The ongoing patent ware between Apple and Samsung has been promising to brew beyond control since September 2011 when Apple notched notable rulings over the Korean giants which related to the sale of certain Samsung tablet devices. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with who is actually launching lawsuits against who in the mobile industry, with Apple and Samsung continuously going at each other and Motorola Mobility also being dealt a blow recently with the ITC making an initial ruling against their suit against Apple.
This most recent decision is being reported by Reuters as coming from a German court in Mannheim who have dismissed claims made by Samsung that Apple Incorporated have infringed upon their wireless 3G patents. The ruling by the court actually only covers one patent out of the possible three which are being reviewed, with additional decisions on the other two set to come on January 27th and March 2nd.
In a statement released by the company, Samsung have stated "We are disappointed that the court did not share our views regarding the infringement by Apple of this specific patent in Germany", and is taking some time to determine whether or not to launch an appeal on the decision. The rivalry and bitter intensity is only set to continue with Samsung recently passing Apple as the world’s top maker of smartphone devices.
The continuing rivalry between the two companies may also act as a catalyst for other companies to sit up and take note, thinking that they may be able to muscle in and steal some business away. Apple is regarded as Samsung’s largest customer, and the court disputes which keep on coming can surely be doing nothing for their working relationships. Even if Samsung was to win the two remaining patent cases, or have this result over-turned on appeal, these suits do not come without a cost as a senior executive of the company has revealed that they have racked up more than $60 million of legal expenses in the last 9 months alone fighting Apple.
The reason for this ruling hasn’t been made clear, but according to Florian Mueller from FOSS Patents, he believes that only two reasoning could be behind the judge’s decision. The first is obvious, in that the legal system just doesn’t believe that Apple have infringed upon anything. The second is that the judge could believe that Samsung have actually exhausted their patent, therefore ruling in favor of Apple.
(via electronista)
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