Local Lawsuit: Apple and Samsung - Essay Example

Local Lawsuit Local Lawsuit In what is considered as the most gigantic scuffle in the technological world, Samsung recently attacked Apple after the launch of the iPhone 5. According to a recent court filing, Samsung asked the jurisdiction in Korea to include the iPhone 5 in the countersuit claim. The creator of the iPhone held a court room proceeding over the Korea-based company, which resulted to $1.05 billion (Cole, 2012). However, the current case regarding Samsung and Apple is based on an entirely different legal fiasco. This paper will discuss the technological battle between Apple and Samsung. Apple also accused Samsung of infringing on a different set of patents in numerous proprietary devices. Some of these devices include Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Nexus. In the past, Samsung aimed at the some of the counterclaims of the iPhone4, 4S, iPad 2 and the new iPod touch among other products (Parish, 2011). Therefore, the company is seeking an amendment to this lawful suit concerning the mentioned products. The amendment was also filed recently in order to include the iPhone 5, which one of the latest products produced by the company. According to most researchers, the iPhone 5 has similar functionality like the previous versions of the iPhone. This information was released by Samsung in order to verify the infringement of patents by the iPhone. The gripe of Samsung against Apple originally arose from the iPhone 5 support for LTE (Cole, 2012). This fussy case comprises of two standard, essential patents and six utility patents that are not related to the LTE patent portfolio. Most corporations prefer to compete in the marketplace with ground-breaking products. However, this contest is exempted from the court rooms. On the other hand, Apple is continually aggressive in most of the legal measures, which limit its competition in the business market. Therefore, in this situation the company ensures that they abide by the expectations of the law, in order to protect their innovations and intellectual property rights. Further research in the world of technology asserts that HTC also wanted to take legal action against Apple after the introduction of the iPhone 5 (Parish, 2011). The most recent case facing Apple affirms that Samsung has a high probability of delighting in confidence from its legal triumph. The attack on the iPhone 5 was validated after Judge Koh dissolved the sales ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Cole, 2012). Earlier in the year, the judge had granted an injunction on the tablet after they were suspicious that it had copied the hardware design of Apple’s iPad. The jurisdiction that was elected to listen to the case discovered that some of the devices manufactured by Samsung had infringed on the intellectual property patents from Apple. However, they had not infringed on the hardware design of Apple hence; the sales ban was lifted. The jury also made a conclusion that Samsung products were not as brisk as the products from Apple because they were not well-designed as compared to Apple. According to the latest report, these two companies have been involved in more than 50 lawsuits globally. In this case, the management could have organized a committee which would listen to both sides of the case. As stated above, Apple had earlier on sued Samsung after discovering that several products created by the company infringed the user interface, style, trademark and patents of Apple. According to the business world, this creates unfair competition and unjust enrichment that affects the image of the other company (Parish, 2011). This case could have been resolved easily by the two companies through forming an investigative committee involving experts, which would deliver a verdict concerning the patents of both corporations. Most individuals claim that the case involving these companies might have severe repercussions in the world of technology (Cole, 2012). The lawsuit between the two companies has used billions of dollars to cater for the damages claimed among the companies. Apple has won several rulings in their favor in the United States while, on the other hand; Samsung won rulings in Japan and South Korea. This reveals that the courts in the U.S. act in support of Apple while most of the countries in Asia act in favor of Samsung. In fact, these countries are taking sides based on the fact the companies are located in their respective territories. Sources of law are considered as the origin whereby regulations regarding human conduct derive their legal force. In this case, the most suitable source of law that can be employed is the precedent. According to several experts, a precedent is the most flexible source of law as compared to the customs and legislation (Watson, 1998). Legislation can also be applied in this case to avoid future occurrences of this issue. The management of both companies has the ability to frame new regulations that will prevent the occurrence of similar instances in the near future. In the contemporary world, the legislation source of law is regarded as the most effective methodology. Alternatively, the management of both companies can sign a deal concerning the production of future products (Bagley & Savage, 2010). In this case, the companies should are supposed to maintain originality to avoid the lawsuit issues. The most recent lawsuit in the United States, which has been filed, asserts that there are more than 15 products from Samsung that have violated the patents of Apple. Some of these devices include the Verizon Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note. In conclusion, Samsung wants the iPhone 5 from Apple to be included in its counterclaims. On the contrary, Samsung will first wait a hearing that is scheduled for 6th November this year. Apple is not responsible for responding to the claim raised by Samsung since the case will be concluded in June 2013. As a company, Samsung views the outcome of Apple’s triumph as a loss to the American consumers. This is because the patent law can be easily manipulated. When this happens, one of the companies will take over the technological arena without any competition from other mobile producing companies. The case between these two companies has also led to further debate concerning the operation of the American patent system (Cole, 2012). References Bagley, C., & Savage, D. (2010). Managers and the legal environment (6th ed.). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.   Cole, G. (2012). Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit verdict: Google, Apple make official statements. Retrieved from http://www.booksnreview.com/articles/829/20120827/apple-vs-samsung-lawsuit-verdict-google-apple-make-official-statements.htm Parish, J. (2011). Apple vs. Samsung: The complete lawsuit timeline. Retrieved from http://www.theverge.com/apple/2011/11/2/2533472/apple-vs-samsung Watson, A. (1998). Sources of law, legal change, and ambiguity. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press Read More