Has Apple lost its bite?
Apple seems to have learned the lesson that you can't patent "cool".
In the U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh has denied Apple's motion for a sales ban against Samsung products a jury had previously found to have infringed three patents.
Earlier this month, Apple and Samsung stated they have dropped all ongoing patent litigation outside the US, which is likely to save both companies millions of dollars in legal fees. The companies have agreed to a ceasefire in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea and the UK.
The battle began in April 2011, when Steve Jobs vowed to spend whatever it took on a 'thermonuclear war'. Apple proceeded to sue Samsung in the US for copying the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad devices with multiple products. The war quickly spread beyond US borders to include claims and counterclaims in various countries across four continents.
In a summary judgment, Judge Koh found Samsung infringed Apple's patent for predictive text input. However, the US Patent and Trademark Office subsequently rejected key claims of the patent rendering void any claims Apple may have had based on the patent.
This judgment is yet another setback for Apple in its numerous bids to ban Samsung products in the US and abroad.
In another high-profile peace treaty Apple and Google's Motorola agreed to drop ongoing proceedings related to smartphone technology, vowing to work together on patent reform.
