Technology Patent Trials and Their Impact on Apple, Google and Samsung
War and Peace: Technology Patent Trials and Their Impact on Apple, Google and Samsung
The recent truce between Apple and Google is good news as it could provide a lull in the ongoing patents war. It does not take pressure off Samsung though. The South Korea based Samsung has been involved in several legal lawsuits of late.
It has earlier been ruled by a Japanese court that Samsung could seek minimal damages for patent infringement from Apple. Both sides have been claiming victory in their current skirmish regarding the design of smart phones.
The Intellectual Property High Court at Japan ruled that Samsung could claim 9.96 million yen from its competitor Apple for the use of data transmission technology from Samsung. Apple was found to have used its data transmission technology in their iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
Silicon valley's jurors at different patent trials are holding the line on the S119.6 million damages award to Apple in a patent battle with Samsung. Though this a huge award, it is only one-fourth of the $2 billion Apple had wnated from its South Korean counterpart. The smartphone and tablet computer market is reaching new heights of late.
Apple has violated 3 Apple patents at issue in the 2 month trial, according to jurors. They also found that Apple violated a Samsung patent and apple should pay its competitor around $158,400 in damages. Mobile phone industry giants Google and Apple have sought to quell the storm by agreeing to dismiss lawsuits over each other regarding technology patents.
Both companies now want to work towards some areas of patent reform. However, the licensing of technology to each other is conspicuos by its absence in the area of patent reform agreement between Apple and Google.
Apple is a noted provider of iPhones. Along with other companies making phones that employ Google's android software, Apple had filed dozens of lawsuits against one another. A jury in California had held that Apple infringed Samsung's patents and award $158,000 in damages.
Android software is currently installed in nearly 80% of the phones sold each year. Nin keepin with the spirit of patent reform, suits and countersuits between the 2 companies have been dropped. The settlement also does not cover Samsung which should have been the case considering the legal stalemate between the two earlier. There are hopes that a settlement between Samsung and Apple may be forthcoming though.
Motorola Mobility recently became the wholly owned subsidiary of Lenovo. What was dropped were a series of suits regarding this subsidiary. When it comes to patent technology wars, several companies had joind the battle. Motorola Mobility had attached Apple which was suing Samsung and HTC Corp at this point. Andriod phonemakers should aim at limiting legal battles instead of carryin them on spanning several international jurisidictions.
Lengthy court battles and expensive legal fees make the companies lose money instead of gaining it. As a juror in a patents case remarked, ultimately it is the customer who loses. In keeping with the mantra that customer is king, patent reforms should kick in so that war is at bay and peace is attained at last.
