- Jan 5, 2011
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Last week the legal battles between Apple and Samsung took a turn for the worse in Europe. In all the European countries except the Netherlands, Apple won an injunction barring further sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. This news came out just before the newest report that Apple is now also suing Motorola over the Xoom, claiming they copied Apple's designs.
Although this was a blow to Samsung, they aren't going to take it lightly, and word is they plan to appeal the Regional Court of Düsseldorf's ruling on August 25th. Interestingly, if Samsung can win on the appeal, then "according to German law, if its [Apple's] case doesn't have enough merit in court, it will pay damages to Samsung for missed business."
Even though I really do not want to take sides for or against one company over another, the reality is that this legal onslaught from Apple is really bad for the legal system as a whole. If Apple continues to make headway against its competitors using "patent and IP wars" it will set legal precedence that will ultimately muck up the patent system even more. It will lead down a "slippery slope" to a legal quagmire that will ultimately stifle innovation.
Let's cross our fingers that the appeals process works out in Samsung's favor, or that at some point, Apple will simply come to their senses, and just work out a licensing deal. If not, the only "light at the end of the tunnel" may be anti-trust regulators investigating Apple for this whole legal tirade, but that is only a remote possibility.
Source: PhoneArena
Picture Source: UnWiredView.com
