Judge Andreas Voss of the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany has ordered a stay of a Samsung lawsuit against Apple over doubts concerning the validity of a patent covering a particular method for entering smileys on a mobile phone, reports “FOSS Patents” (http://tinyurl.com/bhuynwb).
A nullity (invalidation) action against that patent is pending at the Federal Patent Court. The Mannheim court won’t let Samsung “enforce this questionable patent unless its validity is affirmed at the end of the nullity proceedings,” notes “FOSS Patents.”
This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.