Legal

Apple’s chief counsel is ‘field marshal’ in Android battle

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

If Apple's "thermonuclear war" on Android had a leader, it would be Noreen Krall, chief litigator for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker. Indeed, Bloomberg's profile of Krall describes her as Apple's legal "field marshall."

"Krall has become a familiar sight in courtrooms around the world as Apple’s chief litigation counsel," Bloomberg writes. Even before Apple won a $1.05 billion patent-infringement decision (now being appealed) against Samsung, Krall thanked junior members of the legal team for all the hard work...

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Samsung and Apple duke it out over whose multitouch is better

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2012

The Apple v. Samsung mega-suit may be behind us, but the legal spat between the two frenemies is far from over. Both companies are embroiled in complicated litigation spread across ten countries the world over. In a Hague, Netherlands court, for example, Samsung locked horns with Apple over who copied who concerning multitouch technology.

Samsung resorted to some interesting tactics there, claiming that its multitouch implementation is less capable than Apple's in an effort to prove it didn't breach any of Apple's many patents related to multitouch...

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Korea launches probe into Samsung over wireless patents abuse

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2012

Samsung is under fire in its home turf of South Korea over an alleged abuse of its wireless patents, Reuters reported today. The Korea Fair Trade Commission confirmed that the country's watchdog has launched an investigation based on Apple's antitrust complaints against Samsung which alleges that the Galaxy maker is abusing its patents to gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

Of course, Apple won a landmark victory in a high-stake U.S. trial last month that found Samsung guilty of breaching Apple's design and utility patents. The jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages and ruled that the iPhone maker had not violated any of Samsung's patents.

Samsung later promised to sue Apple immediately if the next iPhone is released with support for fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology...

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Apple Jury Foreman: Judge ‘probably’ will ban Samsung phones

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 12, 2018

Some U.S. sales of Samsung smartphones will "probably be" banned, said Vel Hogan, the Foreman of the California jury in Apple's successful patent-infringement lawsuit against its South Korean rival. On Friday, the U.S. District Court awarded $1.05 billion in damages.

Although at first the jury was "inundated with evidence" and faced a stalemate, Hogan told Bloomberg TV momentum swung toward Apple after he had an "ah-ha" moment while considering the case at home.

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Is Google Apple’s next courtroom sparring partner?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Samsung's $1 billion loss to Apple last week may have widespread repercussions, including Google's Android software. What previously was a proxy cold war with cell phone makers, the stand-in soldiers, could heat up dramatically and place the Mountain View, Calif. firm squarely in the middle of Apple's legal radar and making Steve Jobs' threatened "thermonuclear war" over Android a reality.

That legal war "is drawing closer to Google's doorstep," reports the New York Times. The court ruling that Samsung violated Apple patents related to changing a screen's view or tapping to zoom closer are all part of Android. Indeed, Google just recently removed from Android a feature that bounces your iOS screen to indicate you've reached the bottom. Dumping that feature from Android was more out of "design reasons" than Samsung's courtroom defeat, a source told the Times.

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Question of the week: Was the Samsung vs Apple verdict fair?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 27, 2012

Guilty. That was the verdict handed down by the court in the recent Apple vs Samsung legal battle. Samsung was accused of unabashedly copying Apple's design over the years, and the jurors agreed.

Samsung now has to pay over one billion dollars in damages to Apple, along with the threat that some of their products may be banned.

Obviously, this is music to the ears of many Apple fans, but the question stands to be asked — was it fair? What do you think?

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The verdict is in: Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s patents

Sébastien Page ∙ August 24, 2012

The ongoing legal battle between the world's two largest phone manufacturers isn't anything new. For over a year now, both companies have been fighting on the marketplace, but also in the courtroom.

But things have been seriously heating up the last couple weeks with what is probably the most watched trial ever in the tech world, as both Samsung and Apple accuse each other of patent infringement.

And after 21 hours of deliberation, the jury has finally reached a decision...

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Judge tells jury: Samsung destroyed emails — but so did Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 20, 2012

If the long-running courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung were a football game, the South Korean company would have received today a favorable call from the ref. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will tell jurors later this week that both companies destroyed emails, overturning a previous ruling inferring Samsung was solely to blame.

In instructions to be given the jury set to begin deliberations Wednesday, Koh will give identical instructions regarding company emails destroyed:

Both companies "failed to preserve evidence" that could be used in the litigation, Koh will say. "Whether this fact is important to you in reaching a verdict in this case is for you to decide."

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Apple, Google and Samsung partner (you read that right) to buy Kodak patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

I bet you never though that sworn enemies such as Apple, Samsung and Google would ever go to bed together, especially given an erupting fight between Apple and Google over Kodak's patents. But anything is possible in this crazy word, chiefly when the benefits of such an unusual partnership include cost savings plus joint, harmless ownership of more than 1,000 Kodak patents related to digital imaging.

The odd bedfellows are joined by a few other firms (LG, HTC and more) and the usual suspects that specialize in IP transactions. The consortium is organized so no company could exclusively own the patents and assert them against other members in litigation...

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Apple pushing for e-book trial, deems DoJ settlement with publishers unlawful

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

As you know, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) in April filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five publishers for alleged price fixing related to digital books. Though the Government proposed a settlement with Hachette SA, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, Apple is now calling that deal “fundamentally unfair, unlawful, and unprecedented”, arguing that litigation is needed.

Claiming the Government has “unwittingly placed a thumb on the scales in favor of Amazon”, Apple says that the proposed settlement would "terminate and rewrite Apple's bargained-for contracts" before the company has a chance to defend itself...

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Samsung designer: work on Galaxy Tab 10.1 preceded iPad unveiling

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 16, 2012

Today, Samsung's new 10-inch Galaxy Note tablet goes on sale in the United States, priced at $499/$549 for the 16/32GB version. The device comes with a stylus and has some interesting multitasking functionality. Samsung also has another 10.1-inch tablet, the Galaxy Tab. The device sports more traditional design akin to iPad and as such has caused contention between Samsung and Apple, resulting in Apple's copycat accusations.

Samsung industrial designer Jin Soo Kim took the stand yesterday to testify that his work on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 began in October 2009, insinuating that Samsung designed, engineered and manufactured its tablet before Apple unveiled the original iPad in January of 2010...

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