Subscribe

Apple, Samsung add products in lawsuit

By Reuters
New York, 16 Nov 2012

A US judge allowed Samsung Electronics to pursue claims the iPhone 5 infringes its patents, while also allowing Apple to add claims that the Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system violate its patents.

The ruling by US magistrate judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, was the latest development in a continuing legal war by Apple against manufacturers like Samsung whose products use Google's Android software.

Representatives for both Apple and Samsung declined to comment.

The case is one of two patent infringement lawsuits pending in the US District Court in San Jose by Apple against Samsung. An earlier lawsuit by Apple that related to different patents resulted in a $1.05 billion jury verdict against Samsung on 24 August.

Apple filed the second lawsuit in February, alleging that various Samsung smartphone and tablet products including the Galaxy Nexus infringed eight of its patents.

Samsung denied infringement and filed a cross-complaint alleging that Apple's iPhone and iPad infringed eight of its patents. US district judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction against pretrial sales of the Nexus in June, but the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the sales ban on 11 October.

Following the debut of the iPhone on 21 September, Samsung sought to add it as an Apple product that infringed its patents. Apple moved likewise to add the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Samsung Galaxy S III and the Jelly Bean operating system in connection with the Galaxy Nexus.

In his ruling yesterday, Grewal said Samsung acted with "reasonable diligence" in asking the court to allow it to add the iPhone 5 to the case.

Apple did not oppose adding the iPhone 5. Nevertheless, Grewal warned Apple to "think twice before opposing similar amendments reflecting other newly released products - eg, the iPad 4 and iPad Mini - that Samsung may propose in the near future."

Share