If Apple was a melody and Samsung was a beat, their legal battle would be the song that never ends. On the whole, the war has lasted more than six months, spanned more than half the continents, and is still only in its formative stages. Final decisions have yet to be made in almost all of the cases, and in predictable fashion, the duo are igniting new battles at what feels like a daily rate. This time, Samsung is asking for some juicy deets in its Australian counter suit against Apple.
After Apple won a preliminary injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung vowed to get more aggressive. And so they have, filing for a preliminary injunction against Apple’s brand new iPhone 4S. In doing so, Samsung has requested the source code for the iPhone 4S, as well as details on Apple’s subsidy deals with Australian carriers.
Samsung’s argument is that the iPhone 4S infringes three patents it holds, all concerned with 3G wireless technology and the transmission of mobile data. However, the patents in question are standard essentials patents, which means the technology they cover is a necessity industry-wide, rather than a specific brand innovation. In that case, Samsung is required to offer FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing terms, which, according to Samsung, Apple refused. Apple, on the other hand, says its covered by a third-party licensing agreement made by Qualcomm on the MDM6610 chipset, reports SmartOffice. Still, Samsung asserts that whatever licensing deal is in place may not extend into Australian turf.
In other words, this dueling duo can’t seem to get their licensing deals straight, or are at least doing a helluva job making it appear that way to the judge. Speaking of the judge, the same judge that ruled in the Apple vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab case is taking the reigns here: Judge Annabelle Bennett.
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