Apple has started yet another legal skirmish with Samsung in the US. This time Apple wants Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus banned from sale, claiming the new Android 4.0-powered device infringes on four of its patents.
‘In a lawsuit filed last week in San Jose,’ reported Reuters, ‘Apple said the Galaxy Nexus infringes on patents underlying features customers expect from Apple products. Those include the ability to unlock phones by sliding an image and to search for information by voice.’
The bulk of Apple’s grievances, at least initially, anyway, appear to be aimed solely at Google’s new Android 4.0 software, which could cause the search-giant some big problems, especially since Android 4.0 is about to be adopted en masse by the likes of HTC, LG, Motorola, Acer and Asus.
Commenting on the debacle, Florian Mueller, patent expert, said: ‘Google cannot deny its undivided responsibility for any infringement findings. A preliminary injunction would not prohibit the sale of a Galaxy nexus just because it's called Galaxy Nexus or looks like one: it's all about which patents it infringes on.’
He added: ‘I am absolutely certain that... for the preliminary injunction motion the Galaxy Nexus was singled out because it's so new, and important.’
This new attack on Samsung by Apple follows on from last year’s court battle where the iPhone-maker claimed that Samsung had copied the design of its iPhone and iPad on its Galaxy range of products. This prior legal skirmishresulted in a ban on selected Samsung products in Germany and a temporary one in Australia.
How this new software-facing complaint will play out remains to be seen. Is Apple simply carrying on the wishes of its late CEO Steve Jobs who told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that he longed to destroy Android? Or is it just protecting its business interests and market share?
Couple this predicament with Microsoft’s current stake in Google’s Android platform, as well as the on-going legal spat with Oracle, and it’s looking like 2012 is going to be a tricky year, legally speaking, for the world’s most popular platform.
Samsung said the following in a statement:
‘We continue to assert our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple's claims to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business.’
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