2nd UPDATE: German Court Strikes Down Patents In Apple And Samsung Battles
March 02 2012 - 4:15PM
Dow Jones News
German courts made winners and losers out of both Apple Inc.
(AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.SE) Friday,
rejecting patent-infringement allegations involving both
companies.
A court in Germany dismissed a patent infringement suit brought
by Apple against Samsung over slide-to-unlock technology, and also
rejected a claim by Samsung that Apple infringed one of its
third-generation, or 3G, wireless patents.
The court's slide-to-unlock ruling hinged on the manner in which
the brush of a finger across a screen unlocks a device, said
Andreas Voss, the presiding judge in the case.
Apple's unlocking function has an on-screen start and end point
and works when a finger sweeps in a roughly straight line, he told
the courtroom. However, Samsung's slide-to-unlock feature differs
in that it permits "gestures of any path between start and
target."
Though Apple's slide-to-unlock patent had been upheld in a
previous case, the Cupertino, Calif., company's loss was
overshadowed by the court's decision against Samsung.
The Korean company's patents, which are part of a portfolio of
patents that are part of wireless standards, have been at the
center of series of battles. Several large companies, including
Apple, have openly said they disagree with how standards-essential
patents are licensed and called for a ban on injunctions against
any company seen to infringe them.
Apple in particular sent a letter to a European standards body
in November, requesting that licensing frameworks be created for
standards-essential patents. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have expressed similar views.
Google Inc. (GOOG) has become a focus of these battles because
of its planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
(MMI). Apple has argued that Motorola's royalty demands, which were
at one point 2.25% of net sales, is too high and that its practice
of seeking injunctions over standards-essential patents shouldn't
be allowed.
European regulators have also begun investigating Samsung for
the way it has litigated its patents.
Samsung said it welcomed Friday's ruling on slide-to-unlock but,
in an emailed statement, expressed disappointment that the court
rejected its patent claim against Apple.
It will review the written grounds of the judgment and expects
to lodge an appeal with a more senior court in Karlsruhe. It has
four further patent infringement cases pending against Apple at the
Mannheim court.
An Apple spokesman said there's "nothing specific to say re
today's news," adding that "it's no coincidence that Samsung's
latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad," and that "we
need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal
our ideas."
-By Harriet Torry, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 511; and
Ian Sherr in San Francisco; 415-439-6455
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