They haven't admitted to guilt for what YOU think they've admitted to. You seem to think they are admitting that they copy Apple. No - they've admitted nothing of the sort. They've admitted that there have been instances where their products have seemingly used technology that has been patented and that they take THOSE items seriously.

How is this bad? How is a company taking patent offenses seriously a bad thing? Would you prefer they issue statements stating they don't give a crap and Apple can kiss their butts?

 

[blackcrayon]

Yawn. This got a boring a long time ago. Apple needs to stop flogging the dead horse. No-one cares and these lawsuits result in nothing.

No one really has to care except the parties involved... You might just as easily complain to MacRumors for reporting it.

 

[*LTD*]

Yawn. This got a boring a long time ago. Apple needs to stop flogging the dead horse. No-one cares and these lawsuits result in nothing.

The parties involved certainly care. There are billions of dollars at stake here.

Motorola for instance, in similar litigation, certainly cared:

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/20...ary-sales-trail-estimates-on-litigation-costs

Motorola Mobility’s Preliminary Sales Trail Estimates on Litigation Costs

Motorola Mobility Inc. (MMI), the phone maker that agreed to be bought by Google (GOOG) Inc., reported preliminary fourth-quarter sales that trailed analysts’ estimates, citing mounting competition and higher legal costs.
Sales were probably little changed at $3.4 billion in the period, Libertyville, Illinois-based Motorola Mobility said in a statement today. Bloomberg analysts had forecast revenue of $4 billion. Motorola, which recently won a German patent ruling against Apple Inc. (AAPL), cited higher costs from intellectual property litigation and an “increased competitive environment” in the mobile-device market in the quarter.

The handset maker said it shipped about 10.5 million devices during the period, of which more than half were smartphones.

The company said it expects to complete its transaction with Mountain View, California-based Google early this year. Motorola fell 0.4 percent to $38.30 in extended trading, after closing at $38.46. The shares rose (MMI) 33 percent last year. The company plans to report earnings on Jan. 26.

----------

And the patent troll known as Apple files another one.

You can accuse Apple of "playing dirty", but you can't accuse them of being a "patent troll", since they don't actually fit the definition.

This has already been covered several times, in responses to you especially.

Let's at least use the right terminology!

A patent troll is one who buys and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers, often with no intention to further develop, manufacture or market the patented invention.

Apple builds things, ergo, not a troll.

 

[samcraig]

You can accuse Apple of "playing dirty", but you can't accuse them of being a "patent troll", since they don't actually fit the definition.

LOL - you could easily apply that to anyone YOU call a patent troll.

 

[*LTD*]

LOL - you could easily apply that to anyone YOU call a patent troll.

Such as? Samsung isn't a "patent troll" (at least not in this case), either. Folks like Lodsys, Sisvel, Compal, and Mosaid *are* patent trolls.

 

[smoledman]

Apple goes thermonuclear against Samsung

http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-files-new-german-lawsuit-against-samsung

Apple is going after Samsung again in Germany. According to a report on Bloomberg, Apple has filed two lawsuits against Samsung, claiming that 10 of its smartphones and five of its tablet devices, including the Galaxy S II, violate Apple's design rights. A Samsung spokesperson said that company had received both lawsuits but would not comment further.

Boy, Apple really has the entire electronics industry over a barrel. Between unprecedented demand for iOS devices and their patent portfolio, Apple is ready to deal the death blow in 2012-2013.

 

[boss.king]

http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-files-new-german-lawsuit-against-samsung





Boy, Apple really has the entire electronics industry over a barrel. Between unprecedented demand for iOS devices and their patent portfolio, Apple is ready to deal the death blow in 2012-2013.

They have no one over a barrel. They're like the spoiled rich kid who tries to get everyone else in trouble with the teacher. Seriously, when's the last time they won one of these cases? Last I checked all their wins were later overturned. It's important to protect your IP, but what apple is doing is embarrassing.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

http://www.neowin.net/news/apple-files-new-german-lawsuit-against-samsung





Boy, Apple really has the entire electronics industry over a barrel. Between unprecedented demand for iOS devices and their patent portfolio, Apple is ready to deal the death blow in 2012-2013.

minus the fact that Apple has had more than one judge call them on the BS and said that this is not about protecting IP but more about the fact that it is real competition that they are scared of.

Apple stop innovating and has gone to litigating.

 

[swagi]

Yawn. This got a boring a long time ago. Apple needs to stop flogging the dead horse. No-one cares and these lawsuits result in nothing.

Actually these lawsuits result in pretty much.

The number of people fed up with Apple grows every day - including me.

I will buy a Mac OS X laptop that is worth the money (i.e. also offers a Blu-Ray option) as soon as it is ready - but I will never ever buy an iOS device again.

Actually I toyed around with a Nokia Lumia 800 recently. Looked really nice. Either that or the soon to be announced Galaxy S3.

 

[smoledman]

They have no one over a barrel. They're like the spoiled rich kid who tries to get everyone else in trouble with the teacher. Seriously, when's the last time they won one of these cases? Last I checked all their wins were later overturned. It's important to protect your IP, but what apple is doing is embarrassing.

If you are an Apple investor, you should demand nothing less then zealous litigation in protection of your IP.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

If you are an Apple investor, you should demand nothing less then zealous litigation in protection of your IP.

no you should be demanding they start receiving licencing fees from it. Right now all that happens is Apple loses money on court cost and not gaining money.

Apple is not maximizing the amount of money it can get off its IP. Instead what Apple is doing is hurting its public image and looking more and more like a patent troll.

 

[boss.king]

If you are an Apple investor, you should demand nothing less then zealous litigation in protection of your IP.

I remember reading that Apple investors actually felt that Apples scorched-earth policy wasn't in their best interest. Instead, Apple should try licensing the IP it owns for a profit. I can't seem to find the article but I believe it was on the front page here at MR at some point.

 

[smoledman]

I remember reading that Apple investors actually felt that Apples scorched-earth policy wasn't in their best interest. Instead, Apple should try licensing the IP it owns for a profit. I can't seem to find the article but I believe it was on the front page here at MR at some point.

I would appreciate seeing even one article where a sizable number of Apple investors do not approve of the scorched earth policy.