Apple's full-court press on Samsung in the European Union isn't over by a long shot. New details about Apple's lawsuit against Samsung in the Netherlands reveal that the company wants an EU-wide ban against importation or sales of practically every Galaxy device. The lawsuit is an important one, as an injunction from The Hague district court could stop Samsung's smartphones and tablets at their point of European entry.
Though Samsung is one of Apple's largest component suppliers, it has increasingly become one of its largest competitors in the mobile device market by effectively building its own versions of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Though imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple felt Samsung's designs crossed the line from imitation to "blatant copying," and launched a massive US lawsuit citing patent, trademark, and trade dress infringement.
Samsung answered back with lawsuits of its own in the US, Europe, and Asia, but Apple didn't take it lying down. The company amended its complaint against Samsung in the US, adding additional patents and alleged infringing products. All told, Apple and Samsung filed complaints in 11 courts in 9 countries, including Germany, France, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
Then came the preliminary injunctions. Apple was awarded a small victory in Australia, where Samsung has agreed to not ship the original planned Galaxy Tab 10.1. Instead, it is reportedly working on a different version that it believes won't run afoul of Apple's intellectual property in that market.
Last week Apple got another positive ruling from a German court that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 likely violated Apple's European Community Design registration for the iPad, enough so that a preliminary injunction was issued barring Samsung and its German subsidiary from distributing the device anywhere in the EU. The one exception was The Netherlands, where Apple already had a separate injunction hearing in the works.
Though the ban seemed like a big win for Apple, German resellers that already had stock of the devices havecontinued to offer them for sale, reasoning that the order applies only to Samsung. Then the German judge that issued the injunction partially rescinded his ruling, noting that the Landgericht Düsseldorf may not have proper jurisdiction over Samsung itself, only its German subsidiary.
Furthermore, there has been an accusation that Apple's German lawyers doctored evidence submitted to the court to purposefully make the Galaxy Tab 10.1 appear more like the iPad than it really does. However, BBC News noted that the judge examined examples of both devices instead of relying strictly on Apple's legal briefs or Samsung's preemptive filing. A hearing is scheduled for August 25.
Apple's case in The Netherlands not only concerns the EU Community Design, but is much broader in scope and much more demanding in terms of injunctive relief. In addition to allegations that Samsung copied the iPad's physical design, the complaint includes allegations of infringement of three European functional patents, including one for mobile photo management, one for interpreting touch events, and Apple's "swipe to unlock" patent.
Apple is asking The Hague for a strict EU-wide ban on manufacturing, stocking, importing, distributing, trading, or selling numerous Android-based Samsung devices. Apple specifically named the Galaxy Ace, Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 7, and Galaxy Tab 10.1, though the legal filing also makes footnote references to other products including the Nexus S. The ban would bar Samsung's Dutch subsidiaries, including Samsung Logistics BV, from bringing the devices into and distributing them throughout Europe—similar to a temporary ban that LG had placed on Sony Playstations earlier this year.
Apple also insists that Samsung be forced to recall all infringing products from retailers within 14 days of an injunction. Unlike the situation in Germany, Samsung would not be able to skirt around the order by letting resellers sell existing stock or by funneling them from another country.
If successful, the ban would put an enormous damper on Samsung's European business. "This is a very big threat to Samsung, because basically their whole European supply chain will be broken," Canalys analyst Alastair Edwards told IDG. "This could mean it's almost game over for Samsung in Europe."
The judge in the Dutch lawsuit said at the conclusion of the hearing last week that he would have to consider Apple's request carefully. His ruling is expected on September 15.
Meanwhile, a hearing on Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction in the US is scheduled for October 13. If Apple is successful in winning either case, Samsung may throw in the towel and head back to the bargaining table.
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