Patent War Between Apple and Samsung Continues
Friday 16 August 2013 @ 12.27 p.m. | IP & Media
As the Bloomberg website recently reported Apple has scored several legal victories recently that "still leaves unclear whether the iPhone maker will be the victor in global patent battles over technology" especially with key rival Samsung.
The victories referred to are as follows:
- The US trade agency on 9 August 2013 issuing an import ban preventing Apple’s chief competitor, Samsung from selling devices in the USA that infringe two of Apple's patents.
- President Obama’s administration earlier overturning a similar ban won by Samsung against some of the older Apple iPhones.
- The US appeals court's revival of Apple’s patent case against Google’s Motorola Mobility.
Between them, Apple and Samsung make almost half of all smartphones sold. Currently Samsung holds the title of world’s biggest manufacturer but the two companies are in constant battle to be number one in the USA and globally.
Bloomberg reports that:
"All of the companies are vying for a bigger share of the $293.9 bn market, which increased 34 percent last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
Samsung takes the title for "world’s biggest manufacturer" but faces issues in the USA where some Samsung devices are alleged to infringe two Apple patents for multi-touch features and headphone jack detection. Samsung's newer devices work around those patents and have been cleared by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) of infringing patents for the design of the iPhone.
The ITC Decision
The six-member ITC found Samsung had infringed the multi-touch screen patented feature that names late Apple co-founder Jobs as one of the inventors, and another patented feature for detecting when headphone jacks are plugged in to a device.
The ITC overturned ITC Judge Pender’s findings of infringement on two other patents, a design patent for the iPhone’s flat front face with wider borders at the top and one covering translucent images for applications displayed on a phone or computer screen.
The ITC agreed with Judge Pender that some of Samsung’s models had successfully worked around the infringed patents ruling that it was unclear how many of Samsung’s phones would be affected by the import ban, which is subject to review by the Obama administration. Samsung can import all of its phones during that review period, while Apple can argue to US customs officials that Samsung’s new models copy the inventions.
The Real Solution
The real solution as Bloomberg reports is not a continuing war in the courts but a fairer competition in the market place. Adam Yates, a Samsung spokesman quoted in the Bloomberg report says:
“The proper focus for the smartphone industry is not a global war in the courts, but fair competition in the marketplace . . . Samsung will continue to launch many innovative products, and we have already taken measures to ensure that all of our products will continue to be available in the United States.”
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