Samsung had used the Netherlands as a loophole against an EU-wide ban on its products. That option is now closed after a Netherlands court rules the Korean company’s smartphones violate Apple patents. The decision could tie a knot in Samsung’s distribution chain, the latest win for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker.
The Wednesday ruling by a Dutch court at The Hague hurts only Samsung’s smartphones, but not the Galaxy tablets. The injunction goes into effect in mid-October in European nations where the Apple patent “Portable Electronic Device for Photo Management” is valid, according to reports.
Although the ruling does not affect Samsung’s Korean operations, the company does have three Netherlands’ subsidiaries. “It is my understanding that Samsung’s European logistics use the Netherlands as the primary hub,” writes FOSS Patents. The judge’s ruling could force Samsung to “reorganize its logistics chain,” according to the website.
The ruling is just the latest victory for Apple, which has pressed patent infringement charges against the rival smartphone and tablet maker. After winning an injunction in Australia, the tech giant also won a limited injunction from a German court.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
22 responses to “How Did Apple Get Samsung’s Phones Banned Across Europe? By Closing A Dutch Legal Loophole”
did Apple lie to European court about Samsung smartphone and tablet http://tinyurl.com/3c3ts8g
How long will this injunction work for? I sometimes think the judges are just delaying to extemnd their own pay checks.
dear steve,
YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, SO PIS* OFF
Umm not a victory for Apple at all…
http://www.osnews.com/story/25…
It’s a design patent, so effectively until Samsung change the design. Relatively easy to do.
Apologies, should have checked, there are a mixture of utility patents and design patents behind the injunction in the Netherlands. I was basing my comment on the German injunction and assumed Apple had used the same set in the Netherlands. Ignore my previous comment.
Pff.. Apple..
Still, you are right about how easy it would be for Samsung to simply make a few slight alterations and end the whole thing. I think they just want to save face or something. The whole thing could be ended overnight by simply making a couple of tiny changes in their design and approach.
Dear Jordan, go hang out somewhere else…and also, I’d like to see your cheap ass invent and put millions of dollars into something and have it stolen, and see what you do…piss ant. Grow some hair on ur nuts first, maybe you will understand once u create something on ur own how things work.
According to the judge Apple didn’t create two of the things that they were claiming.
HAHAHAHA!! DIE SAMSUNG DIE!!! SAMSUNG LOSERS, GO CRY AT YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE GRAVE, DONT EVEN TRY AND DEBATE, YOU LOST, YOU ARE LOSING AND WILL LOSE. SAMSUNG HAS NO LEGACY LIKE STEVE JOBS. ITS LIKE HAVING CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT JESUS, BUDDHISM WITHOUT BUDDHA, NOW GO TAKE YOUR SMALL MAN SYNDROME OUT ON YOUR OWN “FAN” SITE. AS WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!