Apple patent wins could mean U.S. import ban for Samsung

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some older Samsung Electronics Co. mobile devices face a sales and import ban in the United States after a U.S. trade panel ruled for Apple Inc. in a high-profile patent infringement case.

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday ruled that South Korea's Samsung infringes on portions of two Apple Inc patents on digital mobile devices, covering the detection of headphone jacks and operation of touchscreens.

The decision is likely to inflame passions in the long-running dispute and could spark a rebuke from South Korea.

The panel moved to prohibit Samsung from importing, selling and distributing devices in the United States that infringe on certain claims on the patents. It is unclear how many Samsung phones and devices would be subject to the ban.

Read more: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-court-hears-arguments-apples-case-against-samsung-154149884.html

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Good.

[PoliticAverse]

1. I wonder if the administration will overrule this just like they did for the ban on Apple products..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014556221

[cstanleytech]

4. To be fair then yes he should do the same imo. nt

[cprise]

7. Ha ha ha ha

DC will just assume hardly anyone outside the tech community will notice. They are 100% about double standards.

[TM99]

8. Of course, Obama will not veto it!

America is #1. Apple is 'made' in America (well actually in China, but shhhhhhh!). Therefore, Apple is #1!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, Apple. Boo, Samsung & Korea.

[sir pball]

11. Apple is made of Samsung. Supporting Apple is providing massive material aid to Samsung.

The display panel in my (non-retina) MacBook is a Samsung part. The usable retina panels are Samsung, too - the LG ones are a bad joke. As are the SSDs in the new Pros, and the A6 processors in the iPhones, along with loads of other hardware that I'm probably missing.

Bottom line - Apple's $12,000,000,000 a year is important to Samsung for sure...but Samsung is literally vital to Apple's existence. If S refuses to renew (or goes so far as to take the hit on cancelling) the A contracts, man oh man.

[TM99]

12. Apple is doing everything

it can to distance themselves from needing Samsung parts. They are also suing for all patents that they can whether they should or not. Finally, they are making certain that they do not have to follow any of Samsung's patents.

Samsung does not need Apple. As you correctly say, Apple did need them, but they will try and do it with other sources plus their own fabs. Without Obama and the courts though, I sincerely doubt having watched Apple since their inception, if they could maintain this level of popularity and fiscal growth.

[sir pball]

13. I know they're trying, but it's not really going as well as they'd like. At all.

Sure, TSMC is rumored to be working on one line of A-series processors but AFAIK nothing's been seen in the wild from them yet; even a simple switch of the exact same design to a different manufacturer is a hairy proposition. The LG retina panels are a joke (500+ page thread at AppleCare) - they might be able to ship tiny little ones for the iPad Mini this year but the current advice with an rMBP is still "if it's an LG keep exchanging until you get a Sammy".

I haven't even heard deep rumors of Apple shopping for any new flash suppliers - given that Sammy just put 3D NAND into mass production I doubt Apple will move away from them, we're talking terabytes of storage in an iPad form factor.

I've been using Macs for over 25 years and have no intention of switching but Apple the corp. is getting idiotic. Shades of Spindler and Amelio..

[TM99]

15. I am extremely hard on the current Apple Corporation,

and therefore, most believe that I am anti-Apple. I am not.

My first computer as a kid was an Apple I. I still have and use a quad core G5 and a dual core G4 in my small project studio at home. I also have a Hackintosh running Snow Leopard, my current favorite Intel flavored OS X. I even have an iPod Touch 4G.

But I also have Windows 7 and XP desktops and laptops, two Android tablets, and several workstation class systems running various Linux distro's.

I was rightly hard on Microsoft in the 1990's as I am now with Apple. The patents wars can't be won unless all of us, the consumer and the creator, are destroyed in the process. Jobs had a sick mind at the end of his life to take the battle between him and Google to such a personally narcissistic level of rancor especially given how much tech Apple has 'borrowed' from others along the way.

I have difficulties with the walled garden of the app store today and as a one time Apple Developer, I find I just prefer the Android & Linux eco-systems better. I still use Windows because I do enjoy PC gaming.

[Jenoch]

2. I wonder how Samsung's product sales will be affected in other countries.

I cannot beleive Apple would not have gotten world-wide patents on their products.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Watch the same folks claim tariffs are bad.

[cosmicone]

6. Once a champion against monopolies

Apple has become a monopoly itself.

Using foofoo patents like a rectangular communications device with rounded corners it is trying to keep competition with superior products out.

They should get the patent examiner who granted the rectangular patent fired. What was he/she thinking? It clearly doesn't meet the "unobviousness" requirement for a patent under 35 CFR § 103 whilst not meeting the novelty requirement under 35 CFR § 102.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Odd reference in the Guardian link.

In June the ITC ruled that Apple had infringed some of Samsung's patents and banned imports of some older iPhone and iPad models made to run on AT&T and T-Mobile USA networks.

scroll to end to see here : http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/09/apple-samsung-iphone-patents-itc

Made to run on AT&T and T-Mobile USA networks ? is that supposed to mean ?

That is so yesterday from years ago. Have you still got locked 'phones over there ?

[sir pball]

10. We do have locked phones (I know, I know), but the ATT/TMo is a tech thing

"4G" is a non-defined marketing term that just means "really fast downloads". ATT and TMobile use HSDPA+ (basically several 3G channels tied together to achieve "4G" speeds) while Verizon and Sprint use LTE (an all-new technology). Europe is mostly HSDPA for now; neither technology is currently superior but HSDPA is the ultimate evolution while LTE is an infant, so the next-gen networks are all planned to be LTE-A.

I suspect the ban has to do with the radio hardware - HSDPA chips are designed by Samsung so presumably they hold the patents. LTE is Qualcomm.

[dipsydoodle]

14. I appreciate there may no point in having a phone which under contract unlocked,

other than if a cheaper sim is available for backup / additional usage, but soon as the contract ends can make sense to unlock it anyway assuming it really was locked in the first place.

Might've changed now but at one time there was no such thing as a locked LG.

4Gs can be unlocked too.

In the US where there may be unlocking issues probably easiest to go into ebay.co.uk , have the code messaged or emailed and pay by Paypal. Almost seamless invisibility

Got a friend coming over from OH in a few weeks time to visit her new granddaughter. She's going to leave here phone at home and pick up a used unlocked phone here and a pay as you go sim to go with it. My sister does the same when she's here from Oz but already has a phone for such use here.

[sir pball]

17. 4G can't just be "unlocked" in the US, it also has to be the right provider

Verizon and Sprint use a different physical platform for their high-speed "4G" networks than AT&T and T-Mobile - my Verizon-issued Samsung SCH-i535 "Galaxy SIII" can only be used on Verizon or Sprint networks; to use AT&T or TMo I would need a Samsung SGH-i747 "Galaxy SIII" with completely different radio hardware (DSPs and antennae). Such is the fragmented state of affairs across the country and even the globe - AFAIK LTE 4G works in South Korea and Japan (i535 model) while most of Europe is on HSDPA (i7474 model). Sure, you can get an unlocked phone here, and there's some SIM portability, but with two completely distinct networks it gets annoying.

[hunter]

16. Video here: