Smart Phone and Tablet Wars Escalating Before German Courts
Apple kept courts in three German cities busy over eight days in mid-December with what has been described as “the smart phone wars.” The Regional Court in Duesseldorf Dec. 22 declined to grant a preliminary injunction and stop distribution of the Samsung’s Galaxy Tablet 10.1 N, but the preliminary distribution stop for the 10.1 N predecessor, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, still stands.
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A court hearing at the Munich Regional Court saw arguments in two patent cases Apple brought against Motorola regarding the slide to unlock patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,657,849, EP20080903) over which Apple is also battling with Samsung and HTC, but has already lost a case in the Netherlands.
The lower district court in Mannheim heard the arguments Dec. 16 in two patent cases filed by Apple and Samsung against each other on 12 different patents, including four new patent cases added to the pile by Samsung. One of the new cases, European Patent EP1215867, which protects “emoticon input method for mobile terminal,” drew a lot of attention in the German press as a clear sign for an escalation of the patent wars.
"I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple decided to respond to this escalation by bringing several additional patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung in Germany,” said Florian Mueller, a German analyst and consultant for tech companies, after one of the hearings. Since Apple already has six lawsuits against Samsung in Mannheim, it might start more in Munich. Apple was also suing Motorola and HTC in both regional courts in parallel, Mueller said. Plus, Apple also had the design-related litigation over the various Galaxy Tab generations.
On the strategy and tactics of the companies, Mueller told us it was Motorola and Samsung who first filed cases against Apple in Germany, “but Apple gladly followed the invitation and paid back big in the same coin.” Samsung filed its first complaint in April, Apple followed a little later. Motorola brought the first case against Apple on April 1, and only weeks later Apple fought back, Mueller said. The only defendant Apple sued first was HTC.
Both Motorola and Samsung based their cases on standard essential patents, risking the EU Commission getting involved at some point, Mueller said. Both Samsung and Apple have already received questions from the EU competition authorities. Apple has not filed such claims, focusing more on functions that could be taken out of the products. Motorola, too, could soon get mail from the authorities in Brussels, Mueller predicts.
The opponents in the smartphone and tablet patent wars certainly face the risk that authorities could enter the process because of negative effects on competition, said Kurt Jaeger, IT expert and a member of the Telecommunication Committee of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), saying the court battles are “aimed at limiting competition,” and make it very difficult for new entrants into the market.
While most wireless patent cases still are filed in the U.S., Germany is the “number two jurisdiction in terms of litigious activity in these disputes,” Mueller said, because Germany is one of the largest markets, and injunctions are given once there is proof of an infringement of a valid patent -- and the Munich and Mannheim courts move twice as fast as the ITC in the U.S.