Looks like Apple is pushing Samsung’s buttons by asking the court to put the Galaxy S III smartphone on the list of devices eligible for a preliminary sales injunction in the United States.
So, what’s Sammy gonna do? Summon its legal sharks to go after the iPhone 5, of course…
Apple is leveraging its Siri patent to seek a sales ban on Samsung’s latest device which has a similar feature called S-Voice with the user interface that resembles Apple’s digital secretary a lot, as seen below.
Now, according to patent blogger Florian Müeller, interviewed by The Korea Times, the South Korean conglomerate will get even with Apple and is definitely going to target the next iPhone, expected to be unveiled at WWDC next Monday.
Müeller said:
There’s no question that Samsung will pay back in kind, and the iPhone 5 will definitely be a priority target.
Apple is thought to be concerned about the nine million preorders for the S III, which was launched in 28 countries in Europe and the Middle East in May and about to launch in the United States on June 21.
Müeller observes that Samsung’s product cycles are “way faster than the U.S. legal system”, adding:
Apple filed for an injunction against the Nexus phone in February but by now the Galaxy SIII looks like a much hotter product. Apple is well aware of the incredibly high levels of pre-launch orders around the globe and mentions those numbers in its filing.
The S III was not designed by lawyers, Samsung argues.
Speculating that the S III will probably be “the most exciting and best-selling Android-based product ever”, Müeller concluded that Apple wants to at least delay the handset in the U.S. and reduce its appeal to consumers by enforcing software changes in order to make things easier for its next iPhone.
And the latest from the courtroom: Samsung just sued Australian patent office to force judicial four Apple patents, seeking to declare them invalid.
Now, it’s been suggested that a recent executive reshuffling at Samsung could improve relationship with Apple because the new CEO Kwon Oh-hyun has deep relationships with Apple.
However, the speculation has no merit as KDB Daewoo Securities analyst James Song opined in a Reuters interview “there’ll be no major changes in overall strategy”.
What do you think should Apple do?
Did they make a mistake by seeking a US sales ban on the S III?