Samsung is looking to cut a deal with Apple that could see the controversial Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet go on sale in Australia immediately.
Samsung is looking to cut a deal with Apple that could see the controversial Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet go on sale in Australia immediately.
Late on Friday Counsel for Samsung David Catterns confirmed that a deal had been offered to Apple for consideration over the Labour Day long weekend in NSW. Apple is seeking a temporary sales injunction ahead of a final hearing that could go on for months.
ChannelNews has been told that part of the consideration is that Samsung will not take legal action against Apple to stop the iPhone 5 from being sold in Australia when it is launched later this month.
We have also been told that Apple is seriously considering accepting the deal with the decision set to be made by Apple executives in the USA and Asia.
The proposed deal follows a week of legal banter in the Australian Federal Court before Justice Bennett relating to Apple claims that the Australian version of the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was in breach of three Apple patents.
Bennett said on Friday that the proposed deal wouldn’t give Samsung the satisfaction of a final answer to the dispute.
Catterns said it would at least allow the company to sell its new tablet computers during the biggest IT and consumer electronics trading period in Australia.
Apple Counsel Mr Stephen Burley wouldn’t say whether Apple would accept the deal with some observers claiming that the decision by Apple to take Samsung to Court was “more about marketing battles than patent battles”.
The agreement, if accepted by Apple, could see the tablet’s launch next week at stores like JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman and via several carriers.
Dow Jones said that at stake is Samsung’s access to the Australian market, where Apple has sold an estimated 500,000 iPads, according to a Credit Suisse report in June.
A rejection of Apple’s claim could threaten the company’s dominance of the global market for tablets and smartphones, which have been the main drivers of its rise to become the world’s largest technology company by market value.
It wasn’t clear what benefit Apple would gain from any agreement, as details of the proposed deal were not discussed in full in front of the court. But Apple’s attorney, Stephen Burley, conceded there was some potential benefit from an agreement on the matter. “(Samsung’s) inconvenience would be diminished and we would be comforted” by such a deal, he said.
