Samsung has filed an International Trade Commission complaint against Apple, asking for an import ban against the iPhone, iPad and iPod. If the ITC agrees to investigate such a complaint, a final decision is reached within 16 to 18 months, notes “FOSS Patents” (http://macte.ch/LnSMS), a blog that covers patent news and issues.
It’s the latest volley in the Apple-Samsung legal battle. On June 17 Apple amended and expanded its complaint against Samsung, asserting more patents and other intellectual property rights than before against an extended list of allegedly infringing products.
In April Samsung filed patent lawsuits against Apple over the U.S. firm’s iPhone and iPad after Apple claimed Samsung’s smartphones and tablets “slavishly” copied its products. This followed an Apple lawsuit filed on April 15 in the U.S. that claimed Samsung’s mobile phones and Galaxy Tab “slavishly” copied the iPhone and iPad.
The lawsuit, filed April 15 in US District Court in Northern California, alleges Samsung copied the look, product design and product user interface of Apple’s products. Samsung violated Apple’s patents and trademarks, the suit alleges.
The Samsung counter-lawsuits didn’t directly respond to the Apple suit. Rather they accused Apple of violating patents covering cellphone transmission technologies. Samsung said in a statement that Apple’s iPhone and iPad infringe Samsung’s 10 mobile technology patents and it called for Apple to stop infringing its technology and compensate the company.
— Dennis Sellers
