The patent war between Apple and Samsung shows no sign of letting up, and the latest developments will only serve to keep the pair simmering along, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
Samsung has been denied in its request for a preliminary injunction against Apple’s iPhone 4S in Italy – the third time the South Korean giant has been knocked back over the same request in Europe.
Samsung had already found itself on the wrong side of the courts’ decision in both France and The Netherlands. The Galaxy Nexus maker can now add Italy to its list of losses!
The whole patent war between the pair first kicked off back in April of 2011, when Apple first accused Samsung of ripping off the iPhone and iPad when designing its own smartphones and tablet devices.
Where the pair go from here is currently unclear. While both sets of lawyers may be happy to continue their tit-for-tat approach to patent law, the tech world as a whole is growing tired of the whole debacle.
It had been wondered whether the rise of Tim Cook may see a softening of stance on the situation, but both parties seem determined on mutually assured destruction.
The arrival of Cook signaled the end of the Steve Jobs reign before his death. With Jobs apparently the driving force behind anti-Android sentiments inside Apple, it had been wondered whether Apple’s approach would change under the stewardship of Tim Cook.
Apple has seen recent wins in The Netherlands, Germany and Australia, where the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was banned from sale due to legal wrangling and preliminary injunctions were granted. If those injunctions are later deemed invalid, though, Apple could be left on the hook for huge damages.
If that were to be the case, Apple may then decide a change of tact was in order during its future patent defenses.
How things will pan out in the long term for either company remains to be seen, but we expect to be covering such legal happenings for a good while yet!
On a personal note; we believe that the patent war at this point is becoming rather childish. It would be better if both company’s part their ways and do what they do best, make awesome products. But, then yet again, who doesn’t like their favorite team to win?
You can almost taste the excitement!
(via FOSSPatents)
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