The neck-and-neck litigation dispute between Samsung Electronic Co. and Apple Inc. is proving to be relentless.
The latest installment has lifted the ban on Samsung’s sale of its products in the United States, based on a decision by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif. In this particular instance the product in question was the Samsung Galaxy suite of mobile phones, which Apple alleged had breached its patents.
According to an emailed statement responding to the court’s decision, Samsung said, “In particular, the court has recognized that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain of Apple’s design patents. We are confident that we can demonstrate the distinctiveness of Samsung’s mobile devices when the case goes to trial next year.”
Given that both Samsung and Apple are the key rivals in the smartphone market, the two electronics giants are also key competitors in the tablet computer domain. The two companies have more than 30 lawsuits again each other that span over 10 countries.
Apple’s Kristin Hugent, a spokesperson for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said in an emailed statement, “It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. … This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”
This decision in the United States also coincides with a lawsuit in Australia whereby Apple has triumphed and has successfully blocked the sales of the Samsung Galaxy tablet until at least Dec. 9 while the court continues to re-evaluate Apple’s case.
One of the key issues that has not been highlighted is that both players share hardware components in their leading products, such as their smartphone and computer tablets. According to Bloomberg data, Samsung is the second largest component supplier for Apple and receives around 7.6 percent of its total revenue from Samsung’s selling memory chips, displays, and other components for the iPhone and iPad.
