The worldwide court battleground between the two tech giants Apple and Samsung only seems to be growing in absurdity this week, after court decisions in varying countries meant unpleasant outcomes for both parties.
To help anyone who may have been hearing numerous things about these lawsuits but have had a hard time understanding the complex situation, let’s go back to the beginning.
Apple and Samsung started to get engaged in a patent war in California last April, when Apple claimed that some of Samsung’s devices, including their phones and tablets had infringed on several of the intellectual property patents and trademarks of Apple. It’s even caused the Galaxy Nexus to go off of sale briefly.
In a desperate move to make themselves look victimized, Apple had tampered with several of the images in the exhibit that was meant to compare their iPhone 3GS to the Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Samsung quickly took advantage of the shady move by Apple, and countersued them saying that Apple had actually infringed on some of their telecommunications patents.
Between then and now, one injunction filing after another has been placed in several countries, including Japan, Germany, Australia and Holland, with the outcomes varying in country to country.
If your law knowledge isn’t so hot, an injunction is an order by a court to cease from doing certain acts, which in the case of Apple and Samsung would mean that they would not be able to sell or distribute their products in the countries in which it is order.
With America being as large of a market as it is, Samsung got the worst of it when a judge in Northern California enjoined Samsung from selling their Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the United States.
From here on is where the outcomes for both parties kind of go all over the place.
After Samsung was enjoined, they were turned down by a U.S. appeals court twice to lift the ban, the second time happening this week. While that may be a victory for Apple, there is a catch for them as well.
If it is found that the Galaxy Tab tablet was in fact enjoined wrongfully, then Apple would have to pay $2.6 million towards any Samsung damages. It’s pretty hard to say who has won the US case, though Apple clearly is holding the upper hand for now. However, as other countries like Holland and Australia have shown, the initial decisions handed down in favor of Apple can be overruled.
The decision in Germany was a big slap in the face to Apple, in which a judge not only found that the Samsung products did nothing to infringe on Apple’s intellectual property, but also ordered Apple to produce an advertisement that more-or-less apologies to Samsung for the troubles, and must insist that they did nothing to copy Apple.
As Information Week says, how Apple will go about doing this is left to be wondered.
So what is there to say of all of this. Well for one, even if the enjoinment lasts, it’s not going to necessarily be the end of Samsung, nor will their brand really be tarnished either.
The US decision is just one perspective, and the rest of the world has shown that Apple is far from ever having been infringement victims, but instead, stopping at nothing to retain the market control that they have famously acquired.
Has this situation changed your view of the Apple or Samsung brand at all? Share your thoughts!
The post The Growing Absurdity of the Apple v. Samsung Battles appeared first on Geek My Gadget.