Apple and Samsung are still going at it! On the road to innovation and market domination, Samsung has managed to infringe on a piece of an Apple patent. While they skirted the line on an infringement dealing with auto-detection of microphones or other devices plugged into its handset’s microphone jacks, an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge has found Samsung guilty of crossing that line with one of their other “innovations”.
The decision, issued back on March 26, was released Thursday and revealed that Samsung’s “text-select” feature on its smartphones and tablets is in fact an infringement on a key portion of Apple’s patent. Although the decision is not final, the full commission is expected to make a final decision sometime in August.
If the ITC judge’s decision is upheld, Samsung will be barred from importing any of the infringing devices to the US. This would be a crushing blow to Samsung’s bottom line for sure. What items are on the chopping block? Included in the list of infringing devices are their Transform and Nexus devices, among others. For more information on affected devices, search for ITC case #337-796.
According to Gartnew Inc., Samsung is the world’s “largest smartphone maker”, while Apple comes in a close second. This, of course, is more than likely the reason Apple has been on the offensive with respect to its patents. Legal battles between Samsung and Apple are nothing new, and have ensued in more than 10 countries over the past few years.
The old saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” comes to mind in the case of Apple’s numerous lawsuits against Samsung. Samsung, after all, has always been a main supplier of mico-processors, flat screens, and memory chips for Apple’s infamous iPhones. In retaliation for their shenanigans, Apple has reduced the number of chips and screens they order from their rival…take that Samsung! What do you think, has Apple gone too far with its lawsuits against Samsung, or has Samsung crossed the line with its supposed patent infringements?
Source: Routers
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