Katie Marsal
Sales of some of Samsung's Galaxy-branded products have been banned by a court in the Netherlands for infringing on patents owned by Apple.
The ban applies to Galaxy products running Android 2.2.1 or later without Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software. The ruling from the Court of The Hague was handed down on Wednesday, and was detailed by Computerworld.
"Apple patented a way to scroll past the edge of a zoomed-in photo and see a glimpse of the next in a series of images, after which the initial photo bounces back onto the screen, a technique that Samsung has used in its Galaxy products," author Loek Essers explained. "Samsung's proprietary photo gallery software replaces that bounce-back feature with a 'blue flash' that illuminates the edge of the image."
It's unknown exactly how many infringing products Samsung has available on the market in the Netherlands. If Samsung doesn't comply, it will be forced to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros, or $129,000 U.S., every day to Apple.
Apple's win comes just a month after it failed to convince a Dutch court that Samsung's products infringe on a separate patent related to multi-touch gestures. The court found that Samsung did not infringe on Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent.
Apple has settled its patent litigation with other companies such as HTC and Nokia, and even its patent battle with Google-owned Motorola may be resolved through arbitration. But there has been no indication that a settlement is near between Samsung and Apple, two bitter rivals that compete in a range of markets including smartphones, computers and tablets.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
61 Comments
Finally 'a country' coming to their senses, contrary to their previous ruling. Now, onto the rubber band.
I wonder how the UK press will treat this decision?
Maybe Samsung should be forced to publish a notice on their EU websites and in the press.
I think all of this legal wrangling is hurting the stock. Apple needs some real closure on this for the stock to rally. Unfortunately, Samsung continues to rip off feature-after-feature with each new release.
I think all of this legal wrangling is hurting the stock. Apple needs some real closure on this for the stock to rally. Unfortunately, Samsung continues to rip off feature-after-feature with each new release.
What do you (or Apple) care about the stock?
Apple cares about making the best products and earn as much money as possible, **** the stock.
No matter what Samsung wind up paying Apple, it's still a win for Samsung. It's a small price to pay for the marketshare that they've gained by copying Apple and building iClones. They are now a juggernaut in mobile phones and they have Apple to thank for it.