The sage between Samsung and Apple continues at the Regional Court in Mannheim Germany. The position of Samsung is very clear: Apple is using its patents (which belong to FRAND) and they would like to find a solution.
and we’ve got a official statement from Samsung about the proceedings:
”The court has heard the parties in a first oral hearing, has granted the parties the opportunity to submit further arguments in writing to complement their initial briefs, and is likely to hand down a judgment by the end of January 2012th Over many years, Samsung has pioneered the development of technologies and protocols essential to the efficient and reliable functioning of telecommunications networks and devices.Apple has infringed by using Samsung’s patented inventions without a license in its iPhone, iPod and iPad products, and we will continue to assert our intellectual property rights to stop this free riding on our technology. “
Foss Patent also notes that the patent infringements Samsung claims that Apple has violated are related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets. These specific patents have been declared by Samsung’s to be “essential”, which is an incredibly important term in connection with industry standards. If those patents are indeed essential to the standard, then Samsung as a participant in the relevant standard-setting process has an obligation to grant licenses to everyone, including Apple, on FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.
According to Foss Patent:
This is what the FRAND issue comes down to: if those patents are essential, then there are two questions to be analyzed by a court: Does Apple have to pay? And if so, how much can Samsung ask for under a FRAND framework? But an injunction can only be justified if and when Apple refuses to pay a FRAND royalty that it owes in the binding opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction.
There will be no immediate answers to this case until January, until then we’ll keep an eye on this particular suit.
Source/Image Credit: Androidpit Via NetbookNewsde
