Remember how Apple and Samsung got tied up in a patent battle that ended with Apple winning? Well, Samsung did went on to appeal the decision and it worked out in their favour as the appeal judges ruled that out of the three patents that Apple claimed Samsung has violated, one of them did not infringe of any Apple patent and the other two were invalid.
In an opinion published over the weekend, the appeals judges listed out the reasons why Apple’s claims of patent violation were invalid. Firstly, the judges claim that Samsung did not infringe on patent ‘647, a patent that describes how to turn phone numbers and other software “structures” into links. According to the judges, Apple “has failed to prove, as a matter of law, that the accused Samsung products use as ‘analyzer server’ as we have previously construted that term”.
Patent ‘721, also known as the ‘Slide-to-unlock’ patent, was deemed invalid by the judges because of two pieces of prior art. The first piece was the Neonode N1m, a Microsoft-powered touchscreen phone that instructed users to “right sweep to unlock” the phone. The other piece was a paper and accompanying video presented at a 1992 “computer-human-interactivity conference”. This paper, presented by a research scientist named Catherine Plaisant, described a variety of on/off switches that could be used in a touchscreen environment. The controls include a ‘slider toggle’ that could be moved with a finger.
The last patent involved revolves around Apple’s “autocorrect” feature, which the judges also found invalid in light of prior art. The judges found that Apple’s ‘autocorrect’ feature has been disclosed in an earler patent numbered 7,880,730.
Samsung’s successful appeal means that the company does not need to pay Apple USD 120 million that was awarded by a jury in 2014. It is also expected to lift a court injunction that would result in certain Samsung smartphones being sold in the USA. “We are delighted with the resounding victory from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which found that two of Apple’s patentes should never have been issued. Today’s decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs – in the marketplace, not in the courtroom,” says a Samsung spokesperson.
Source: Ars Technica
