Apple-Samsung Patent Trial : What the fight is all about

The Patent trials between Apple and Samsung reached a new climax in the US on Monday. The trial could decide the future of the smartphone and tablet industry as Apple has accused Samsung of slavishly copying the design of its prized iPad and iPhone.

Here’s a look at what each side is accusing the other of:

Apple’s arguments

Apple claims that Samsung has violated three of its patents: actionable linking, slide-to-unlock, and touch screen word suggestion. If found guilty, Samsung would be forced to remove these features from its devices.
Apple also claims that Samsung ripped the ‘feel’ of the iPhone, meaning the rectangular shape with rounded corners. The Cupertino giant wants more than $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung for these alleged violations.

Samsung’s Argument

The South Korean tech giant is not going to give up without a fight. Samsung has claimed that Apple copying the design for the iPhone from Sony.

Samsung also show the evidence to Jurors, claim that in the end of 2006, before Apple released iPhone in January 2007, Samsung had developed a next-generation handsets which called the F700, this new generation of mobile phone is simple, have rounded rectangular body and the screen almost fills the entire body, the whole front is a single button.

The experts said that although Apple demands the huge compensation, but the real purpose is to delay the Samsung footsteps to fight for more time for the iPhone5 release in October. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. District Court Judge, Jury selection was set to make a ruling about Apple and Samsung, which accuse each other of copying patents for smartphones and tablets.

Lamely, The law professor of Stanford University School, said, "All parties involved in the smart phone wars will eventually reconciliation." However Michael Yoshikami, the Destination Wealth Management chief executive, said : "Apple fight the lawsuit to delay the Samsung, to gain time until the iPhone5 release in October".

In fact, as the official phone of the 2012 Olympics at London, Samsung Galaxy S III Sales Hit 10 Million in two months. There is no doubt that it has become the hottest smartphone in the world. So Apple has a lot of work cut out if it wants the sixth generation iPhone to beat Galaxy S3. Maybe this is a way to achieve the objective.

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Judge says Steve Jobs shouldn't influence Apple vs Samsung trial

A U.S. judge on Wednesday approved Apple Inc's request to bar disparaging statements by Steve Jobs about Google's Android operating system from an upcoming patent trial against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Apple and Samsung, the world's largest consumer electronics corporations, are waging legal war in several countries, accusing each other of patent violations as they vie for supremacy in the fast-growing market for mobile devices.

Samsung's phones and tablet run on the Android operating system, developed by Google.

Before he died last year, Apple co-founder Jobs made a number of statements to his biographer about the company's intellectual property, saying he was willing to go "thermonuclear" to "destroy" Google's operating system.

In seeking to introduce Jobs' statements in court, Samsung argued in a filing that the thermonuclear quote "speaks to Apple's bias, improper motives and its lack of belief in its own claims in that they are a means to an end, namely the destruction of Android."

However, Apple argued in a court filing that Jobs' quotes are an inadmissible distraction, and asked that they be barred from trial.

At a hearing in a San Jose, California federal court on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said Jobs' statements were not relevant.

"I really don't think this is a trial about Steve Jobs," Koh said.

Apple sued Samsung last year, claiming the South Korean company blatantly copies its designs for the iPhone and iPad. Samsung denies the allegations and has countersued.

The trial is scheduled to begin July 30. Apple has won pretrial injunctions against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Nexus phone. Samsung is appealing both injunctions.

In another case in the smartphone wars, Chicago federal judge Richard Posner had said Jobs' quotes would be fair game in a trial between Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility unit. However, Posner eventually dismissed that case before trial, saying neither side could prove damages.

Also on Wednesday, Koh ruled that evidence about Apple's operations in China could be discussed, but could not be cast as human rights problems. Evidence of Samsung's taxes paid in the U.S. could also be discussed, Koh ruled, but Apple would not be able to make any insinuations of tax avoidance.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.

From: gadgets.ndtv

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