Apple achieved a critical victory today in its European patent infringement case against rival Samsung when a Dutch judge granted a preliminary injunction banning Samsung from selling its’ line of touchscreen smartphones in much of Europe beginning October 13.
Affected models include Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Ace phones, all of which run variants of Android OS, reports Florian Mueller on his blog FOSS patents.
The ruling out of Rechtbank’s-Gravenhage district court in the Hague, Netherlands, upholds Apple’s claim that one patent in particular was violated – EP 2059868, which concerns photo viewing and swiping on a touchscreen phone, the BBC reports.
Apple didn’t get everything it wanted, though. In fact, on at least three counts, the injunction won’t be as bad for Samsung as it could have been: First, Apple brought many other patent infringement and design copying claims against Samsung that the judge threw out.
Second, the injunction only covers those European Union countries where Apple has valid patents.
While the company applied for patents in some 30 countries, there are at least 14 countries in which Apple let its applications lapse, including big markets in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Iceland.
A full list of the countries is available over at FOSS Patents.
Finally, the injunction is applicable only to current Samsung touchscreen smartphones, not any future releases, which could be altered to avoid the specific patent infringement.
That may be why Samsung’s statement to the BBC is so incongruously chipper:
“Today’s ruling is an affirmation that the Galaxy range of products is innovative and distinctive.”With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers.”
Just last week, Samsung was able to get a district court in Dusseldorf, Germany, to significantly modify a preliminary injunction prohibiting sales of the Galaxy Tab tablet across the continent, also requested by Apple. The new ruling said the court’s jurisdiction applied only to Germany, allowing Samsung to go ahead and sell to all other countries.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Samsung has launched a creative, some might say outlandish, counter-attack on Apple’s tablet patent infringement claims, arguing that the iPad isn’t original and not deserving of patent protection because a similar device appeared in the hands of astronauts in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
For now though, the momentum in Europe appears to be in Apple’s favor. Stay tuned.
