Samsung’s Software Banned, Picks Up Friends In Its Supreme Court Battle With Apple

In a victory more symbolic than practical for Apple, a U.S. Court has agreed to ban the sale of Samsung Galaxy 3 phones in the United States as part of an ongoing patent dispute between the two tech firms. The victory is largely symbolic; the banned software in question is out of date and no longer in use in the current models of the phone’s flagship model.

It also might just end up being pyrrhic for Apple as a series of tech giants, including both Google and Dell, are rallying behind Samsung over the issue of what they consider Apple’s overreach in the patent issue.

Specifically, the court has banned Samsung from the sale of software that cause its phone to infringe on three Apple patents. Specifically, the patents center on the “slide to unlock” feature, predictive text and autocorrect. The ruling only applies to software running on the Samsung 3 models, meaning that, practically speaking, the only group that gained materially from the decision here are the lawyers who prosecuted the case. Making the ruling even more empty, the autocorrect patent expires in less than two weeks and Samsung has a month to comply with the order.

The slide-to-unlock patent is still the subject of some debate — and the only devices covered by the injunction do not apply to Samsung’s two flagship models, the Note and Galaxy S.

“So Samsung can still provide the functionality by simply avoiding the implementation it used in its oldest products. If the patent is indeed held invalid, then Samsung can also use the older implementations, but it presumably won’t even be interested in that,” he noted.

Despite the lack of practical effects here, Samsung reports being rather unsatisfied with Apple’s “abusing the judicial system to create bad legal precedent, which can harm consumer choice for generations to come.”

And this particular legal fistfight isn’t over, despite the fact that Samsung has agreed as of December to pay Apple the $548 million settlement in the patent dispute.

The case is now likely headed for the U.S. Supreme Court — and it looks like Samsung has picked up some new friends in the fight.

Samsung has also gained some new friends in its U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the 2012 patent ruling, which resulted in it having to pay Apple $548M.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which has also filed a brief, also worries that Apple’s success here will embolden patent trolls.

“The Federal Circuit’s decision with respect to design-patent damages raises constitutional concerns, is a misreading of the statute, and is dangerous to the technology industry,” CCIA said in its brief.

“The correct interpretation of the design patent damages statute is being closely watched by technology companies, as well as by patent assertion entities targeting them,” CCIA patent counsel Matt Levy said.

“Patent assertion entities are already using the appeals court’s decision to threaten operating companies with the total loss of their profits. This decision encourages design patent law to be applied in a way that was never intended. We think the lower court misinterpreted the law and would encourage the Supreme Court to hear Samsung’s case.”