Last Friday, Apple was granted a preliminary injunction on US sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, a decision Samsung quickly appealed Sunday night arguing that Apple had "legally insufficient evidence" that they had been harmed. The temporary ban of the newest Android smartphone is the latest development in a never ending patent war that dates back to 2011 when Apple fired the first shot, filing a lawsuit against HTC for allegedly infringing on 20 patents relating to “user interface and the smartphone’s underlying architecture and hardware.” Apple’s win was its second of the week: ahead of another trial related to the Galaxy Tab, Samsung’s version of the iPad, the same judge granted Apple a ban on sales of the tablet.Samsung has become a more obvious target in recent times, given the success of their Galaxy S line, often dubbed the "iPhone killer." In 2011, the two companies were involved in 19 lawsuits stretching across 10 countries and four continents. Given that Samsung overtook Apple as the number one smartphone maker in the world earlier this year, it's hard to say if this is just business or if it's still personal. Steve Jobs famously made it his dying wish to "go thermonuclear war" on Android, calling it a "stolen product."This time around, the infringement in question is against US patent number 8,086,604, which according to the Verge, "covers searching multiple areas for information (on a device and elsewhere) through a single search interface, and using predetermined heuristic algorithms corresponding to each search area" — in other words, Siri. It's a big problem for Samsung (and Google) because it covers any type of unified voice and search functionality within Android.The other patents named in Apple's original motion, filed in February, included US Patent Nos. 5,946,647 (actionable linking), 8,046,721 (slide-to-unlock) and 8,074,172 (touch screen word suggestion). Even though the court found that each of the four patents is likely to have been infringed, only the '604 patent was considered for the injunction since Apple had to prove "irreparable harm."Judge Koh posits that Siri was the main differentiator of the iPhone 4S and the main driver for its consumer demand (after all, it was really just an iPhone 4 with a nicer camera). Likewise, Android's "Quick Search Box" was pushed as a "core user feature." As such, Koh concludes that Apple could suffer significant lost market share if sales of the Galaxy Nexus continued.In Apple's defense, Samsung has been borderline shameless when it comes to bringing "similar" offerings to market. It's new Galaxy S III, which launched in the US last month, boasts a new voice assistant called S-Voice (S for Samsung right?). But for others, this is merely what you call "healthy competition." Of course, in a world where every new smartphone or tablet looks exactly the same, it's easy to see how the line between theft and competition gets muddled.Not everyone is impressed by Apple's turn as crazed patent troll including judge of the US court of appeals for the seventh circuit, the universally revered Richard Posner, who net neutrality buff Tim Wu considers "probably America's greatest living jurist." Two weeks ago, he dismissed the longstanding Apple v. Motorola Mobility (Google) "with prejudice" meaning that neither side could reopen the case and continue their innovation-sapping squabbling. "It would be ridiculous to dismiss a suit for failure to prove damages and allow the plaintiff to refile the suit so that he could have a second chance to prove damages," he said in his decision.It's not particularly surprising if Posner felt the proceedings a waste of time and money. Presiding over patent lawsuits like this is the equivalent of separating kids in the sandbox. On the issue of "slide-to-unlock," he quickly dismisses it noting that "Apple's argument that a tap is a zero-length swipe is silly. It's like saying that a point is a zero-length line."There is the hope that this landmark ruling might set a precedent. For now, it's hard to see Apple changing course anytime soon, given their latest victory, even if it proves only temporary. With the impending release of both Microsoft and Google branded tablets, the company's first mover status has never more been under threat. As Apple has shown, they're not afraid to try and litigate themselves out of this snafu, but for a company that hasn’t released a revolutionary product in quite some time, it’s troubling to see them so focused on stifling innovation rather than actually creating it.
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