Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Samsung Expected To Sue Apple Over iPhone 5 LTE Networking

Posted by timothy on from the knock-down-drag-out dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Geek.com: "The courtroom battle between Apple and Samsung seems to be far from over, and come tomorrow Apple is in for a major headache as soon as it makes the iPhone 5 official. That's because Samsung is poised to sue the company over patents it owns relating to LTE connectivity the new smartphone is expected to use. All Samsung needs to confirm is that the iPhone 5 is shipping with 4G LTE and it can then apparently set its lawyers into action. As is typical with these patent lawsuits, Samsung will most likely seek an import ban meaning the iPhone 5 may not be able to leave its manufacturing plants and make it to the U.S. to fulfill pre-orders. If such a thing ruling was made, Apple would most likely do a deal that meant it no longer pursued Samsung product bans, and might even forget about that billion dollar payout." Samsung's not the only one hoping to gain some leverage: itwbennett writes, "Apple's iPhone 5 and iPad 3 may violate a pair of patents bought by HTC back in April 2011 that cover methods used in 4G devices for faster downloads. International Trade Commission judge Thomas Pender said it would take 'clear and convincing' evidence to renounce the U.S. patents."

7 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. Fuck it. by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's just have an official monopoly on cell phones. Then the government could suppress competition directly and completely, instead of this piecemeal price raising done through patents.

  2. This is not possible by slashmydots · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is no way in hell this is possible. They made a phone centered around an entire transmission technology that another company owns and they didn't have a license for? THAT ISN'T POSSIBLE. No company is that stupid. You don't assemble an entire product and then cross your fingers and hope Samsung licenses it out to you AND THEN sue them for 1 billion dollars and win. Surprise, no LTE for you. What is really going on here? How legitimate is the patent(s) Samsung holds? I'm going to take a guess they don't own LTE itself in its entirety at least, right?

    1. Re:This is not possible by Godai · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Most of the patents all around are pretty stupid. It sounds like Samsung doesn't have a patent on LTE, but on connecting to LTE networks that it would probably be impossible for Apple not to violate. Much in the same way that designing a phone that's not ugly violates patents from Apple. Its pretty obvious that Samsung's been waiting in the tall grass for an LTE iPhone to give Apple a little bit of karma; that its happened so close the other trial just makes the comedic possibilities that much more salivating.

      --
      Wood Shavings!
      - Godai
    2. Re:This is not possible by gutnor · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That is not a patent that you violate or license, that is a web of patents specifically designed to cover as much of technology as possible so that any implementation, no matter how different from the competitor will violate at least one. Why do you think Samsung is so confident that they do not even to see the iPhone5 to be sure it violates their tech, just the spec: 4G LTE - we got that cornered ? Maybe they even sell the ships to Apple that Apple will be sued to use.

      In the past we had the cold war between tech giant through cross-licensing, behind doors agreement and patent blackmarket. At least it seems we now enter regular patent war. Hopefully it will be quick and mean, so that we get at last a profound reform of the patent system.

    3. Re:This is not possible by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Apple's definition of FRAND is (in typical Apple fasion) vastly distorted.

      Apple's claim: Samsung wanted more for their patents than any other company has asked Apple in licensing fees. Note: This is NOT a violation of FRAND. Licensing fees for patents are proportional to the value of those patents. Apple said the fees were too much and chose not to pay.

      Samsung's claim: Samsung asked Apple for the same amount of money they have asked from other licensees. This is the very definition of the "Non-Discriminatory" part of FRAND. If Samsung gave Apple any sort of discount that was not given to other licensees as Apple wanted, this would have been fundamentally discriminatory in favor of Apple. Note that Samsung doesn't seem to be suing any other companies - most likely because those companies are paying Samsung FRAND licensing fees that Apple refuses to pay. In general, most manufacturers are happily cross-licensing patents to each other - Apple is the exception. They refuse to license their patents, and also refuse to pay people for the patents they use.

      --
      retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  3. Lawsuit will fail...again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just as Samsung's failed 3G (UMTS) lawsuit..this one will fail too.
    There is a tiny but mighty detail : patent exhaustion.

    Apple, well all phones, uses transceiver chips by Qualcomm or a competitor of them. Qualcomm/whatever has licensed all relevant patents to make those chips. Any buyer of such a transceiver is automatically covered by that license.
    Patent exhaustion will thereby nullify any lawsuit. It's simply an empty threat by Samsung.

    Even worse. Both, the EU and the SK government are investigating Samsung for FRAND patent abuse. It will get only worse for them now as it is evident that Samsung is not playing by the rules.

  4. Re:Yay!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sure can would you like more? This one also references Samsung suing Fujitsu as well in 2003. Samsung is just as much complicit in patent madness as anyone else. They are hardly innocent bystanders. There are more that can be found with additional searching.