Apple and Samsung patent war spreads to Australia

The Apple vs Samsung war rages on, this time Australia is the focus. However, this battle is being fought with a difference – the judge is more fed up than consumers. The Australian Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett has stated she thinks the whole dispute between Apple vs Samsung is “just ridiculous”.

Justice Annabelle Bennett stated that had this been a dispute between two other companies, probably referring to smaller companies, then it would have been put through to mediation almost immediately. She has given both Apple and Samsung until the end of the week to inform her as to why the case should be resolved in court instead of through mediation.

The story for Australia is that the case begun back in July 2011 when Apple filed a lawsuit against Samung (no surprises there). Apple alleged that the Samsung Galaxy tab infringed upon their patents. As a response Samsung filed a counter-claim alleging that the iPhone 4 and 4S, and the iPad 2, infringed upon Samsung’s 3G patents.

Samsung’s attorney, Neil Young, claimed in court that Samsung had made attempts to negotiate with Apple over a license agreement on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms. He also claims Apple refused to enter negotiations. Apple did not comment on his statement.

If Samsung’s allegations are true, then Apple will probably be reprimanded by the Australian court. Either way, it is clear that the way for both sides to make progress (if they even want to make progress) is by entering formal mediation and settling disputes outside of court.

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