Samsung’s request to have the iPhone 4S banned from selling in Italy has been denied. It appears their RAND patents on 3G weren’t enough for Italy to consider banning the new iPhone model. From AGI:
Milan Courts take time to review Samsung’s requests to have iPhone 4S sales stopped in Italy. In today’s first hearing on the matter, Milan judges turned down the request and agreed to both Samsung and Apple’s request to submit further evidence, which will be reviewed on December 16.
This is the latest blow against Samsung’s legal attempts to ban Apple from selling the iPhone 4S internationally. Earlier this month, the Dutch denied Samsung’s request to ban the iPhone 4S in the Netherlands, and last week a French court postponed their heaing until November 15.
From Apple’s Press Release:
Apple® today announced it has sold over four million of its new iPhone® 4S, just three days after its launch on October 14. In addition, more than 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, in the first five days of its release, and more than 20 million customers have signed up for iCloud®, a breakthrough set of free cloud services that automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices. iPhone 4S is available today in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, and will be available in 22 more countries on October 28 and more than 70 countries by the end of the year.
When I initially heard about Apple’s new Find My Friends app, the first thing that came to mind were the ethical implications. How long before I read about the app being used to track an unknowing subject? Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Take the following post found on the MacRumors Forum:
Divorcing wife. Thanks iPhone 4s and Find My Friends
I got my wife a new 4s and loaded up find my friends without her knowing. She told me she was at her friends house in the east village. I’ve had suspicions about her meeting this guy who live uptown. Lo and behold, Find my Friends has her right there.
I just texted her asking where she was and the dumb b!otch said she was on 10th Street!! Thank you Apple, thank you App Store, thank you all. These beautiful treasure trove of screen shots going to play well when I meet her a$$ at the lawyer’s office in a few weeks.
thankfully, she’s the rich one.
Some users in the forum are questioning the legitimacy of the post, but the scenario is possible. It is only a matter of time before this or a similar story blow up in the media. People need to realize that technology does not have a moral compass. It merely provides tools to enhance our lives. No matter how many safeguards are put in place, the user ultimately decides on how to use it, and they should be held accountable for their actions.
Samsung lost in its attempt to ban all Apple devices that use 3G in the Netherlands. From the Reuters article:
“A win for Apple but also relief for the industry because the judge upheld widespread understanding of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms in the use of patents,” independent intellectual property expert Florian Mueller said.
We’ve discussed Samsung’s use of RAND patents against Apple before. Now it appears that the next battles in Italy and France could also play in Apple’s favor.
“Apple will be taking French and Italian translations of the Dutch ruling with it. This makes it a long shot for Samsung that it could win an injunction in the EU based on its 3G patents,” Mueller said.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said Samsung’s Galaxy tabets infringed on Apple’s patents, but left the onus on Apple to establish the validity of their patents. As for issuing an injunction against Samsung:
At the hearing on Thursday in a San Jose, California federal court, Koh also said she would deny Apple’s request for an injunction based on one of Apple’s so-called “utility” patents.
She did not say whether she would grant the injunction based on three other Apple “design” patents.
The following courtroom conversation helps illustrate why Apple is going after Samsung for allegedly copying its flagship iOS devices:
Koh frequently remarked on the similarity between each company’s tablets. At one point during the hearing, she held one black glass tablet in each hand above her head, and asked Sullivan if she could identify which company produced which.
“Not at this distance your honor,” said Sullivan, who stood at a podium roughly ten feet away.
“Can any of Samsung’s lawyers tell me which one is Samsung and which one is Apple?” Koh asked. A moment later, one of the lawyers supplied the right answer.
