Dutch court sides with Apple, bans some Samsung Galaxy products
If you thought the patent wars between Apple and Samsung couldn’t possibly get any more mind-numbingly obscure, you would be wrong.
Today, a Dutch court handed Apple another victory when it decided to ban some Samsung smartphones and tablets because they still violate a patent for scrolling across photos on a touchscreen device. The ban covers the Samsung Galaxy S, SII and Ace.
Actually, Samsung had already lost this battle once, when the judges ruled previously that some of its gadgets had run afoul of Apple’s patent. Samsung struck back by changing the technology it uses. Or, so it claimed.
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But the Dutch court didn’t buy it. In fact, the judges were more than a little annoyed that the Samsung lawyers came to a hearing without evidence that the change had been made, according to CIO.com:
“And now at the hearing you come without any substantiation with the bare assertion that this is the case and that we should believe you?” asked Rian Kalden, one of three judges reviewing the case.
For those of you watching the battle to win supremacy of the smartphone and tablet market in the Netherlands, well, know that Apple has gained even more leverage over its South Korean nemesis. For the rest of us, however, this is the latest demonstration of how both sides are unwilling to cede an inch of territory in their intellectual property war of attrition.
For the true smartphone-patent-war obsessive, grab your Dutch-to-English dictionary and read the actual ruling here.
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