Apple who has been found guilty of breaching other people’s patents now appears to have turned their attention to the Motorola Xoom and its similarities to the iPad 24 hours out from a new hearing in a German Court. Lawyers claim Apple is playing a “risky” game.Earlier in the week Apple got the new Android Samsung Galaxy 10.1 banned in Europe after preventing its sale in Australia. Mysteriously they have failed to take action against any tablet vendor in the USA with legal observers claiming that some of their US patent claims may be “flaky”.
Legal experts believe Germany may have been chosen as an early battleground because product bans are easier to win there than in the US.
Side notes in documents lodged in a German Court where Apple took action to get the Samsung product banned in the European Union make reference to the Motorola Xoom.
Observers claim that the Motorola Xoom could go the way of the Tab 10.1 in Europe if the courts rule in favour of Apple again, although the notes do not clarify whether Apple has requested an injunction in this case, claims Tech Rader in the UK.
Due back in Court tomorrow Samsung is fighting back, and is expected to use a multi-pronged strategy to force a settlement.
“Samsung’s case will be a combination of ‘your patent’s not valid, even if it is valid its scope is very narrow and we’re not infringing it anyway, plus by the way you’re infringing our patent as well’,” argues Kimberlee Weatherall of the Australian Intellectual Property Research Institute.
“It’s posturing with a view to reaching some sort of settlement — the stronger the position Samsung can put itself in with those multiple levels of argument the more favourable the settlement is likely to be.”
The Australian case is back before the Federal Court on the 29th of August.
Legal experts have said that Apple’s aggressive action poses a considerable risk to its own business.
Nathan Mattock an intellectual property lawyer of Marque Lawyers warns that if Apple loses, it will owe Samsung a “considerable amount” in damages, based on months or years of legal struggle and lost business.
Reuters claims that Apple still has to provide more substantial evidence of patent or design infringement to have a chance at making any bans permanent.
The company is using the legal system as a weapon to ensure the iPad’s dominance, notes Andrew Milroy, the VP of information and communication technology research with frost & Sullivan in Singapore.
“It’s a market that’s developing very fast which Apple have the lead in, so regardless of the damages they have to pay if they lose, the longer they can hold off competition the better for their business,” he says. “Using the courts is increasingly becoming part of commercial strategy in high growth markets where the opportunities are great — it’s a tactic to try and slow the competition down by whatever means you can.”
