Apple and Samsung are still due to sit down and attempt to resolve their differences before they meet in court again in a patent battle but Samsung has been clipped around the ear by a recent summary judgement by the presiding judge, Lucy Koh.
The judgement has found that Samsung has infringed on one of Apple’s patents, while another of Samsung’s patent were invalidated.
The infringed patent, according to FOSS Patents, concerns autocomplete, specifically a “method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendations”. Judge Koh found that Samsung infringes on this patent to the extent that a jury would not have to evaluate the claim at all. FOSS Patents points out that this ruling will probably put Google and other Android devices into a bit of a tight spot, since they all use something similar.
The invalidated patent concerned a “multimedia synchronization method and device”. The patent was invalidate after Apple argued that it should never have been granted based on another, similar patent that was granted at an earlier stage.
The end result is that Samsung is bringing a weakened hand to the table and this might set back the company’s negotiations somewhat. If the talks fail, as they have in the past, Apple and Samsung will be in court again at the end of March this year.
Source: Engadget