Josh Ong
Justice Annabelle Bennett told the court on Tuesday that the three-week hearing will begin next March, adding that she plans to fix the exact date on Friday. Apple had requested that the hearing take place next August, but Bennett said the timing was too late, Reuters reports.
"They [Samsung] are trying to expand the Android market. The longer it's left the harder it will be for Samsung," she remarked.
In the meantime, Apple will be allowed to continue sales of its latest iPhone, which launched in the country on Oct. 14. According to the report, Samsung's case against Apple in Australia accuses the company of infringing on three patents and carries more than 25 claims.
Samsung has opposed the iPhone 4S in several countries across the globe. For instance, the company filed preliminary injunction requests against the device in France and Italy almost immediately after Apple announced the handset. However, an Italian judge denied the South Korean electronics maker's request late last month and allowed Apple to launch its latest smartphone in the country.
Interestingly enough, Samsung has decided not to seek an injunction in its home country. A Korean newspaper revealed on Monday that the company opted not to file at the last minute because of public relations concerns.
"We concluded that we should engage in legal battles with Apple only in the global market," a spokesperson for Samsung reportedly said, "but not in order to gain more market share in Korea."
The two companies' fierce legal battle spans 10 countries and encompasses more than 20 complaints. Apple has seen some success against Samsung in Australia, winning an injunction against its rival's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the region. But, Samsung is appealing the decision, arguing that it was based on "irrelevant considerations" and that the judge made "errors of law in her approach." A formal hearing regarding the injunction is expected to be held next week.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
15 Comments
Hmm... Ah well, I'll just sit here and wait for the iPad 3. My mum is reading the Steve Jobs biography on my iPad 2 when I'm not using it LOL.
Take Samsung down a few pegs. They have made their way through monopolistic practices in their own country and have only succeeded globally by copying others, not through innovation.
Apple lawyers claimed they needed until August to prepare for trial. So much for an open and shut case.
Don't forget that Apple should have revealed some IOS5 source code related to Qualcomm chip drivers that have connections with Samsung claims about Apple infringement. Only future will tell who gonna win..
http://www.zdnet.com.au/apple-keeps-...-339326002.htm
Apple lawyers claimed they needed until August to prepare for trial. So much for an open and shut case.
Apple probably wanted the extra time so that they could bring into evidence the results of the EU Commission anti-trust investigation into FRAND monopoly abuse by Samsung! Apple can afford the delay because they already have an injunction against Samsung.
Having obtained an injunction in Germany, apparently based on FRAND essential patents, Motorola will now probably be drawn into the EU investigation.
Google, as the "moving hand" behind Motorola and Samsung will also probably be subject of the EU investigation, which may also look again at Google's anti-competitive and IP piracy behaviour generally.
This EU investigation has very serious, potentially devastating, implications for Google and their pirate OEMs. The EU can not only impose fines of 10% of global turnover on each the companies (which will help with EU finances ) but also its ruling on FRAND will be taken into account by other jurisdictions leading to possible further anti-trust investigations relating to the co-ordinated (cartel) global illegal, discriminatory, anti-competitive use of FRAND patents by these companies.
(FRAND - Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory essential patents - are a waiver to allow participants to create a monopoly - in this case 3G standard - ON THE EXPLICIT CONDITION THAT THOSE COMPANIES THAT CONTRIBUTE THE ESSENTIAL PATENTS DO NO ACT IN THE WAY SAMSUNG & MOTOROLA HAVE. FRAND comes under the jurisdiction of French Courts, which are subsidiary, or subject to, EU Commission and EU Court rulings)
IMO the fact that these companies are clutching at straws misusing FRAND shows that they have very weak defences against Apple's claims.
As far as the EU is concerned Google is an IP serial offender, so the penalties against them may this time be the maximum available.
It is interesting to see that Samsung have decided not to use this illegal FRAND defence in its home country of South Korea, where on the face of it Samsung would have had home advantage, where it enjoys huge influence. I can only think that the South Korean Government, who are no fools, may have warned Samsung off this abuse of process! Bear in mind that the next step in this process might be an investigation by the WTO (World Trade Organisation) who have been vigorously pursuing IP theft and piracy - something that the South Korean government would like to avoid at all costs, given how dependant they are on exports!
IMO Samsung, Motorola and Google have been extremely naive and foolish using illegal monopolistic powers related to essential FRAND patents, provoking very serious anti-trust and anti-competetive investigations from the EU, and possibly soon the US and WTO. A serial offender like Google is extremely vulnerable to very serious penalties.