The iPhone 4S, unveiled Tuesday at Apple’s Cupertino, California headquarters, has officially been available for less than a day. And yet, already, Apple’s perennial global patent rival Samsung has moved to block sales of the device in France and Italy.
Bloomberg reports that Samsung “will file motions with courts in Paris and Milan” seeking a ban on sales of the iPhone 4S, according to an emailed statement from the South Korean electronics company.
On its blog, Samsung issued a statement explaining that its claims in both countries would “each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets. The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales.”
Blogger Florian Mueller, who’s been following the global patent duel between the two companies blow-by-blow since it began in April, on his FOSS Patents blog, says that the “essential” part of the statement is particularly important, as if it is accepted, Samsung will be required to license the essential technology standard out to all other mobile providers, including Apple.
Samsung on Wednesday announced that earlier in August, it had also filed an application with with the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, seeking to invalidate Apple’s design claims on the iPad in throughout all of Europe, The Korea Times reports.
Not only that, but Samsung is reportedly gearing up to file similar patent infringement suits and request sales bans on the iPhone 4S in other countries, yet to be determined, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Korea Times earlier reported that Samsung would try to have what was then being called the “iPhone 5” banned in South Korea.
The Journal notes that a Samsung spokesman said the company chose to focus on France and Italy first, “because they are ‘key markets’ in Europe and added that ‘factors including the local legal system and processes’ influenced the decision.”
Mueller calls Samsung’s latest strike against the iPhone 4S “deeply troubling,” because Samsung is seeking the iPhone 4S sales ban before and while a court decides on the infringement claim.
Mueller is wary of this because he thinks it could set a dangerous precedent for the entire industry, with plaintiffs able to “shut down entire telecommunications networks,” even if a court later determined, and a defendant agreed, to settle the matter by paying royalties. Still, he’s hopeful that at least in Italy, this won’t be the outcome, and he has an unlikely, if creative rationale for why not: Amanda Knox. As Mueller writes:
If the Milan court handed an injunction against the iPhone 4S based on standards-essential patents instead of analyzing what (if anything) Apple owes Samsung, it would create an equally outrageous commercial equivalent of the scandalous first-instance conviction of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend. I think the Italian judiciary can’t afford another embarrassment of that kind in front of the whole world too soon, but Samsung appears to be hoping that Italy will give the iPhone 4S an Amanda Knox treatment, which in turn would give Samsung some temporary leverage in settlement negotiations with Apple.
Meanwhile, the companies are also continuing legal action against each other in 9 countries and 4 continents around the world. The Australian market is the latest showdown, with Apple on Tuesday rejecting a settlement offer from Samsung that would have permitted the company to sell the Galaxy Tab there in time for Christmas. Apple currently enjoys a court-ordered temporary two month ban on the sales of Samsung’s device there, and Samsung has said that if the court doesn’t overturn the ban or if it can’t come to some agreement with Apple, it might withdraw plans to sell the Galaxy Tab there entirely.
Samsung currently leads Apple when it comes to total global mobile phone sales (18.8 percent to 5 percent, according to a recent survey), but Apple beats it in mobile phone revenue and is by far the king of the tablet market and is expected to continue its reign through Christmas and on to 2014, despite the advance of Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
