This was pretty inevitable; Samsung’s following up on legal actions it’s taken in other countries with a countersuit against Apple, alleging it infringes seven Australian patents held by Samsung.
Samsung filed the motion on Friday and issued the following statement to media on Saturday. As with the other legal actions running worldwide, there’s a range of issues at stake; Samsung’s not only alleging that Apple products ranging back as far as the original iPhone 3G infringe on its patents, but also that the patents that Apple’s using in its fight against Samsung are invalid. The full media release is below.
Media Statement from Samsung Electronics
On September 16 2011, Samsung Electronics filed a cross claim with the Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales Registry regarding two things:
1. Apple Inc.’s infringement of 7 Australian patents owned by Samsung related to wireless communications standards by the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 products; and
2. that the patents that Apple Inc. relies on in its claims against Samsung in relation to the GALAXY Tab 10.1 are invalid and should be revoked by the Court.Samsung has a proud history of innovation in the mobile industry. It has invested continuously in R&D, design and technology to produce our innovative and cutting-edge mobile devices. To defend our intellectual property, Samsung filed a cross claim for Apple’s violation of its wireless technology patents.
-ENDS-
Additional Reference:
Patents Asserted by Samsung:
(a) Australian Patent No. 765735;
(b) Australian Patent No. 2005239657;
(c) Australian Patent No. 722598;
(d) Australian Patent No. 751376;
(e) Australian Patent No. 2005213087,
(f) Australian Patent No. 2005202512; and
(g) Australian Patent No. 2006241621.Accused Products:
· iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2
For those who like the specific nitty gritty, a quick patent search reveals that Patent #765735 relates to “Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system”, #2005239657 is for “Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data with high reliability in a mobile communication system supporting packet data transmission”, #722598 is “Turbo encoding/decoding device and method for processing frame data according to QoS”, #751376 is “Apparatus and method for controlling a demultiplexer and a multiplexer used for rate matching in a mobile communication system” #2005213087 is “Apparatus and method for allocating OVSF codes and I/Q channels for reducing Peak-To-Average Power Ratio in transmitting data via enhanced up-link dedicated channels in WCDMA systems” #2005202512 is “Method and apparatus for data transmission in a mobile telecommunication system supporting enhanced uplink service” and finally #2006241621 is “Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving packet data using pre-defined length indicator in a mobile communication system”. Amongst other things, just the titles alone make me glad I’m not a patent lawyer.
Updated: I did mention that I’m not a patent expert, right? ITNews quotes patent expert Florian Mueller, who reckons that (despite what to a layman appear to be a serious lump of patent armoury), Samsung’s case may be weak, essentially because the patents it cites could be used broadly across the whole mobile industry. ITNews quotes Florian as saying that:
It’s highly problematic, and utterly desperate, to try to use such patents as a retaliatory arsenal. It shows that Samsung is unable to counter Apple’s claims appropriately. If those patents are indeed essential to standards in the creation of which Samsung participated, it has an obligation to license them to Apple on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, while Apple doesn’t have any such obligation with respect to its iPhone/iPad-related patents.”
[ITNews]
Commander Shepard
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:20 AMIm commander Shepard and this is my favourite post on Gizmodo.com
SamBroomby
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:35 AMHi, my name is Sam, and this article was my idea.
wsDK_II
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:56 AMWindows 7 was my idea
Tim
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:31 AMHA!
Noother
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 4:08 PMI’m a PC
Rodney McKay
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:14 AMHere we go…
Cameron
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:21 AMWell those patents actually sound like they patent something tangible, unlike some of Apple’s claims……
Although I wonder how many of them should have been granted in the first place, all the “method” patents sound dodgy in my book.
Lord Crumplebottom
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:36 AM+1
Patent laws need to change so the idea, “concept” or an apparatus (that hasn’t even been designed or built) of a method can’t be patented – but the actual method itself. eg. Media encoding such as MP3 vs WMA
Good times to be a patent lawyer though.
P.S. Arrr they be pirating me idea
Hiro
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:33 AMThey are all in violation of my worldwide patent #1 : Method of obtaining funds, slowing progress and/or eliminating competition via pushing paper to the court system claiming I thought of it first.
Hiro
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:35 AMOh btw I swear I thought of this first when i bought this patent from this hobo down the road.
Michael
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:03 AMThey all violate my patent on patents on ideas, hopes, and dreams.
Andy
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:34 AMI hope Samsung win this case – Apple suing left, right and centre is starting to turn the company into a Patient Troll …
wsDK_II
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:57 AMIndeed, i too hope for the fall of apple – but only if i can take part!
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:31 PM+7 for Samsung to Win and kill apple in the long run
+8 fpr kist Samsung to win but not kill Apple (Sad one little person.. hahaha)
(I have 8 people at my place right now and though we should all vote on this).
Eckythump
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:49 AMI want to know why it’s taken them so long to fight back!
wsDK_II
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:57 AMProbably getting info together.
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:34 PMI’m guessing the legal system? I would suggest to anyone to try and avoid legal action at all costs. It’s a dog of a process and very often unfair/unjust. Perhaps they though the Australian legal process had more brains and common sense and it would not get this far?
BenDTU
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:00 AM“Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system”
Is CDMA even used in Aus anywhere? And do Apple actually ship products over here that uses is?
RazzyRicho
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 2:25 PMYes, The entire NextG network is based on CDMA (granted, it’s been upgraded to WCDMA but the base network is the same)
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 6:43 PMNextG is UMTS (like all current AU cell networks), which uses W-CDMA signalling but is based largely on GSM – it uses GSM-style SIMs and is backwards-compatible with GSM phones.
George
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:02 AMWhat’s the matter Samsung? 2001 A space odyssey couldn’t save you? :p
Seriously, I wish these companies would just get on with their actual jobs instead of spending millions in court. It’s like bickering children.
DarkAura
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:45 AMIt would be nice if they just went back to making phones but well it not that simple and to be frank its all Apples fault.
Without going into who ripped off who, Samsung has no choice but to counter sue so they can sell there products.
Personally I don’t think they can stop sales of all things I but the brief scare might make Apple play nice.
F
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:46 PMThere is another choice, which is to settle and pay compensation and admit that they blatantly copied Apple iPhone.
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:39 PMYeah that’s so true, “F” I’m sure you would say Apple invented the smart phone, the tablet and the computer as well… they have patents on inventing the keyboard, the mouse the monitor. Hay didn’t apple invent all IT equipment and everyone else copied them? Grow up and look into the facts they invented just about nothing they are suing over! (They might have improved some designed but did not come up with the initial idea’s).
Jack
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:13 AMSo does this mean they are going to ban the sale of iPhones and iPads in Australia :p
Ingrid
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:34 AMWe all wish! I think …. I do, and then the Apple Zombies can return to normal. – they are like the Stepford wives!
I am also a tad tired of the schoolyard antics, but if it shuts Apple up, GO SAMSUNG!!!
John
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:16 AMGeorge,
I would not balme on Samsung since this nonsence started by Apple. Sure Apple makes great products so user friendly that even toddler can handdle. But to me, witnessing law suits not only against Samsung, Apple is a patent troll disguised in innovation.
http://www.osnews.com/story/25056/The_Community_Design_and_you_Thought_the_USPTO_Was_Bad
guyleer
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:20 AMI invented the glass screen that shatters when it falls off a coffee table and costs more to fix than the phone is worth. So sue me apple.
gilbeg
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:49 AMThis is the happiest day of my life!
Ruen
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:51 AMI just read the article at ITNews, it says not only are Samsungs patents flimsy, but in a worst case scenario could lead to an Anti-Trust Suit against Samsung in Australia. . .
*sigh* Why don’t we just accept inevitability, remove all Android Phones/Tablets from the market and accept Apple as our overlords considering the every legal avenue on the planet seems content in giving them a f*cking monopoly
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 1:27 PMOnly if you believe Florian Mueller (he’s the Jack Thompson of patents.
James
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:03 AMwhat a bunch of whiny pussies you all are. Downfall of apple pfff! Only THE biggest company in the world.
You people are dreaming and without apple, none of your inferior android smartphones and tablets would exist, plain and simple. They may not have invented it but they certainly popularised it which in turn gave you your precious Android gadgets.
Companies sue and counter-sue all the time. If they can stop the competition from selling something then they’ll persue it. A bunch of whining from you girls blouses aint gonna make any difference.
Weak.
BenDTU
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:10 AMTall poppy syndrome is pretty big in Australia.
But seriously, Giz should update that article from the other day to include “Care who wins lawsuits against other companies” as a symptom of being a fan of a brand rather than technology in general.
James
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:15 AMCorrect Ben. I don’t care about any of this stuff. If Android can be put into a unit worth buying then I may jump on board in the future but for now, my HTC smartphone and my friends Galaxy Tab are shiite compared to my iPad and the wifes iPhone4. They’re just nowhere near as slick.
BenDTU
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:25 AMAgreed. With every new Android release I’m here thinking “Ok, impress me Google!” and not “Man, I really hope this sucks.”
James
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 12:11 PMyeah, I’m all for a more open platform than Apple allows us but for now, Apple’s quality with their products and amazing UI is unparalleled for ease of use and pure slickness. Android devices have a long way to go yet. I’m sure they’ll eventually get there but all this arguing now is kinda silly with regards to just how far in front Apple really are. Lets not forget the complete gamechanger which is iTunes. Because of its popularity in the world, Apple really do have a hold on people to almost force them to buy an Apple product because of iTunes. Smart move and a great position to be in. If I personally move over to an android device, I will lose out quite a lot in purchases made through iTunes therefore will probably just consider the new Apple device because of it.
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 12:04 PM“Biggest company”? You mean the company with the most inflated market cap. It’s hardly the largest by any other metric.
Apple has less than 50,000 employees; Wal-mart has over 2 million (400x larger). Wal-mart also has far more revenue than Apple (over 6x), as do a hundred other companies.
Even Apple’s impressive profits aren’t even in the top 50. Companies like Exxon and Nestle easily double Apple’s take.
James
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 12:14 PMhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/09/apple-pips-exxon-as-worlds-biggest-company
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 1:29 PMBy market cap, not by any practical measure. Did you actually read my comment?
F
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:51 PMI don’t get this, so you’re suggesting that a company is bigger and better if it has4 times the employee but worth 10 times less in market cap, revenues or earnings?!
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 7:00 PMBut Apple doesn’t have greater revenues or earnings.
I’m saying a company like Wal-mart is bigger than Apple because they have:
* Greater net profits (10% more)
* Greater revenue (6.5x)
* More equity (1.5x)
* More assets (2.4x)
* More stores (28x)
* More employees (400x)
i.e. Wal-mart are larger in almost every practical sense. Dozens of other companies are larger than Apple in some or all of these metrics as well.
Apple is only “biggest” if you look solely at market cap, which is purely based on its share price, which itself is nothing more than an expectation of value, not anything concrete.
xy
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:47 PMdw mate we need ppl like itards to buy our stocks when we want to take profit at the end of a bubble
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:49 PMNamarrgon, what you are forgetting is Apple is a marketing machine, they sell the dream, the image and people don’t ask questions about the hyped reports/articles but believe it so no matter what data to provide to ‘these’ people it does not matter they are ‘sold’. Hence Apples wonderful patents and inventions they have came up with all by them self and are now suing others for what is not even their product or idea to start with but instead something they ‘copied’ from another company and improved on and marketed very well but saying that does not matter as it’s skipped over and does not go with the brainwashing apple has provided these users with… hahaha
James
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 5:44 PMI would hardly say I’m brainwashed. What I will say is that I have a HTC desire, the wife has an iPhone 4, I have an iPad 1, my best mate has a galaxy tab, I’ve had a few different mp3 players over the years and now have a iPod Classic 80g which I’ve had through a punishing 4 years of it coming to work with me every single day….. what I’m trying to say is Apple’s products kick ass.
They’re slick, always responsive, fast frame rate on the tablets whereas the GT and other’s ive tried kinda seem like they stutter when you swipe and sometimes not even respond to touch at all, I wish I had the wife’s iPhone over my employer supplied HTC for sheer ease of use and unconvoluted interface not to mention it’s unresponsiveness which NEVER happens on the iPhone.
Put simply, when you have a vast array of different equipment, it doesn’t take long to figure out which ones are the business and which ones are lacking. Apple’s gear is tough, slick, backed by excellent customer service, the unified closed nature of it’s products while being a downside for most people, makes it the absolute breeze it is to use as everything has to be made to Apple’s standard and cleared by them. Say what you will about this and that. The fact of the matter is that they’re the leaders for a good reason and not just because of luck. They created these markets that everyone is clamouring for now (MP3, smartphone, tablet etc..)
STFU
Que
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:31 AM@James “If Android can be put into a unit worth buying then I may jump on board in the future but for now”
You must be living in a cave.
BenDTU
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:45 AMBecause heaven forbid someone have different needs than you do for their device.
Deviant
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 11:19 PMjust out of curiosity james, what is the battery life like on a 4y/o ipod classic?
Andrak
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:32 AMI’m sick of all this legal sniping, just get out of the court and start making better products.
PS. Darth Sidious in the court room = sweet!
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:54 PMWell SAID (typed)!
But the issue is Android has taken over iOS in sales this year so all Apple can think of doing is trying to sue the competition out of business or try to delay development and competitions product releases as much as possible and inflict as much pain as they can to hopefully kill the competition… VERY dirty playing and I’ve said this before but I recently threw my 3GS in the bin and gave my iphone 4 away to a friend that loves them and I’m moving over to Samsung Galaxy II S out of principle to help support Samsung and never going to purchase another Apple product again I don’t believe in what they are doing
Norgan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:46 AMAndroid is not a serious compeditor, it’s an unpolished user unfriendly operating system.
The real compeditor (and one mind you based upon many more years than Apple’s) is Windows Phone and Windows 8.
the iPad does well because noone can deliver a device to compete, although the Android ones are getting close. (and windows ones have existed since before the iPad).
Windows 8 will finally bring competition to the tablet market and if you want user friendly then in my opinion Windows Phone is the winner (i.e. it does more than just give you a list of icons to run third party programs).
So Android go fight with Apple and both die in the process then we will be left with some good innovation and technology that is progressing rather than simply trolling :P
One day (perhaps when Windows 8 launches) we will see good progression in innovation and no more patent trolling!
BenDTU
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:52 AMIt’ll be interesting to see what sort of impact Win 8 tablets (And even Win 8 phones, assuming Microsoft has done a good job of making sure people know they exists by then) have on Android uptake.
Right now Android’s doing as well as it’s doing because it’s everywhere: OEMs are all pushing it, carriers are all pushing it.
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:57 PMHi Norgan
I agree with you in some regards BUT Android is currently outselling iOS for the first time so they can’t be all that bad I guess and this is perhaps why Apple is trying to sue every one they can as they know Windows 8 and Windows Phone is going to be yet another piece of the pie going away from them… Also iOS App development now days is also nothing like Android has become of recent… interesting times and I think Apple are feeling the pressure and dealing with it VERY poorly by trying to sue every one possible.
Joel
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:55 AMScrew it, my next phone is going to be a Nokia..
LOOLLLOOLLLOOLLOOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL jokes
Jonathan
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:58 PMHi Joel
Not a bad idea Nokia is going to have the new Windows Phone OS which is looking very good at the moment so that might not be such a bad call you’ve made :-P
vijay
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:42 AMHmmm….what i dont understand is why is samsung highlighting 3g which is discontinued and 3gs which is going to be discontinued :?
Choc
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 1:44 PMi imagine if they don’t mention the first products released in AU they have to specifically say how the iphone 4 changed it….
the only reason apple is sueing samsung is because of the dispute going the other way. Otherwise samsung would sue the rest of them who have this technology. It’s just a stupid fight and samsung is quite frankly using apples tactics against them.
The key point out of the whole case is that Apple must prove that Samsung is costing Apple sales by having this product and significantly costing them sales. The fact is, that it is not costing Apple sales to the extent that patent law would step in and say you can’t do this.
If the iphone 5 leaks are real where people talk about a square button instead of circle et, the iphone 5 has a button JUST LIKE the galaxy S, what a bunch of bloody hypocrites.
and given the back of the ip5 leaked on the weekend with the case images, and it looks like a galaxy S from behind
lulz apple.
Namarrgon
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:47 AMWhen did Florian Mueller become a “patent expert”?
The guy is a notorious troll. He’s regularly proved wrong in his assertions, and his bias against all things Google (and Android in particular) is well-known. Just have a look at his posting history (no, I won’t link it).
Once he actually claimed Android violated the GPL because it included Linux headers; even Linus Torvalds dismissed that nonsense.
ExplosionsHurt
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 3:09 PMFrom Florian Mueller’s Wikipedia page:
“He has no legal qualifications”.
Felian
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 8:21 PMI don’t really understand this whole “Android is not good enough”, “not as slick as” stuff. But for many years I have not understood the fascination of the Apple operating systems.
All their OS’s are computing for dummies. For someone who likes technology, likes to tinker, likes for their operating systems to be set up and behave the way THEY want them to work then OSX and IOS are, in my opinion, rubbish.
With apple OS, the price you pay for ease of use is lack of customization and flexibilty. You use it as long as your prepared to use it only as Apple intended for you to do.
To me, that doesn’t cut it. My Samsung Galaxy S2 is set up exactly the way I want it and does everything I need it to do without skipping a beat.
In the end thats the whole point right?
Apple are suing Samsung directly because of this. The S2 is more powerful then anything they have on the market, is selling like crazy all over the world (its only just gone on sale in the US) and they feel threatened.
Apple is tryign to stop competition. If they win, in the end, us, the consumer, will always lose.
Joel
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:52 PMMy iPhone does everything I need it to do without skipping a beat too. And I prefer OSX over Windows and I’m very computer literate and have used both. It’s personal choice, this is your opinion.
Also don’t compare the S2 to the iPhone 4.. the iPhone 4 is 12 months old, of course they don’t have anything on the market that directly compares or competes.. come back in a month. And I’m talking about hardware not software, in which case again, is personal opinion.
Jonathan
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 12:14 AMOSX and iOS is definitely far less customisable (this fact, not opinion!) Generally if you love to tinker and customise your OS until your heart’s content OSX/iOS is ‘generally’ not the best option for most. With who’s got the best OS, it’s subjective to your needs and what’s important to the individual.
In regards to who’s got the fastest phone who really cares? Yes the Samsung phone is faster right now and then the iphone 5 will come out and might be faster, than Samsung will come out and be faster again (if Apple does not sue them over their 4G devices, which if I’m not mistaken they already are in the US?). But who really cares about the fastest benchmark as long as you can play your HD video, listen to music, play your games or whatever else you like doing on your device. All I believe is what Apple are currently doing is wrong and very uncompetitive. After all Apple did not come up with the ideo of their key products but ‘copied’ the idea from others like the smart phone, tablets, note/netbooks..etc..etc Do I care they copied from another company and bettered a previous design NO as long as they are innovating and improving so that others can do the same of which Apple will copy of again and so the cycle continues… I’m happy with that but not with Apple at the moment.
adrian
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:33 PMApple should just eff right off, there wouldn’t be a stupid iPhone without Samsung.
Joel
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:46 PMThere wouldn’t be a Samsung smart phone like there is today without Apple..
xy
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 11:50 PMthere wudnt be an apple without samsung semiconductor and lcd technology to make it in the first place? oh sh-…itslike an apple inception!
Jonathan
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 12:21 AMHow did you come up with that ingenious comment may I ask? Are you saying no other company would have kept developing what was a Palm, Blackberry, Windows Mobile..etc..etc? Because before Apple there was no device in the world that had a touch screen with apps a build in phone could play music store and take pictures..etc..etc.. some on Joel I know you’re an apple fan but please I think other companies deserve a little more respect than you are given them. All apple did was improve on the interface side of things to what was already on the market which is the natural progression of product development and live cycles nothing mind blowing there.
P.S. yes Apple did a great job at a simple and easy to use device but they did not invent the device by any means and most definitely copied a vast amount of idea’s, designs and history from something they did not own (keep that in mind Apple was not the master inventor of their currently successful devices)