Apple

Judge rules that Samsung did not ‘willfully’ infringe on Apple’s patents

Cody Lee ∙ January 29, 2013

Last August, a California jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on several Apple patents in a high-profile trial. The initial damages awarded to Apple totaled $1.05 billion, but since Samsung was found to have 'willfully' infringed, that amount was expected to multiply.

Not so fast. The two companies have been attending post-trial hearings with Judge Lucy Koh over the past few months to plead their cases for appeals and other motions. And tonight, Judge Koh has issued a ruling overturning the jury's willful infringement finding...

Pressure mounts on Apple to reveal iOS source code

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2013

Samsung's first crack at cornering Apple into providing the iOS source code came in November 2011, when it argued at an Australian court it needed to take a look into the iPhone 4S firmware in order to determine the extent of an alleged patent infringement.

And on its own turf in South Korea, the Galaxy maker is putting pressure on the Cupertino, California firm to reveal the iOS 6 source code to judge whether Apple's mobile operating system - specifically, the Notification Center feature - infringes its technology patents.

To say that Apple wasn't impressed would be an understatement: lawyers for the iPhone maker called Samsung's request “insane” and argued its rival is trying to force it into revealing its “most important data”...

German court finds Apple to infringe Samsung’s 3G patent

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2013

A court in Germany has ruled that Apple's iPhone infringes upon Samsung's patents related to 3G wireless technology and has issued an order to stay a German Samsung v. Apple lawsuit. Patent blogger Florian Müeller who follows tech litigation explains that the case will be adjudicated only after the validity of this patent. Apple, of course, is challenging the validity of Samsung's patent, but that will likely take years to resolve...

Samsung talks ITC into reviewing its patent decision

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The Galaxy maker, Samsung of South Korea, has cunningly persuaded judges to review their preliminary ruling that more than a dozen Samsung devices copied Apple's patented iPhone features, Bloomberg reports this morning.

Last October, a judge with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recommended that trade agency impose an import ban on the infringing Samsung device. ITC confirmed Thursday it will review the preliminary ruling.

As a result, Samsung has managed to push back a final decision, which was originally scheduled for March 27...

Galaxy tablets didn’t copy Apple’s design, Dutch court rules

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 16, 2013

Apple isn't having as much litigation success in Europe as it's had over in the United States, where the jury hit Samsung with a massive $1.05 billion fine in the high-stake Apple v. Samsung trial. Courts in The Netherlands, for example, aren't nearly as sympathetic to Apple's infringement claims.

To refresh your memory, Apple has been claiming that Samsung's Galaxy tablets infringe upon its design patents for the iPad. However, it's been reported this morning that a Dutch court upon closer examination of Apple's claims has ruled that the Galaxy tablets do not infringe an the iPad design. Interestingly enough, the ruling mentions previous decisions in British courts...

Samsung sues Apple over Notification Center in Korea

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Samsung has reportedly filed a new lawsuit in its home country against Apple regarding its iOS Notification Center. It says that the feature, which Apple introduced last year in iOS 5, infringes on one of its active patents.

Of course, patent lawsuits have become commonplace between the two tech giants in recent years. Typically, however, Samsung has used its standards-essential, hardware-related IP to go after Apple. But this time it's software-related...

Apple appeals Judge’s decision to dismiss Samsung injunction

Cody Lee ∙ December 21, 2012

As expected, Apple is filing for an appeal on Judge Koh's decision to throw out its request for a permanent injunction against Samsung's products. In addition to the $1 billion in damages it won back in August, the iPad-maker was seeking a US sales ban on all of Samsung's infringing devices.

But in a pair of rulings handed down Monday, Koh denied both Samsung's request for a re-trial due to jury misconduct, and Apple's injunction request, noting that it would not be in the public's best interest to halt Samsung handset sales when only a few features were found guilty of infringement...

US Patent Office invalidates another key Apple patent

Cody Lee ∙ December 19, 2012

We've seen the United States Patent and Trademark Office reject or invalidate a few important Apple patents in the last few months, including one covering the infamous 'rubber banding' UI feature, and one covering the iPhone.

Today, the USPTO added another key patent to the list, tentatively declaring Apple's US 7,844,915 invention — widely referred to as the pinch-to-zoom patent — invalid. It's just a preliminary decision, but it's still a fairly big deal...

Samsung drops its bid to ban Apple products in Europe

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Is Samsung feeling magnanimous after a U.S. judge refused to ban its smartphones? That could be one reason why the South Korean firm Tuesday dropped its bid to ban Apple products in Europe. Although the company described its decision to withdraw requests to ban Apple devices in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands as "protect[ing] consumer choice", the Galaxy maker will continue to see Apple for licensing fees of patents it contends were violated by the company...

Judge denies Apple’s injunction request, throws out Samsung’s misconduct claims

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

While the high profile Samsung-Apple trial technically ended back in August, with Apple winning a staggering $1 billion judgement, the fallout is far from over. The two companies must still endure countless post-trial hearings and their subsequent appeals.

In fact, both sides met this month to discuss some of their post-trial demands. In addition to its large settlement, Apple wanted Samsung's infringing products to be banned, and Samsung wanted the whole trial thrown out on the back of jury misconduct.

Tonight, US District Judge Lucy Koh published her decisions on both requests in a pair of court filings...

Judge calls for ‘global peace’ between Apple and Samsung

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 7, 2012

Call it a Rodney King moment, or a holiday Hail Mary, but one California judge is asking long-time judicial combatants Apple and Samsung to play nice. Apparently, the idea went over like last year's fruitcake. Judge Lucy Koh Thursday made the plea as the two rivals met for an appeal hearing where the South Korean smartphone maker objected to its $1.05 billion patent-infringement fine and Apple argued the penalty should be increased...

Judge says patents involved in Apple-HTC deal must remain unsealed

Cody Lee ∙ December 4, 2012

In a ruling late last night, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh ordered that the patents Apple and HTC are cross-licensing as part of their settlement are to remain unsealed, suggesting that the public will eventually get a look at this information.

The order comes two weeks after US Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal granted Samsung's motion to compel, forcing Apple to disclose the terms of its deal with HTC to its legal team. But now it looks like we'll all get a peek inside the pact...