“Bloomberg Businessweek” (http://macte.ch/O77Xf) reports that Apple must provide Samsung with its contracts with Australian mobile-phone carriers as the South Korean company demanded in a patent dispute with the iPhone maker, a judge ruled.
Apple needs to produce agreements it has with Vodafone Group Plc, SingTel Optus and Telstra should Apple fail to agree on an assertion in Samsung’s patent lawsuit that the carriers are contractually obliged to subsidize iPhone sales, Australia Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett has ordered.
Samsung sued Apple in Australia, claiming the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 infringe its patents and is seeking a ban on the sale of the devices in the country. Bennett ruled the contracts with the phone operators are relevant to Samsung’s case, says “Businessweek.” Apple said it would oppose the disclosure, the article adds.