Apple Inc. won a further delay in the release of Samsung Electronics Co.’s newest tablet computer in Australia, with the South Korean company agreeing not to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 until the end of September.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, sued Samsung in Sydney Federal Court last month, claiming the 10.1 tablet infringes Apple patents. Apple also sued Samsung in the U.S. and Germany, claiming the Galaxy products “slavishly” imitated the design and technology of the iPad and iPhone.
Samsung planned to start selling the Australian model of the 10.1 tablet in the week of Sept. 12, with the company’s lawyer David Catterns today telling Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett he would resist any attempts to prevent the sales from starting as planned. He changed his mind when Bennett said it wouldn’t be “sensible” not to wait until a hearing on Apple’s request for an injunction barring the sales.
“We are prepared to defer our launch to the 30th,” Catterns told the judge, following a brief huddle with the company’s other lawyers and representatives.
Samsung had agreed at an Aug. 2 hearing to delay the sales of the 10.1 tablet to Aug. 31, after Apple claimed the device infringed 10 of its patents, including the “look and feel” of the iPad.
Samsung said the claim was based on a U.S. model and the Australian version was different. The company last week provided Apple’s legal team with three samples of the 10.1 version intended to be sold in Australia, Apple lawyer Steven Burley told the judge today.
“The new model has some reduced functionality,” Burley said. It still infringes at least two of Apple’s patents, he said, and the company will pursue its request for an injunction on the sales until a trial on the patent infringement can be held.
“It doesn’t have reduced functionality,” Catterns responded, saying Burley’s comment sounded like an Apple advertisement. “It has different features.”
A hearing on Apple’s request for the injunction was scheduled for the week of Sept. 26 and it will likely take two days, Bennett said.
The agreement to halt advertising and sale of the 10.1 tablet doesn’t affect any other Samsung tablet or smartphone available in Australia, or other countries, the company said following the Aug. 2 hearing.
A German judge said on Aug. 25 that Apple’s intellectual rights are probably strong enough to ban the sales of the 10.1 tablet in that country.
In the U.S., Samsung is arguing that Apple stole the design for its iPad from the Stanley Kubrick 1969 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” (Bloomberg)
<한글기사>
삼성전자, 갤럭시탭 호주시판 9월말로 연기
삼성전자가 호주에서 애플과의 특허 소송이 진행되고 있는 태블릿PC 최신버전, 즉 갤럭시탭 10.1을 9월 말까지 시판하지 않기로 동의 했다.
애플은 지난 7월 갤럭시탭 10.1이 아이패드의 디자인과 터치스크린 기술 등 10 가지 특허를 침해했다며 호주 연방법원에 소송을 제기했고, 삼성전자는 당초 9월12 일부터 호주에서 갤럭시탭 10.1을 판매할 예정이었다.
하지만 삼성전자측 데이비드 캐턴즈 변호사는 29일 호주 연방법원의 애너벨 베 닛 판사에게 "애플측 주장을 들어볼 방침"이라며 "이를 위해 갤럭시탭 10.1의 호주 판매를 9월30일까지 연기할 계획"이라고 말했다.
삼성전자는 앞서 애플이 특허 침해소송을 제기한 후 열린 지난 8월2일 재판에서 갤럭시탭 10.1의 판매를 8월31일까지 연기하기로 동의했었다.
삼성전자측은 그동안 애플측의 주장은 미국 모델에 기반한 것이며, 호주 모델은 다르다고 주장해 왔고, 지난주 애플측 변호인단에게 호주에서 판매될 버전 3개 모델 제품을 제시했다. (연합뉴스)
