Apple vs. Samsung Lawsuit & Patent Infringement Trial - Part 3: Impact with Other Tech Companies, from HTC, Motorola, and Ericsson

This is the third installment of the Apple vs. Samsung Lawsuit & Patent Infringement Trials, a continuation of the first installment can be read here, while the second installment on how the similar Apple vs. Samsung trials is proceeding worldwide, click here.

The Apple vs. Samsung patent infringement trial is not exclusive to the two companies, but it has brought other tech companies involved.

An important reason for the US trial between Apple and Samsung is that it could serve as an example to all patent infringement trials.

Companies such as HTC, Ericsson, and Motorola have been affected by either Apple or Samsung in regards to patents, and it could affect the US trial.

HTC

Apple had also encountered in a license agreement trial with HTC, and the two settled in early November. Unfortunately for the two companies, Samsung had fought for the details to be released as it might prove of some importance to the Apple vs. Samsung trial.

US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal ordered on Nov. 21 that the financial licensing agreements for third parties in the patent infringement case are to be disclosed. The decision forces Apple to produce a copy of the agreement made with HTC.

According to Grewal, "HTC is not entitled to special treatment, especially when it has recognized the general sufficiency of the protective order and the integrity of Samsung's outside counsel."

At first, the agreement would only be disclosed to attorneys, not to the public. However, Judge Lucy Koh, who's overseeing the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial, ordered that the HTC agreement should be made public.

"There are compelling reasons to seal pricing and royalty terms, as they may place the parties to the agreement at a disadvantage in future negotiations, but there is nothing in the remainder of the agreement that presents a sufficient risk of competitive harm to justify keeping it from the public," stated Kohn in her order.

Apple and HTC's Agreement

Ericsson

Just as Apple and HTC settled their license agreement disputes, Ericsson has filed a lawsuit against Samsung in regards to license agreements and patents.

Filed on Nov. 27, Ericsson stated they an agreement with Samsung but it has expired.

"Despite nearly two years of negotiations involving the most senior management at both companies, Samsung has refused to renew its expired license to Ericsson's industry leading portfolio of telecommunications patents on the same fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms that Samsung's competitors have previously accepted," Ericsson said in the court documents.

Once again, the term FRAND is utilized, this follows lawsuits Samsung filed against Apple, notably mentioned in "Part 2: The World Stage" in France, Italy, and United Kingdom.

"Samsung has sold hundreds of millions of unlicensed cellular handsets, smartphones, tablet computers, and televisions since the expiration of its license, including its flagship Galaxy S III smartphone," the Ericsson court documents added.

Furthermore, the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy cameras, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 7.0 are at risk of being banned if the court goes in favor of Ericsson.

To view Ericsson's court documents, click here.

Motorola

Germany's Mannheim Regional Court ruled on Sept. 20 against Apple's claim that Motorola and Samsung infringed on Apple's "Touch event model."

Apple sued Microsoft and Samsung separately but it concerned the same "touch event" issue.

According to Foss Patents, Apple's claim was "fairly broad that covers the way the operating system reports touch events to applications or purposely ignores them."

"If Apple's proposed interpretation of this patent had been adopted by the court, numerous applications that rely on the attacked operating system functionality would no longer run in a reliable, stable fashion after a workaround. This would have caused logistical complications with the need to rewrite, recompile and reinstall many apps," Foss noted.

"We welcome today's ruling, which affirms our position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property," Samsung said in an emailed statement. "For decades, we have heavily invested in pioneering the development of technological and design innovations in the mobile industry, which have been constantly reflected in our products. We will continue to further develop and introduce products that enhance the lives of German consumers."

Motorola, however, couldn't escape a ruling that Apple claimed infringed on their "overscroll bounce" technology.

"The patent covers a user interaction behavior, allowing users to scroll documents or photos past their boundaries, having them bounce back when the finger is released," reported The Register's Richard Chirgwin.

A Munich court ruled that Motorola did infringement the technology in question and has ordered a recall of the Milestone XT720, DEFY, Atrix, and XOOM devices.

To view Apple's patent on the Touch event model, click here.

The fourth installment of the Apple vs. Samsung Patent Infringement Trials continues with "Apple vs. Samsung Lawsuit & Patent Infringement Trials - Part 4: Retrial Redux: Latest Developments in US Trial Since iPhone 5 Launch." The final installment, Part 5, will review experts' thoughts on the trial and the future of Apple, Samsung, and patent infringement trials.