I’m sure you all know of the constant patent war raging between various tech companies & their competitors. Of all involved, none are more fierce than the differences (or lack of) between Apple & Samsung.
Judge Andreas Voss from the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled in favour of Apple in the second of five 3G/UMTS patent suits levied against the tech giant by Samsung, reports Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents.
FSM EXCLUSIVE DEAL Mueller, who attended the hearing on Friday, explains the decision may be based on the validity of the specifics regarding the case, and also notes that Samsung’s two losses thus far don’t necessarily mean the company’s three pending claims will be unsuccessful.
However, as noted by AppleInsider, if the basis of the ruling stemmed from patent exhaustion, it is likely that the remaining wireless patent cases will be thrown out.
So far, Samsung has been completely unsuccessful in Mannheim as it lost the first two in a total of five complaints in the span of one week, whilst the remaining 3 cases are yet to be dealt with. Its worth noting though that Samsung does still have the option to appeal against the rulings to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court.
Some would describe the relationship between the two rivals as incestuous. This relates to the fact that despite the ongoing public battle, they remain partners in iDevice component supplies with Samsung building the majority if the displays & other parts found embedded in the various iDevices.
[via FOSS Patents & AppleInsider]