Apple Inc told a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday that rival Samsung
Electronics Co Ltd should be barred from selling products that infringe
on its smartphone patents, but the judges were sceptical.
Judge
Kimberly Moore was sceptical that Apple was being harmed since it
already licenses some technology to other companies. "You've already
licensed these patents up the wazoo!" she said.
In three years of
gloves-off patent litigation, Apple and Samsung have battled to a
virtual draw. The sole exception was when jurors awarded the iPhone
maker about $930 million after a 2012 trial. Samsung is appealing that
judgement.
(Also see: Samsung's $1 billion penalty in Apple case slashed in half)
In the latest round, Apple is seeking an injunction
against sales of some Samsung products it says infringe on its patents
for technologies such as slide-to-unlock, auto-correct and quick links
that can, for instance, send a telephone number from an email to the
phone dialer.
Apple lawyer William Lee of Wilmer Cutler Pickering
Hall & Dorr LLP said Samsung could quickly design work-arounds for
the patents but did not do so. He told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in Washington that Samsung was harming Apple.
Moore disagreed: "You've licensed them to everyone. So why is it irreparable harm if Samsung uses the patents?"
Judge Sharon Prost said she was "having a hard time getting past irreparable harm."
But
on rebuttal, Lee said other smartphone companies, like Google Inc and
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, had not licensed the technology.
Samsung
lawyer Kathleen Sullivan of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
said the South Korean company had all but stopped using the patents, so
no injunction was needed.
"Why are you fighting it?" said Moore. "Why am I wasting my time?"
Some
industry observers see the dispute as an attempt by Apple to curtail
the rapid growth of phones based on Google's rival Android software.
Samsung was by far the largest adopter of the operating platform.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc vs. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, 12-630.
The case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Apple Inc v Samsung Electronics, 14-1802.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
Google Paid Billions to Make Play Store and Assistant Default Apps on Samsung Phones, Google Executive Says15 November 2023
Search
![Gadgets 360 With Technical Guruji: Ask TG [ March 22, 2025]](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-12/5s52e4k_-ask-tg_640x480_14_December_24.jpg?downsize=180:*)
