Apple drops patent claim against Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini

Apple has agreed to withdraw patent infringement allegations against Samsung's new Galaxy S3 Mini in exchange for assurances that the South Korean electronics giant will not market the smartphone in the U.S.

Apple disclosed the agreement today in a filing with the U.S. District Court for Northern California. The iPhone maker requested last month that the new smartphone and other Samsung products be added to the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. Samsung countered that the S3 Mini was unavailable for purchase in the United States, however Apple noted that the new smartphone was listed on Amazon's U.S. storefront and had been purchased and delivered to multiple U.S. addresses.

"Apple will agree to withdraw without prejudice its request to include the Galaxy S III Mini in this case given Samsung's representation that it is not making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing that product into the United States," Apple said in its filing.

The unlocked phone quietly appeared on Amazon last month, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and featuring a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a dual-core 1-gigahertz processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. While the new phone supports either T-Mobile USA or AT&T, it lacks support for any 4G LTE connectivity.

Apple had previously argued that the device infringed on the same patents included in its $1.5 billion verdict against Samsung. However, Apple has been unsuccessful in securing sales bans.

Representatives for Apple and Samsung declined to comment.

SOURCE:CNET

HTC Will Pay Apple $6-$8 Per Android Phone As Part of Patent Settlement

Over the weekend, Apple and HTC announced a surprise settlement to their global patent battle, along with a 10-year licensing agreement that includes current and future patents held by both companies.

The terms of the settlement deal were not initially disclosed, but Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu reports hearing from multiple industry sources that HTC has agreed to pay Apple $6-$8 in licensing fees for each Android phone it sells. Wu estimates that could work out to be between $180-$280 million paid to Apple annually, given that HTC is expected to ship 30 million-35 million Android smartphones in 2013.

While this might sound like a lot, Wu points out in his research note that it is comparable to the $5 that HTC reportedly pays Microsoft per Android device as part of a separate patent settlement.

“We think $6-$8 seems reasonable if not a relatively small price for HTC and others to pay to be able to sell a modern smart phone with touchscreen,” Wu wrote in the note.

Apple first sued HTC for infringing on patents related to the iPhone in 2010, as part of the so-called “thermonuclear war” against Google’s Android phones and its manufacturing partners declared by Apple’s former CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs’. Apple and HTC have since battled it out in court rooms around the world, with Apple winning multiple decisions.

After the patent settlement was announced late Saturday, an HTC spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journalthat she doesn’t expect the terms of the agreement to have an “adverse material impact” on HTC’s business. Wu argues that the settlement won’t likely have any material benefit on Apple’s business either, considering that $280 million annually is pocket change for a company that generates $193 billion in sales annually.

More important than the money, Wu speculates that the terms of this agreement could be used as a “blueprint” for Apple coming to similar settlements with other Android manufacturers, including Samsung and Motorola.

SOURCE:mashable

Apple adds Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to Samsung patent lawsuit

GADGET DESIGNER Apple has added Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system to an existing lawsuit against Samsung in California.
The company told US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal of its intention on Monday, adding that it thinks Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet also infringes its patents. This might be in retaliation afterSamsung aired its plans to go after the Iphone 5 for allegedly infringing its patents on wireless technologies, but Apple has taken things one bit further by throwing Google into the mix.
It's still unclear why Apple is going after Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, or the Galaxy Note 10.1 for that matter, and the firm has not yet responded for our request for comment.
However, Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum said Apple's latest move is to simply try and slow down its ever-increasing competition. He told The INQUIRER, "I think Apple's agenda is just to slow down the competition wherever they can.

"I think ultimately they know they're not going to be able to stop Samsung and Android from trading they're just going to try and slow them down, tying their time money and executives up in a court case. The only thing they get out of this is slowing them down."
Android Liao, a lawyer for Apple said that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the only smartphone running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean that Apple wants to add to its patent complaint,Bloomberg reports. However, Liao added that Apple also wants to add 17 devices that could use a stylus, even if they don't ship with one included.
Samsung understandably opposes the addition of "stylus products in 17 new devices" to Apple's claims.
Victoria Maroulis, an attorney for Samsung said, "By adding the stylus, Apple is going to enlarge the case significantly."
This move shows that that the tedious legal war between Apple and Samsung is nowhere near over, despite Apple scoring a $1bn verdict over its rival in US court in August. Preliminary hearings are set to kick off in the US next month relating to this latest case, which might decided whether Apple can permanently ban Samsung devices in the US, including the firm's most popularSamsung Galaxy S3handset.
The lawsuit to which Apple added the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system is scheduled for trial in 2014, so it looks like these legal battles are set to continue for at least another two years, if not five or more years counting inevitable appeals.
Source:Inquirer