Update 1: Samsung comments below the fold
Update 2: Judge declares Apple’s “slide-to-unlock” patent invalid
A Dutch court today issued an “EU-wide preliminary injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy” devices (excluding the Galaxy tablets), according to a report from FOSS Patents who just posted the official court order.
From the report:
While the majority of Apple’s claims have reportedly been rejected by the court, one patent detailing swiping gestures between images in a gallery has apparently lead to the court’s ultimate decision (according to Tweaker via MacRumors). The “EU-wide” ruling will take effect October 13 and will ban Samsung subsidiaries from selling several devices including the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Ace smartphones. However, “EU-wide” in this case is not necessarily all of Europe, rather only in countries where that specific swipe gesture-related patent (image below) is valid. Foss Patents explains:
This comes on the heels of Samsung appealing a similar preliminary injunction (which has been temporarily lifted) granted by a German court halting sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the EU, claims that Apple doctored images of the Galaxy S in a Netherlands court, and some pretty crazy tactics on Samsung’s part regarding prior art arguments. We’re not sure what this means for Samsung’s upcoming line up of newly branded Galaxy devices slated to launch at IFA. We’ll keep you posted as more info becomes available.
[UPDATE 1, August 24 at 2011 8:55am PDT]
Samsung released the following statement in response to the injunction (via BBC):
[UPDATE 2, August 24 at 2011 1:24pm PDT]
Another interesting bit of info (via FOSS Patents) from the court’s ruling. The Dutch judge concluded Apple’s “slide-to-unlock” patent was invalid after Samsung submitted prior art of the Neonode N1m phone running Windows CE. This is a patent that Apple is also using here in the U.S. to sue HTC and others.
The report explains:
Image from photo swipe-gesture related patent (European software patent (EP 2059868)
