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Samsung hopes to use Apple and HTC settlement to stop sales ban

Samsung hopes to use Apple and HTC settlement to stop sales ban

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HTC One S read 560
HTC One S read 560

Earlier this week HTC and Apple put an end to their patent disagreements, and now Samsung is hoping to use that fact to prevent its own devices from being taken off the market. In a court filing today, Samsung asked the court to force Apple to turn over a copy of its settlement agreement to see which patents are covered in the deal. Specifically, Samsung wants to know if Apple licensed any of the patents that it was found to have infringed — including the bounce-back and pinch-to-zoom patents. If so, the company argues, Apple's request that infringing Samsung products be removed from the market falls apart, because Apple was happy to "forego exclusivity in exchange for money" — and in this instance, Apple is already receiving money in the form of a hefty $1.049 billion verdict.

During the Apple vs. Samsung trial earlier this year, Apple's Director of Patent Licensing and Strategy, Boris Teksler, stated that while Apple does license its standards-essential and computing patents, "we strongly desire not to license" the patents the cover its user experience. In Apple's mind, Teksler, said, no company would even need to license that particular set of intellectual property unless it wanted to build a clone of one of Apple's devices.

As for Apple, the company's attorneys previously told Samsung's legal team that they would turn over the agreement, but that Apple needed to let HTC know 10 days in advance before doing so. Apple declined to commit to the timeframe in a biding court document, however, and with the companies scheduled to discuss the injunction on December 6th, Samsung wants to move things along. Given how fundamental this agreement could be, we'd be shocked if the court didn't agree.

Thanks, Stefan!