Image: Pedro Eugenio Antunes/Flickr (Creative Commons)
Samsung’s plan to ban the iPhone and iPad has officially started with the Korean company asking a Dutch court to ban the products made by rival Apple over infringing on patents relating to 3G technologies it holds in Europe.
According to Dutch publication Webwereld.nl, Samsung has appealed for an import ban on Apple smartphones and tablets, and has widen it to not only affect Apple but to five other companies that are affiliated with them to handle sales and distribution. Samsung is also claiming one million euros for each violation of the ban.
Webwereld.nl (according to translation by Google) notes that these are the patents that have been named by Samsung:
European Patent (EP) 1114528Samsung “the device for controlling a demultiplexer and a multiplexer for the matching of data rates (rate matching) in a mobile communication system, so the data according to the 3G standard wireless can be established between a mobile station, such as a mobile or tablet, and a base station. ”
EP 1478136 provides a method for controlling the speed of the uplink from mobile to base station, through which great strides to increase or decrease, which improves throughput.
EP 1097516 is a ‘turbocodeerorgaan’ for the data signal from a 3G device. And EP 1188269 relates to finally TFCI (Transport Format Combination Indicator) field that informs receiver on the data rate of the data that is transmitted by a mobile or tablet.
Samsung brings also other similar patents in contention against Apple in the courts including the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Japan and South Korea.
Because they are so fundamental to mobile technology, Samsung is obliged to offer them on a reasonable term under FRAND conditions (Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) in order to promote competition. According to Samsung, Apple is the only company that has not paid “reasonable” royalties for use of its technology.
The case has been scheduled to be discussed next Monday, allowing Apple to settle the case before the court reaches a judgement that could see a ban of the iPad and iPhone in the Netherlands – or in fact for the entire EU, as a Dutch court has previously done with Samsung.
It must really hurt when one of your legal tactics have been used against you.