The CEOs of Apple and Samsung are in their second day of closed-door negotiations aimed at settling their ongoing patent disputes. The stakes got a little higher late last week when Apple filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. Apple is asking U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh to rule without a hearing, since a hearing on the design patent in question was held last October.
Judge Koh ordered Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Geesung to meet this month in hopes that at least some of their claims could be settled before the cases go to trial this summer. Even before this meeting, both companies agreed to drop some claims but there are still plenty remaining.
The patent war between Apple and Samsung is currently being fought in nine countries, and so far most rulings have gone Apple’s way. “Samsung is arguing from the past and Apple is arguing from the future,” says analyst John Feland of Argus Insights. “The Samsung defense claims cluster around core mobile operations, which have been part of cross licensing with other handset manufacturers for years. … Apple’s claims tie more directly into the future of handsets and by claiming a raft of utility, design and trade dress assertions against Samsung, (Apple) is attempting a ‘whole is great than the sum of their parts’ argument.”
In other cases that have been decided in favor of Apple, injunctions have usually not stopped Samsung from selling its smartphones and tablets.
“Samsung can tweak a curve, a font, a color and be clear of any violation in a legal sense while still surfing the brand strength of Apple,” says Feland. Although Samsung denies claims that patent litigation has influenced its design choices, some observers think the company tries to differentiate its products from Apple’s just enough to avoid more legal problems.
Going forward, Samsung may have to be more aggressive in creating unique devices. U.S. trade authorities have made it clear that they are willing to enforce import bans. The ITC prevented HTC’s Evo 4G LTE phones and HTC One X phones from shipping to U.S. retailers last week, after the commission found last year that the phones infringe on an Apple patent. HTC now says some of its models are being released to carriers, and Sprint Nextel says it will start selling the Evo 4G LTE this week.
Feland thinks that if Apple wins its case against Samsung, the Korean company could face import bans if it does not redesign its devices. “Apple probably won’t license to Samsung and they’ll be forced to delay shipments/change their designs,” he predicts.
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