Apple vs Samsung: IP History in the Making (Collier IP)

IP History in the making as a US court on Friday 24th August ordered Samsung to pay Apple over $1bn (£664m) after ruling it had infringed Apple’s Intellectual Property. Samsung are going to appeal and Apple has indicated it will seek sales bans on eight of the phones at the heart of the lawsuit at a hearing on 20 September. The models include the Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T model, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile model, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail.

The outcome was very different to the UK court hearing where Judge Colin Birss QC said: “They (the Samsung Galaxy Tablets) do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.” He said consumers were not likely to get the two tablet computers mixed up and ruled the Samsung tablets do not infringe Apple’s registered design. With different nuances in IP law between the US and the UK, different interpretations are placed on whether IP infringement has taken place.

Google, who recently issued a complaint against Apple responded on Sunday in the US. “The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims,” it said. “Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office. The mobile industry is moving fast and all players – including newcomers – are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We continue to work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.”

However, Apple could also attempt to limit sales of other Android-based models it believes infringe its patents.

According to recent data from analysts at IDC based on shipments of phones, Android had a 68.1% of the global smartphone market between April and June. Apple’s iOS had 16.9% and Windows Phone/Windows Mobile had 5.4%.

Maybe the industry will settle on cross licensing arrangements, but whatever the outcome, this is IP History in the making.