After a four-week-long trial accusing Samsung Electronics Company (“Samsung”) of infringing on Apple, Inc.’s (“Apple”) patents for its smartphones, Apple is seeking an order to ban various models of Samsung smartphones from being sold in the U.S.
Apple previously filed orders in 2012 against Samsung for similar patent infringement cases but the U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh denied the injunctions. This past month, Apple successfully brought a patent infringement case against Samsung and “won $120 million of the $2.2 billion it sought.” However, the jury found that Apple itself had infringed on one of Samsung’s patents, so Samsung could turn around and file suit against Apple. In fact, the jury awarded Samsung “$158,000 in damages” because of Apple’s infringement of Samsung’s patents.
The battle to dominate the smartphone market has been complicated with legal battles, and the constant competition has played out in the courtroom. Apple and Samsung have been in court “since 2011 across four continents” for various reasons including patent infringement. Bloomberg estimates that the smartphone market is “valued at $338.2 billion, last year,” so it’s no surprise that Apple is so keen on getting a ban on the sale of older models of Samsung’s smartphones.
With its recent filing, Apple hopes to ban nine Samsung phones from being sold in the U.S. Those phones “include the Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S3 and Stratosphere.” The issue for Apple lies in Samsung’s alleged use of Apple’s “user-interface designs for the iOS software that powers iPhones and iPads.” In addition, the patents that Apple claimed were infringed upon by Samsung include “patent’s for a technology that enables links clicked in one application to open other applications(like an address in an email opening up in a maps app)” along with a patent for Apple’s “slide-to-unlock” design feature.
Samsung has seen mixed results in its patent infringement suits against Apple. In one case, Samsung received a favorable judgment that Apple infringed a patent “for camera and photo organization technology.” However, in another case dealing with “video transmission tech[nology],” Samsung was unable to show that Apple infringed on its patent.
A potential ban on the sale of Samsung smartphones would be more valuable than winning a $2 billion award for damages because competition between the two smartphone giants is tight and any import ban would push the victor ahead in the market. In two previous cases in 2012, Judge Koh rejected Apple’s request to ban other Samsung products, so Apple faces an uphill battle with its request for an injunction.
Since Apple recently filed its order seeking a ban of Samsung smartphones from being sold in the U.S., the result of this filing will play out in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned.