Popular tech patent-analyst Florian Mueller is reporting that Apple has just scored a major legal win in Australia. The Cupertino company has been battling Samsung all over the globe, and it just scored a major victory in Sydney.
On Mueller’s blog, FOSSPatents, he discusses the importance of a recent decision by the Federal Court of Australia in the Apple vs. Samsung patent dispute. The court has just ordered an interim injunction over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1…
Samsung’s latest tablet was already legally blocked in Australia, but the latest injunction order extends the ban for several more months. This will be in affect until the court resolves the matter, by which time the tablet will likely be outdated.
Mueller points to two patents that greatly influenced the court’s decision. The first is a patent on multipoint touchscreens. The second covers a touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics.
Interestingly enough, the latter patent, which lists Steven P. Jobs as one of its inventors, appears to be the most potent. Apple is using it in multiple lawsuits against the “big three” Android device manufacturers — Samsung, Motorola, and HTC.
The Cupertino company’s win in Sydney could have devastating effects for Android as a whole. Mueller believes at the very least, any company trying to launch a new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia will face a high risk of injunction.