Samsung Electronics Co. is seeking to prevent Apple Inc.’s new smartphone iPhone 4S from going on sale in France and Italy.
The Korean firm announced Wednesday that it plans to file an injunction in the two European countries to prevent the device from going on sale saying that the new iPhone breached its patent rights on two accounts.
In a separate action, Samsung Electronics has made a move to invalidate Apple’s iPad design rights in Europe in order to resume selling its own tablet computers in the European market.
According to Samsung Electronics, the company filed an application for the annulment of Apple’s exclusive rights over the iPad’s design to the EU’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market on Aug. 9.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the iPhone 4S during an announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Tuesday. (AP-Yonhap News) |
Following a protracted lawsuit in German courts in which Apple accused Samsung of copying iPad’s design in producing Galaxy Tab tablet computers, Samsung Electronics was banned from marketing and sales of the device in Germany.
The two companies, the world’s top two mobile phone makers for the second quarter of the year, are engaged in similar disputes in a number of markets including France and the Netherlands.
In an unrelated development, Apple excluded Korea from the list of markets to see its new smartphone iPhone 4S first, despite market expectations.
While a number of speculative reports that Korea will be among the first markets to see the new iPhone, Apple announced on Tuesday that it would first release the phone in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. on Oct. 14.
The company also announced that the device will go on sale in 22 countries by the end of the month.
Apple did not mention the date for iPhone 4S’s release in Korea, giving rise to speculation that the device will come to the Korean market after its second launch in November.
With Apple once again excluding Korea from the list of early-launch markets for a new product, those in the local telecom industry speculate that the complicated administrative processes are to blame for the delay.
According to telecom industry sources, the process of approving a newly developed electronic device for sale takes up to two months, making it unlikely that the iPhone 4S would have been available here in October even if Korea were among the early-launch markets.
By Choi He-suk (
cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
<한글기사>
삼성, 애플 신제품에 가처분 소송 제기
삼성전자는 5일 오전(현지시간) 프랑스 파리와 이탈리아 밀라노의 법정에서 애플의 신제품 아이폰4S를 대상으로 판매금지 가처분 소송을 제기할 예정이라고 밝혔다.
삼성전자는 애플이 3G(3세대) 통신 기술인 WCDMA(Wideband Code Division Multi ple Access;광대역 코드분할 다중접속) 통신 표준에 대한 프랑스 특허 2건과 이탈리 아 특허 2건을 심각하게 침해했기 때문에 판매가 허용돼서는 안 된다고 주장했다.
이번 소송과 관련한 특허는 ▲전송할 데이터 형식을 안전하게 미리 알려주는 기 술(프랑스·이탈리아 공통) ▲데이터 전송 에러가 발생할 경우 데이터를 복원하는 기술(프랑스) ▲전송 데이터의 양이 적으면 묶어서 부호화하는 기술(이탈리아) 등이 다.
삼성전자는 이들 특허가 스마트폰 등 통신기기에 없어서는 안 되는 핵심 기술이 라고 강조했다.
삼성전자는 "휴대전화 등 핵심사업이 보유한 특허 자산에 대한 애플의 무임승차 를 더이상 간과하지 않겠다"며 "추가 검토를 거쳐 가처분 소송 대상 국가도 점차 확 대할 방침"이라고 덧붙였다.
