Apple suffered a setback today in its ongoing patent dispute with Samsung. Judge Lucy Koh, who has been presiding over most of the patent litigation between the two leading smartphone makers, denied Apple’s motion for a permanent injunction against Samsung. Apple was seeking an injunction on Samsung’s Android devices that use touchscreen technologies patented by Apple, including the features that allow a user to zoom in and out by tapping the screen or dragging two fingers on the screen in a “pinching” motion.
This could impact future litigation because, according to patent expert Florian Mueller,”Judge Koh feels that Samsung’s competition is, for the most part, lawful, and Apple cannot obtain an injunction only because it is harmed by lawful forms of competition.”
Apple has repeatedly argued that Samsung’s competition is unlawful based on the company’s use of design features and technologies that Apple patented. Apple and Samsung head back to Judge Lucy Koh’s courtroom this month for a new patent infringement trial covering a more recent generation of devices, including the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S III. The iPhone 5s and the Galaxy S4 and S5 are not part of the upcoming trial.
Proving that it can successfully defend its design patents may be increasingly important to the Apple. The company is widely expected to make its next set of innovations in the home entertainment market, one in which Samsung is a major force. Apple TV has gotten off to a slow start, but its recent purchase of Israel’s PrimeSense renewed analysts’ interest in Apple’s TV ambitions.
