Samsung, Google gain in Apple patent fight

Motorola’s win against Apple in Germany means rosy outlook for Android


A German court’s recent decision to ban the sale of Apple products in Germany dealt a blow to the U.S. tech giant, while offering a positive outlook for Google’s Android alliance.

Munich-based patent expert Florian Mueller said that the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany on Friday barred Apple from selling any mobile devices infringing on two Motorola Mobility patents in the country ― the single largest market in Europe.

The court also determined that Apple owes Motorola Mobility, which is now owned by Google Inc., damages for past infringements since April 2003, and Apple may be banned from selling wireless devices until the court reaches a second decision, Mueller wrote on his blog “FOSS Patents.”

Eyes are now on Google and the mobile makers of its Android platform, most notably Samsung Electronics, and what impact this court ruling is likely to have.

Apple is now in litigation with three major Android device manufacturers ― Samsung, HTC and Motorola.

“We’re also continuously pushing to put intellectual property claims against Apple on patents related to wireless technologies and we believe this ruling will have a positive impact on us as well,” said a Samsung official.

Samsung has lost four legal battles against Apple, one of which restricted the Seoul-based electronics giant from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.

The company, which became the world’s No. 1 smartphone maker for the first time in the third quarter of this year, was later ordered to remove another one of its tablet PCs ― the Galaxy Tab 7.7 ― from its stand, after unveiling it at the global electronics trade show IFA in September.

The incident was recalled by Shin Jong-kyun, chief of mobile business at Samsung Electronics, as he told reporters in Hong Kong last month that it led him to ask what would become of Samsung if it did not take firm counteractions.

“We can’t keep losing. It seems to be only the beginning and it does not look like it’s going to end anytime soon,” he said.

The company has most recently asked judges in France, Italy, Japan and Australia to ban sales of Apple’s newest iPhone 4S, saying that the U.S.-based firm has violated its mobile and user interface patents.

As iPhone 4S is set to roll out in Korea on Nov. 11, Samsung is currently looking into making similar claims against the product here.

Aside from accusations against the iPhone 4S, Samsung and Apple are engaged in about 30 different patent battles in nine different countries, including Australia, the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands.

Apple has won four preliminary injunctions against Samsung ― two in Germany, one in the Netherlands and another in Australia. But a California court recently ruled in favor of Samsung, dismissing Apple’s claims that Samsung misrepresented its intent to license certain patents on fair terms.

In a related move, Samsung and Apple were both questioned by the European Union antitrust regulators over the use of smartphone patents.

The EU Commission said Saturday that it asked the two firms to give details on the enforcement of standards-essential patents in the mobile telephony sector.

Standard-essential patents, which need to be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, cover fields which are important to comply with industry standards like third-generation network technology.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)