The legal profession has elevated itself in CNET's estimation in the past week, with judges here in the UK and now in Australia mocking Apple and Samsung for their absurd and petty patent disputes.
Australia's Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett reportedly called the two companies "ridiculous" and threatened to order them to settle their dispute over a coffee and a lamington.
"Why on Earth are these proceedings going ahead?" Bloomberg reported her saying. It wasn't recorded whether the Sydney judge was looking over the rims of her glasses and pointing a finger at the recalcitrant manufacturers, but I'm going to imagine she was. "Why shouldn't I order the parties to mediation?"
The dispute in question was over patents held by Samsung, which cover things like using your data transmission for more than one thing at once, like taking a call and downloading an app. The Korean giant claims Apple won't pay a reasonable price for licensing these patents. The Californian company, for its part, claims it offered a fair fee.
Judges around the world, faced with a tide of acrimonious legal waffle from both Apple and Samsung's lawyers, are getting increasingly impatient. Earlier this month British Judge Colin Birss slapped them both around with a masterful ruling that said Samsung hadn't infringed on Apple's patents... because Apple products were way cooler.
Even better, His Judgeness then ordered Apple to prominently apologise to Samsung, in print ads and on its website, for accusing it of "slavishly copying" the iPad. Burn!
Neither company (or any of the other phone giants involved in courtroom donnybrooks) has come out of this with any credit. The patent system is so complex and intertwined that it's impossible to tell who owns what. Did Apple invent the smart phone? Of course not. It just made it much better, and its reward for doing that was selling tens of millions of iPhones.
Did Steve Jobs have a right to feel aggrieved that Android was offering something very similar? Maybe, but when your innovation is largely a matter of user experience and marketing -- or in the learned word of Judge Birss, "cool" -- then you're on shaky ground litigating around that.
Tim Cook has signalled a desire to settle more of these cases, but they just seem to be multiplying -- there are 50 such cases in 10 countries now, according to AllThingsD -- and they're resulting in a torrent of bad publicity, ill feeling and well deserved judicial scorn. Feel free to add yours in the comments below, or over on our harmonious Facebook page.
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Comments 11
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shauney3 24 July, 2012 13:30
"they're resulting in a torrent of bad publicity, ill feeling and well deserved judicial scorn"
- unfortunately if any of the companies come out of this with more money, then they won't care about any of that...
Tim Acheson 24 July, 2012 13:55
It is ridiculous, that Apple goes to such lengths to try and avoid paying what it owes for using other people's intellectual property. Without other company's ideas, Apples products would be shiny empty boxes.
anonymous 24 July, 2012 16:15
@Tim - Thanks for your Anti-Apple views that are devoid at looking at anything factual. Samsung (and others like Motorala) are trying to rake Apple over the coals with ridiculously high FRAND royalties. They are the villain of the piece if you had any real impartiality you'd see that. An all these other companies would be NOWHERE without Apple coming in and rethinking the whole smartphone market and bringing it to where it is today. Give credit where credit is due and stop using Apple Hater biased disingenuous logic. Without Apple's ideas, other companies products would be shiny empty craptastic boxes of junk.
Sarky 24 July, 2012 16:16
Good - who knows, they (and I mean all of them not just Apple who seem to be the worst offender) might get the message and stop all this nonsense before too long. Genuine technological or design innovations should be protected, no argument...but some of the ridiculous patents being litigated now are just laughable.
anonymous 24 July, 2012 16:36
Apple can go to hell
anonymous 24 July, 2012 16:37
@anonymous 24 July, 2012 16:15
The irony of such a pro-apple comment attacking an anti-apple comment is obviously lost on you, but at least it made me chuckle
"Without Apple's ideas, other companies products would be shiny empty craptastic boxes of junk."
Yeah, right - its been pretty well established that nearly every single innovation of theirs was taken from someone else. GUI, touch screen gestures, gyro-sensing functions, OSX is pretty much Unix made pretty
Your comment should have read "Without Apple's ideas, other companies products would be ugly but functional and useful boxes of productivity"
Because essentially, all Apple has done is come along and made items look nicer, and easier for simple people to use.
Personally I can't stand their operating systems (iOS or OSX) but I will be the first to admit the design and build quality of their high end kit is amongst the best. But then for the prices asked, they bloody well should be
Cameron West 24 July, 2012 22:12
I think the whole situation has gotten out of hand. Both Apple and Samsung make exceptionally good products and both deserve to be raking in the cash that they do with the support they give their customers. The problem is they rely on each other for the success. Samsung provide Apple with parts to make their iPhones iPads etc. and Apple have given Samsung a new, regenerated smartphone market to make an impact on. Perhaps that should be the outlook here, that both companies can't exist without each other.
anonymous 24 July, 2012 23:20
The judge is right on... For heaven's sake, Apple patented a RECTANGLE with a dot. They got the EU (Extortionist Union) court to buy into it, but England told 'em to pound sand. Now Germany is piling on, saying that the ban of the Samsung Galaxy should expand to the entire EU. A friggin' rectangle for crying out loud. Design patents are somewhat beyond my understanding when the parties actually have the temerity to insist that they invented a shape that has been used in design for eons... Apple. Sheesh.
anonymous 25 July, 2012 06:24
I think the idea that apple invented the smart phone or is responsible for the smart phone market is very naive. Apple moved the smart phone market onto a new level, but this is progression. They themselves were standing on the shoulders of giants.
Just as apple should not have been restricted in producing or selling the iPhone as it used technologies or designs already in the public market. So other companies should not be restricted in producing or selling the same technologies and designs.
The problem here is patenting of obvious technology or design. It should not be allowed. It has lead to all tech companies taking out ridiculous patents to arm themselves against the competition. Apple are just particularly aggressive in this. Samsung and Google are doing this too, but in my view more so in response to apple.
boristhespie 25 July, 2012 15:14
This is all nonesense. Apple is and always has been a bully. It was moulded in the nature of of it's ceo and as a rwsult was an impetuous **** That they have not been investigated for market abuse as Microsoft and Currently Google are is truely shocking.<br />
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At the heart of this is the patent system. It appears these companies and Apple in particular can patent anything and tht these patents are so wide ranging that they affect everyone.<br />
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Software patents should not be allowed.<br />
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Design patents should not be allowed.
anonymous 11 August, 2012 19:47
During the 15 years when computer and communication industries made the greatest technical leaps, there were no lawsuits as silly as these. A clear sign that core technical innovation has stagnated and companies are fighting over scraps. When iPhones and Facebook create the dominant buzz in the high tech sector, you know you are finished.