AMSTERDAM, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Apple won an injunction in a
Dutch court on Wednesday to stop Samsung Electronics from
marketing three smartphone models in some European countries
after alleging a breach of patents.
Apple and Samsung are locked in a bruising patent fight in
the United States, Europe and Asia, as they jostle for the top
spot in the smartphone market after Nokia, the market leader
for a decade, was ousted in the second quarter.
Apple, which has conquered the high end of the phone market
with its iPhone, argued that Samsung had infringed on three of
its patents. The court ruled that Samsung smartphones Galaxy S,
S II and Ace breached just one of Apple's patents.
The Apple patent allows for a certain method of scrolling
or browsing through photos in some Samsung smartphones, the
court added.
"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a
lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to
the user interface and even the packaging," Apple said in a
statement.
The court dismissed all other demands by Apple, saying
there were no violations of two other Apple patents, no
violations for Samsung's tablet computers Galaxy Tab, and no
violations of model rights. And there was no "slavish style
copying", the court added.
The patent violation could be solved by making technical
changes in the smartphones, the court said in its ruling. This
would then allow the sale of the smartphones.
Separately, a federal judge on Wednesday scheduled a trial
between Apple and Samsung for July 30, 2012 over the companies'
intellectual property claims in the United States.
The injunction from the Dutch court applies in the
Netherlands and other European countries where the patent is
registered and is effective seven weeks and one day after
Samsung acknowledges it -- therefore not before Oct. 13 -- a
spokeswoman for the court in The Hague said.
Samsung said in a statement that its affiliates in the
Netherlands were not allowed to sell the smartphones in the
Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Monaco, Sweden and Switzerland until the patent
violation was resolved.
However, it said the ruling was not expected to affect
sales in European markets other than the Netherlands.
"With regard to the single infringement cited in the
ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal
action to ensure that there is no disruption in the
availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers," the
Korean company said.
Wednesday's decision is a preliminary ruling and "has no
bearing whatsoever on proceeding on the merits of the case",
the court said. The injunction itself has no time limit and
cannot be challenged, the court spokeswoman added.
However, Samsung can -- and already has -- challenged the
ruling behind the injunction, although no date for a hearing
has been set yet, the spokeswoman added. Galaxy line on
Wednesday, expanding its flagship product line to cheaper
phones to tap growth in emerging markets.
Its quest for more market share in the lucrative high-end
electronics market has sparked several legal battles with
Apple. Last week a German court lifted most of an injunction it
had imposed on a rival to Apple's iPad being sold by Samsung.
Apple and others have moved aggressively to defend their
intellectual property in maturing markets, especially against
Google's Android software platform, on which the new Samsung
Galaxy 10.1 tablet is built.
Android, a latecomer to the mobile market, has become a
target by rapidly turning into the world's most popular
smartphone platform. Google is relatively defenceless because
it owns few wireless patents, in contrast to older rivals.
Samsung launched its first flagship Galaxy phone in June
2010 and its follow-up Galaxy S II, launched in April this
year, has sold more than 5 million units.
In the U.S. case, Apple previously sought a trial date of
Feb. 1, 2012.
At a hearing on Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Lucy
Koh in San Jose, California, attorneys for Apple accepted Koh's
proposed date of July 30. Samsung argued July 30 would be too
soon.
A hearing on Apple's request for a preliminary injunction
against Samsung in the United States is currently scheduled for
Oct. 13 before Koh.
The case in California is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics
Co Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of
California, No. 11-1846.
For Apple: Morrison & Foerster; Wilmer Cutler Pickering
Hale and Dorr; Taylor & Company Law Offices; Bridges &
Mavrakakis.
For Samsung: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Gilbert Kreijger;
Additional reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Nicola Leske and Dan
Levine)
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