By Kim Yoo-chul
A U.S. judge lifted a ban on sales in the U.S. of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computers Monday after finding that the product didn’t violate Apple’s patents.
Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., made the decision in a case separate from the $1.05 billion jury verdict in favor of Apple against Samsung, which is subject to an appeal.
Meanwhile, the Korean firm is preparing to sue its smartphone rival over the fourth-generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology used in its iPhone 5. The company has already filed a suit against Apple in the U.S. over 3G technology used in the iPhone 5.
Samsung claims that Apple infringed on several of its LTE related patents when designing its latest handset.
``Samsung is mulling the possibility of suing Apple for infringing on a number of our LTE patents. Any talk that we will be shying away from the iPhone 5 simply isn’t true,’’ an executive said, asking not to be named.
A Samsung spokesman declined to confirm the comments, as did Apple’s Korean spokesman, Steve Park.
While an expansion by Samsung of the lawsuits to iPhone 5, which is undeniably linked to attempts to getting a sales ban on the device, it would spark huge controversy in the Korean market and elsewhere.
``Samsung as a company already has a larger share in the global smartphone market than Apple and the gap has been widening. It also has a wealth of intellectual property in wireless technology, so it will do whatever it can to strengthen its position when the two companies eventually begin their talks for a cross-licensing agreement,’’ said Jeon Jong-hak, a patent attorney at Kyeongeun International Patent Office.
While most 3G patents are mostly regarded as essential patents, and thus protected by competition laws, important LTE patents aren’t still governed by the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principle. Samsung says eight of its LTE patents are critical for the latest 4G handsets.
``LTE patents are the only card left for Samsung in its fight against Apple. If Apple continues to attack Samsung in court, it will probably sue Apple over LTE patents,’’ said Jeon.
In court papers filed to California earlier, Samsung accused Apple of infringing on eight of its patents, including six non-standard patents, with the iPhone 5.
``The iPhone 5 has the same accused functionality as the previously accused versions of the iPhone, so the proof of infringement of the patents-in-suit by the iPhone 5 is the same as for other Apple devices already accused of infringement in this litigation," Samsung said in its legal papers.