Samsung Galaxy S Phones Ban in EU to Start Oct 13th!
FOSS Patents reports that a Dutch case with Apple claiming Samsung violated a number of its patents and requesting a ban of all Galaxy S Phones has reached a decision earlier than the Sept 15th deadline. A judge has ordered all subsidiaries to cease selling all Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 smart phones.
The judge rejected most of the patent claims by Apple, but the patent violation that was upheld was using swiping gestures between photos in the gallery application.
(photo vai MacRumors)
This applies only in countries where this patent is valid, since Apple neglected to provide the right documentation and fees in some countries. FOSS patents reports that
" Those countries in which Apple didn't successfully pursue and complete a local registration include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Spain. Local registrations have apparently succeeded in Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK -- as well as the Netherlands, obviously.
In legal terms, the order does not bind Samsung's Korean parent company -- only three different Samsung subsidiaries registered in the Netherlands -- with respect to other countries than the Netherlands. However, it is my understanding that Samsung's European logistics use the Netherlands as the primary hub. If Samsung's Korean parent company wants to exercise its freedom to ship into other European countries despite this injunction, it will have to reorganize its logistics chain in Europe accordingly"
Samsung is going to alter its software in order to get away from court identified infringement, says the BBC. Samsung will also continue to fight Apple on these issues and notes that all but this patent were turned down by the court. Samsung basically has 7 weeks to adequately modify its software to steer clear of the infringement.
It appears as if Apple has made it's first actual strike on Android in the courts, and will continue to do so.
© 2011, orangekid. All rights reserved.
I hate Apple. Go away you commie bastards!
@uofajac, um…what does communism have to do with this? maybe you meant to say fascist?
@gTen, Indeed. Fascists seek to control everything (regardless of where their power came from), which certainly describes Apple. However, communism is the consolidation of power in the government rather than public, which excludes Apple. Thank God!
@GoodThings2Life, um..not really…the goal of communism as a whole is to replace capitalism. It does not set what kind of administrative body you have..under true communism though you don’t have a central government as everyone is equal and you live in a community, so each person in the community decides what they need and don’t need. You don’t have personal belongings as the entire community is like a family working together. So if you need anything from another community you buy it as a community. Since everyone is aware generally of whats supplies the community needs you order them in advanced thus preventing shortages and overproduction.
In a way communism is the ideal society..BUT it has a few major flaws. It is based on concept that there is no limited resources and also does not account for human greed. So if you have all robots, communism is perfect. Unfortunately with human beings it is impractical.
@GoodThings2Life, if you really want to argue semantics, yes, I agree based on its original declarations. But in practice, communism has never been executed in the way you describe.
@GoodThings2Life, Well thats tricky..I mean have we ever truly had pure capatalism? have we ever had a true democracy? or a true republic? None of those were ever accomplished in their truest forms..because human greed warps them..which is to be expected…the bigger the system relies on “trust” the bigger there is room for exploitation..communism is a fairly new concept in comparison to others so we do not have enough history behind it to judge.
So far the implementations of it have been dictatorships ruled by 1 party, but its not impossible some time in the future while not having “pure communism” to have democratic republic and communism.
PS Just to point out I am not for communism, but I do think people tend to group it as a dictatorship or 1 party ruling when in reality its just another economic system, nothing more.
Nothing new…as they will go around it no ban..that said this seems like a software related and generic one at that..I am pretty sure my winmo phone had this functionality even..
@gTen, I know my HD2 has this swype photo in the stock ROM, it’s pretty broad.
BOOM! Yeah, that just happened. J/K.
I think this patent war is getting ridiculous. Point in case: Samsung is claiming the Prior Art defense to Apple’s iPad patent, based on the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/23/samsung-cites-kubricks-2001-film-as-prior-art-defense-against-apples-injunction-request/
Why can’t they all just learn to get a long?
@rainfreak, Tell that to Apple…They just keep on suing everyone…
And yes I would be pissed at Samsung if they were suing everyone…
As much as I hate Apple, I wouldn’t want it to be banned from a market for something stupid because I believe in choice and options. And Apple would have much less enemies if they did not try to ban everyone else’s device…
I mean no one likes to wake up one morning to find out their device is banned…
@gTen, I’m sorry, but you cannot make me believe that this is 100% Apple’s fault. Sure, Apple did get a little sue happy, but they will pay for it in the end if they are wrong. And if they are right, consumers will pay for it with a lack of choice. But to say this is all Apple’s fault is as ridiculous at Samsung’s Prior Art defense. Though that is silly too, and this isn’t.
@rainfreak, This is only “one” of prior arts they submitted…the more the merrier…
You may think this prior art is silly but did you actually look at Apple’s art submission? Its effectively a generic screen and a frame..In EU they don’t validate art submissions, so all of them are accepted regardless how silly.
See them using that film as prior art sound silly I agree..until you actually see what exactly Apple filed for…
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/apples-eu-legal-win-could-prevent-all-oems-from-building-tablets/14175?tag=nl.e589
Yup…now Samsungs defense isn’t so silly after all…
Not to mention Apple can never pay for it..sure they can cough up cash, but in a business where Apple is almost a monopoly(Tablets at least)..the damage to reputation..unless Apple is willing to accept a ban on all their ipads as compensation? (which I am guessing they won’t do and just throw money which even if they pay for 10x damages won’t cover the damage to reputation)
Notice how Apple is going after bans and not licensing fees as most companies…this isn’t about money, its about damaging reputation and keeping competitors off the market.
not happy about all the patents regarding user interface. this simply means that every company is going to have it’s own input styles. it’s like saying ford is the only car that can have a steering wheel.
Oh, other cars can have steering wheels. They just can’t be circular.
Genius!
Apple’s patent in the case of the tablet was for a thin-ish rectangle with rounded corners. Seeing as several types of rock would qualify as prior art, a movie does not seem all that silly.
When companies realize they can no longer shovel in money doing what they’ve been doing, they sue themselves into irrelevance. I’m looking at you RIAA, glad you guys gave Steve some good advice.