Just when it appeared that the dust might settle after the two tech behemoths Apple and Samsung clashed in court ten days ago, Apple resumed the attack, this time going for the Korean tech firm's jugular.
After claiming a decisive $1.05 billion victory in court, Apple early last week requested an injunction, asking that eight Samsung smartphones be banned in the U.S. Later that same week Apple has once again upped the ante, filing an amended patent infringement complaint with the U.S. District Court of Northern California. The new claim (which is completely separate from the earlier request) accuses a total of 21 Samsung mobile devices of infringing on its designs for the iPhone and iPad, including the Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note.
The company's lawyers wrote:
"Since then [April 2011], Samsung has continued to release new infringing products, including its current flagship device, the Galaxy S III. While Samsung's new products infringe many of the same design patents, utility patents, trademarks, and trade dress rights that are at issue in the Earlier Case, Samsung's new products also infringe additional utility patents, some of which issued after Apple filed the Earlier Case."
The interesting thing about this new amended claim is that it actually differs from the previous one presented in the case. The new list of mobile devices are being called into question for allegedly infringing on Apple's patents related to the iPhone/iPad user experience, instead of physical attributes and feel. The amended claim examines such patents as the slide-to-unlock and word recommendation search features, with a total of eight patents being included in the new claim.
Samsung refuted Apple's claim this weekend going on to state to the Associated Press:
"Apple continues to resort to litigation over market competition in an effort to limit consumer choice. We will continue to take the necessary legal measures to ensure the availability of our innovative products in the United States."
Three of Samsung's most popular mobile devices the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 reside among the 21 devices being called into question in Apple's new claim, but not the upcoming Galaxy Note II. Having any of those three banned in the U.S. would be a significant blow to Samsung.
Should Apple successfully prove it has suffered irreparable harm as a result of these 21 devices, a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. sale of these devices could be put into place. However, seeing that the court hearing regarding Apple's earlier request, asking for 8 Samsung smartphones to be permanently banned in the U.S. has been pushed back to December, it might be some time before we see this dispute come to fruition.
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