Samsung’s first crack at cornering Apple into providing the iOS source code came in November 2011, when it argued at an Australian court it needed to take a look into the iPhone 4S firmware in order to determine the extent of an alleged patent infringement.
And on its own turf in South Korea, the Galaxy maker is putting pressure on the Cupertino, California firm to reveal the iOS 6 source code to judge whether Apple’s mobile operating system – specifically, the Notification Center feature – infringes its technology patents.
To say that Apple wasn’t impressed would be an understatement: lawyers for the iPhone maker called Samsung’s request “insane” and argued its rival is trying to force it into revealing its “most important data”…
The Korea Times newspaper has the story:
Samsung Electronics claimed Friday it should be able to access Apple’s software source code to confirm whether or not its technology patents were infringed upon in the latest i0S 6 operating system powering iPhones and iPads.
Apple has denied the request of its Korean rival, calling it ridiculous. Both Motorola and Google have also asked for the source code to be supplied but to no avail.
Samsung is complaining about Apple’s Notification Center. Its argument is basically that the feature which allows iPhone users to check various alerts by swiping the top of the screen borrows from its technology patents.
The Galaxy maker sued Apple over Notification Center in Korea last month.
Korea Times mentions that the court has yet to decide whether to accept Samsung’s request, which Apple representatives “countered furiously” and said the issue was a “complicated technical matter”.
Moreover, Apple accused Samsung of claiming ownership of a technology that was “already widely in use”, according to an unnamed court official quoted in the story.
Apple’s lawyers said:
It doesn’t’ make any sense. Samsung is saying that we should give up protecting our most important data.
Samsung’s position is that iOS 6 contains a piece of code that uses its patent without consent. The Galaxy maker told the court it would not be able to assess whether its patent has been infringed on or not without Apple providing the source code.
Back in November 2012, Google pulled a similar legal maneuver, complaining that Apple has been withholding the source code for iOS 6. The Internet giant also wanted to take a peek at the Mac OS source code.
Unfortunately, Samsung and Apple continue to be entangled in a complicated web of more than forty patent suits in at least ten countries around the world.
This morning, a German court found Apple to infringe Samsung’s 3G patent, but issued an order to stay the case until the validity of Samsung’s patent is determined.