Samsung and Motorola Counter-Offensive Against Apple; Samsung Going after iPhone 5

[dgstorm]

According to the latest patent war reports, it seems that both Samsung and Motorola/(Google), are striking back at Apple, and this time they are hitting hard. We basically have two different reports that both of these companies are "upping the ante" with stronger patent infringement lawsuits against Apple. Most likely, this is a strategic move by the two companies, designed to force Apple to stop all the petty lawsuits. (Of course, that is admittedly speculation.) Here are the details of the two stories.

First, Motorola recently asked the ITC to investigate Apple for patent infringement related to seven of Motorola's patents. Motorola has asked the ITC to ban nearly every Apple product. Here's a quote with some of the details,

On the whole, Motorola names seven patents, all of which are allegedly infringed upon by some or all of these iOS devices: the iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and all three generations of the iPad. Presumably, the iPhone 5 would have been included had the complaint been filed a bit later.

According to Motorola, one of the seven patents is infringed upon by every Mac computer, specifically the Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. This patent, filed for in 2001 and issued in 2006, covers a "System for providing continuity between messaging clients and method therefor."

Interestingly, this time, the patents in question are not standards essential or FRAND patents. This means Google's ITC lawsuit (through Motorola as a proxy) will have some serious teeth to bite into Apple.

Second, Samsung has basically confirmed that they will be adding the iPhone 5 to their list of Apple products they are suing Apple for. Additionally, they are going after the iPhone 5 for eight LTE patents, just as they promised previously. Again, what is important to note about this particular lawsuit is that the patents in question are not FRAND patents. This basically means that Samsung can request harsher penalties, and potentially hit Apple where it hurts.

It's even possible that a ban of Apple products in the U.S. could come about. This would actually be a bad thing, because it really would stifle innovation; however, it's important to note that Apple was the one who started this war to begin with. Their aggressive stance and desire to garner product bans against their competitors is what has provoked this response. If things go badly for Apple, in the long run, some type of cross-licensing deals will probably be worked out and a fair and friendly competition can arrise from this debacle.