Law and Innovation

Apple’s success story is well-known: “Before 2007, mobile phones were bulky, inelegantly designed boxes with multiple buttons and protruding antennas”. The context hasn’t changed either: Samsung, faced with a crisis of design, “ made a deliberate decision to copy the iPhone’s innovative look and many of its other features, and its mobile devices became iPhone clones ”. And now we know the result: the petition for writ of certiorari (request for U.S. Supreme Court review) is granted, at least, to question 2 (see below). The tone in Apple’s brief opposition petition for writ of certiorari ("cert. petition"; a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to hear a case) seemed strong, but wasn’t good enough to convince the SCOTUS not to review the Federal Circuit's decision (786 F.3d 983). After a 120-year hiatus, the highest judicial body in the United States will, again, examine the valuation of design patents. Apple did however “win” regarding the scope of the d...

Fresh and interesting article posted on the WIPR about Samsung’s writ seeking to restrict “unjustified windfalls” in design patent cases at the U.S. Supreme Court level.  Happy Reading! Pressure is growing on the US Supreme Court to grant Samsung’s writ seeking to restrict “unjustified windfalls” in design patent cases, after Google and Facebook threw their weight behind the Korean company in its dispute with Apple. Both parties filed an  amicus  brief along with eBay, Dell and HP, arguing that if an earlier decision to award Apple total profits from the sale of Samsung’s smartphone products that infringed Apple’s design patents is left to stand, it would “lead to absurd results and have a devastating impact on companies”. “Awarding a design patentee the total profit from an infringer’s product when the design covers only a relatively minor portion of the product is out of proportion with the significance of the design and out of touch with economic realities,...

Fresh and interesting article (posted on LinkedIn on March 27, 2014): Let’s get excited! The second big California patent lawsuit between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. (case No. C 12-00630 LHK [1] ) will kick off on Monday (March 31, 2014 - 9:00 a.m). Hon. Lucy H. Koh will be presiding over the case. The first day will be devoted to jury selection and the trial is expected to last approximately 14 days. The first time around, on August 24, 2012, one of the most watched trials ever in the tech world and, probably, one of the most interesting intellectual property case took place in California ( Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al , case No. C 11-1846 LHK). As you all remember, Samsung has been found guilty of infringing on several patents (design and utility) and trade dress owned by Apple . All in all, the jury found 28 products to infringe some of Apple's intellectual property rights and awarded more than $1 billion damages, and rejected al...

‘Inadvertent disclosures’ happened (Samsung’s counsel [1] ). Inadvertent (Adj.): failing to act carefully or considerately; inattentive (Collins Online Dictionary). A couple of days ago, F. Mueller IP expert (FOSS patent) published an interesting article about Samsung’s illegal disclosure of confidential information related to the secret Nokia-Apple patent license. In this case, the United States District Court (Northern District of California) seemed to be very ‘angry’ with Samsung and its outside counsel (Quinn Emanuel). From the start, the tone was set: ‘(…) Letting Samsung and its counsel investigate without any court supervision is unlikely to produce satisfactory results’ said Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal. What are the consequences of such a disclosure and what sanctions on Samsung’s actions might be taken by the Court? Unfortunately, it’s still hard to predict... The mere facts of this new  Apple Inc. (and Nokia) vs. Samsung Electronics Co . case...

T he legal battle between the world’s two largest phone manufacturers Apple and Samsung isn't over, and the fighting in courtrooms is getting more intense than ever! Get ready for a new Apple vs. Samsung event on  August 9th, 2013 .  Last year, on August 24, 2012, one of the most watched trials ever in the tech world and, probably, one of the most exciting Intellectual Property case took place in California : Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al , Case No. C 11-1846 LHK . As you all remember, Samsung has been found guilty of infringing on several patents (design and utility) and trade dress owned by Apple. All in all, the jury found 28 products to infringe some of Apple's intellectual property rights (IPR) ( http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/08/apple-to-request-preliminary-injunction.html ). In other words, a verdict largely favorable to Apple. As a reminder, the total of the jury's damages award was $1,049,393,540. Here is a detailed lis...