Apple says Samsung’s Galaxy Note, Jelly Bean infringe patent
Apple Inc. told a judge that Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Note 10.1 device infringes its patents, and sought to add the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system to an existing lawsuit against Samsung in California.
Apple made the arguments this week to U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal in federal court in San Jose. Apple’s bid to expand the lawsuit follows Samsung’s Oct. 1 move to add patent-infringement claims against the iPhone 5 in the same case. Apple won a $1.05 billion jury verdict against Samsung on Aug. 24 in a separate patent case in the same court.
Filings by both companies in their two cases before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh show no letup in their battle on four continents to retain dominance in the $219 billion global smartphone market.
Samsung in August began U.S. sales of the Galaxy Note 10.1, equipped with a stylus -- a feature Apple’s iPad doesn’t offer, and which builds on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5.3, a similarly stylus-equipped smartphone that came out earlier this year. Jelly Bean is Google Inc.’s latest version of the Android operating system that runs on Samsung mobile devices as well as Google’s Nexus 7 handheld computer, which was released in June.
No grounds
Koh on Oct. 1 rescinded a ban on U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 that she imposed in June, deciding there were no grounds for keeping the preliminary injunction in place after jurors concluded in their Aug. 24 verdict that Samsung didn’t infringe the Apple design patent that was the basis for the injunction.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, contended the ban should remain in place because the jury found the Galaxy Tab infringed other patents at issue in the case.
Andrew Liao, an Apple attorney, told Grewal today that the Galaxy Nexus is the only phone with Jelly Bean that Apple seeks to add to the patent complaint. Liao also said Apple wants to add 17 devices that could use a stylus even though the products don’t ship with a stylus.
Victoria Maroulis, an attorney for Samsung, said the company wants to add only one product, the iPhone5, to its complaint. Maroulis said Samsung opposes the addition of “stylus products in 17 new devices” to Apple’s claims.
“By adding the stylus, Apple is going to enlarge the case significantly,” she said.
Grewal didn’t issue a ruling today. He said he was concerned that if he denied both sides their requests, the companies may file a new round of lawsuits.
Preliminary order
The case in which Apple added the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Jelly Bean operating system is scheduled for trial in 2014.
Apple already has won a preliminary order from Koh blocking U.S. sales of Samsung’s Nexus smartphone. In August, Apple added the Galaxy S III smartphone to its list of products that it says infringe its patents.
In the previous patent lawsuit between the two companies that went to trial in July, the jury found that Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung infringed six of seven Apple patents at stake.
Koh has scheduled December hearings in that case to consider Apple’s request for a permanent U.S. sales ban on eight Samsung smartphone models and the Tab 10.1. She will also consider Samsung’s bid to get the August verdict thrown out based on claims of juror misconduct.
The case is Apple v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 12-cv- 630, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The previous case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 11-cv-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).