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Apple ups ante with Dutch legal attack on Samsung

By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 19 Aug 2011 at 12:15

A fresh Apple lawsuit that calls for a block on sales of all Galaxy products could have "far reaching consequences" for Samsung in Europe, according to an analyst.

In a lawsuit reportedly seen by Dutch website Webwereld, Apple is seeking to block sales of all Samsung Galaxy devices, phones as well as tablets, across Europe.

It mirrors an earlier call for an EU-wide injunction banning sales that was granted in Germany, but is far more aggressive.

"It goes a long way, calling for a recall of product from the channel, and it could block distribution, which is a key part of the supply chain," Alistair Edwards, a principal analyst covering European wholesale for Canalys, told PC Pro.

The question for the channel is what risks are they taking by holding stock and whether they should continue ordering

"As I understand it, the Dutch injunction that Apple is seeking would impose a ban on the sale and distribution and could effect all of Europe and all Galaxy products," he said.

"The implications are far reaching because with the German one, with product sitting in distribution channels, they didn't need to recall it. Now it is saying retailers could face action if they stock the product, but this is all hypothetical because it is going to court in September."

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a battle over what Apple claims are similarities between Samsung's Galaxy tablet and its own iPad, and for a short period saw a German court block sales in the EU. However, the injunction was overturned over concerns that a German court did not have the jurisdiction to ban sales from a Korean company across Europe.

The latest case could turn up the heat on the Korean manufacturer because both the Samsung companies mentioned in the Dutch filing are registered in Holland, so a ruling could set an EU-wide precedent, Edwards said.

Total recall

The lawsuits also calls for Samsung to send letters out to all retailers, recalling the products that Apple claims infringe its intellectual property and posing serious questions for buyers in the retail channel.

"It is speculation, but it's more likely that we won't see a ban on all products, and they'll propably reach some sort of compromise," Edwards said. "The question for the channel is what risks are they taking by holding stock and whether they should continue ordering."

The Webwereld site was also behind a story that emerged earlier in the week that suggested Apple had doctored or misused images in its court application in Germany to make the Samsung Galaxy Tab appear more similar to the iPad, although it later emerged the court had the devices in hand for comparison as well.

Apple said it was making no comment on the case, and we are waiting to hear back from Samsung.

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User comments

Legal "attack"? Injunction "overturned"? Invention.

I see the journalistic integrity of PCPro is falling away rapidly with such nonsense.

Apple is taking Samsung to court to DEFEND its patents; the German injunction wasn't overturned, sales are still banned in Germany, just not in Europe.

For heaven's sake get things right. Or go back to writing stories for The Beano.

By SwissMac on 19 Aug 2011

@swissmac

Brother, do you have access to an RSS Feed for PC Pro that I don't know about? Because any time Apple get's mentioned you're on to it like a shot.

They did overturn the initial ruling as that referred Europe wide. Not just in Germany.

In any case, it looks like the end of a happy if rocky marriage between Samsung and Apple. Maybe Apple will build their own manufacturing plants now and build their own chips. At least that way they'll be able to suppress the suicides more effectively, allegedly.

By CraigieDD on 19 Aug 2011

@SwissMac

The lawsuit is instigated by Apple, so it _is_ a legal attack, even if considered to be a (questionably) defensive one.
The story states it was the EU wide ban that was overturned.

Hopefully Samsung will have had enough of Jobs' & co and tell them to get another supplier. 1984 anyone?

By JonnyB on 19 Aug 2011

Naive or misleading

It is either naive or deliberately misleading to suggest that Apple is waging this war to defend its (trolling) patents. Principally because this is not about patents at all, and secondly because as even my 3 year old can see, this is just Apple chucking money at the legal process in order to use dirty tricks to steal an even greater share of the market.

Apple are not the wounded party in this escapade, SwissMac, and words like "attack" are entirely appropriate.

By PaleRider on 19 Aug 2011

As is usual, it appears someone comments without either reading or understanding the article.
It has nothing to do with patents-at all.It's an infringement of a registered design, nothing else.
It would, looking at the design that's been registered, appear that Apple has been allowed to register a generic tablet design, so it's conceivable that this is a long-term trait to prevent any tablet maker selling in Europe.
As there have been numerous tablets available for years, I'm at a loss to understand how it was allowed.

By Ex_Sailor on 19 Aug 2011

Ex_Sailor

Lots and lots and lots of money, I believe (allegedly)

By PaleRider on 19 Aug 2011

Engineering Grammar

'"As I understand it, the Dutch injunction that Apple is seeking would impose a ban on the sale and distribution and could effect all of Europe and all Galaxy products,"'

Should be "affect", not "effect". If I had a pound for every time I have heard or seen a "professional person" use the wrong one of those two words then I wouldn't need to be an engineer!.

Even the PC Pro staff make the mistake of using these words wrongly.

By BornOnTheCusp on 19 Aug 2011

@SwissMac

That first post was hilarious. More please.

By Aspicus on 19 Aug 2011

to BornOnTheCusp

Thank you for reassuring me that it is not just me that suffers from these things. :-)

By PaleRider on 19 Aug 2011

By the way

I might as well come out and say it.

I am an Apple user. In fact, so is my wife; on my own recommendation. We both have Apple laptops and various other computers before them, and while I can run Windows via Parallels for proper programming, we remain mostly happy. Have been for a couple of decades of Apple use.

However, I will not be giving Apple any more of my money.

Ever.

I know it's only a computer, but I would feel the same if it were Dell or HP. Apple are no different, other than their appalling behaviour.

By PaleRider on 19 Aug 2011

No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

I hadn't heard of Newzbin until it was mentioned that various bodies were seeking to close it down allegedly because of piracy.

I hadn't really taken any notice of the tablet market because I didn't want an iAnything. But, thanks to Apple and Steve (I walk on water) Jobs, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was brought to my attention and now I can't wait to lay hands on one (though I will probably buy one in the US as they are cheaper than here in Rip-Off Britain).

By jontym123 on 20 Aug 2011

Cannot believe that this was even allowed to go to court, unless apple take ever other single flat thing with a screen to court. Looks like I'll be using an abacus soon because I wont use anything with apple on it.

By davidk1962 on 20 Aug 2011

backlash?

Is apple risking a backlash against its MO here? There seams to be a growing anger at their methodology and I feel an e-petition coming on lol

By ITZ_Go_One on 20 Aug 2011

Samsung marketing scheme

It will save them a fortune on advertising and no way to get a better awareness of their products.

If Apple are saying that they are so good, that they are a danger to the iPad, the average punter will want one.

BTW, the German ban is still in place, I can buy over amazon.de, but they are based in Belgium, not Germany; but they are not available in shops.

By big_D on 20 Aug 2011

I'm glad he/she's back

It's just not the same on PC Pro when Swissmac isn't around. It gives me a good laugh to read their hopelessly biased opinions - long may it continue!

By everton2004 on 20 Aug 2011

Backlash

My iPhone corrupted my audiobooks, again, this weekend. I'm fed up with it. Ever since iOS 4 came out, it has been a downward spiral of ever worsening performance and reduced reliability.

Add to that the questionable build quality of the iPhone 4 and I'm certainly looking elsewhere. My boss has been through 4 iPhone 3GS and now 4 iPhone 4s in the last 2 years - 4 iPhone 4s since May! Now he has switched to a Samsung Galaxy SII and is, at the moment, happy.

I've only kept my iPhone around, because it plays Audible books, now that it regularly screws them up, I'm starting to look elsewhere. Unfortunately, Audible still haven't come out with an App for my htc Mozart, so I'm having to look at Android.

By big_D on 22 Aug 2011

@big_D

Give apple a break.

They are concentrating their efforts on stopping anyone competing with them at the moment. If they succeed then there will be no need for trivial activities such as producing reliable goods or innovating because apple will be the only thing available to buy.

Apple shareholders: won't someone please think of the apple shareholders.

By qpw3141 on 22 Aug 2011

The downward spiral...

... of the quality of Apple products was inevitable.

A small, quality focussed company, producing a limited number of products, with a slow update cycle and attention to detail means that a high degree of satisfaction is almost guaranteed, if managed well, which it was. This was the Apple we knew, and many loved.

A large, greedy, profit focussed company, which is concentrated on tying users into an ever accelerating update cycle, with an ever more rapidly expanding product folio, aimed squarely at product envy rather than servicing customer needs, is guaranteed to crack as the step change in hardware and software cycles brings with it an increased requirement for tighter specification, quality control and testing. This is the Apple we now know, and many hate, and which has deftly proven its skill in maximising profitability, but absolutely failed to step up to the mark in the testing and QC areas. And it shows.

This is a great shame, but very soon, unless somebody at Apple stems the shameless greed, they will have become just another Sony or Samsung (irony?); a reviled mass producer of consumer trinkets manufactured by starving children in bootcamps (hah!) and sweatshops in regions which score very poorly on human rights transgressions, but are cheap and thus perfectly acceptable after all.

A great reputation can quickly tarnish.

Presumably, Apple have patented the word "backlash". I hope so, as I suspect that they will be hearing it a lot soon, and their corporate law vultures will need something to seize onto.

By PaleRider on 22 Aug 2011

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