It's time for another whirlwind, around-the-world tour of Apple's latest lawsuits, this time with developments occurring on three different continents. In Europe, Samsung and Apple are dueling it out in Germany, and Down Under a judge tells Apple to cough up payment documents to prove Samsung's really a threat. We'll also discuss Apple's latest legal troubles in Asia, where the company sent a threatening letter to a Chinese food company to stop its trademark infringement.
We've covered a lot of action between Apple and Samsung in Europe over the last month. There have been a series of injunctions blocking sales of Samsung's Galaxy product line across the European continent; you can catch up here and here. In summary, Apple has been having success in getting the European courts to keep the Galaxy products off of store shelves.
Last Friday, the annual IFA trade fair opened in Berlin, and Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab 7.7 for the first time -- and the last time.
Apple won an injunction in a Dusseldorf court on Friday, banning sales and marketing of the product in Germany, forcing Samsung to pull the presentation right out of the show.
Samsung's 2010 IFA booth. There is no Galaxy Tab there, either.
This is just another skirmish in Apple's infringement case agains Samsung, but it is another that goes the way of Cupertino. Apple seems to be contesting every inch of ground in this battle over Europe and, for the most part, the EU courts seem to agree with their claims.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, a judge in Apple's infringement case against Samsung in Australia wants to see some more hurt. Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett wants Apple to produce iPad and iPad 2 sales figures in the U.K. and U.S. to help her consider barring Samsung from selling the Galaxy 10.1 tablet in Australia.
Bennett said she would not force Apple to release the numbers, and actually denied Samsung's formal request for them, but went on to state that "unless Apple puts on evidence showing the impact in the U.S. or U.K., I can’t draw any positive assumptions."
Cupertino feels the numbers are unnecessary, according to Apple lawyer Steven Burley. The "remarkable similarity of the Samsung product" with regard to its "functionality and appearance" should make it clear that the Galaxy will take sales away from Apple, according to Burley.
Samsung's lawyer, Neil Murray, responded with the opinion that the Galaxy could not possibly be "impacting the sales of Apple," as people buy Android products simply because they want Android products.
If not for the Galaxy, the iPad would totally be dominating the tablet market. Right?
Releasing specific sales numbers is not something Cupertino does, um, ever. This lawsuit is obviously about potential damages to future sales, and Samsung's request for the sales numbers is probably nothing more than an annoyance tactic. Perhaps that is why Bennett denied the request. However, the court hinting that having the numbers would sure help with their decision is not exactly subtle. It will be interesting to see if Apple is willing to let the court take a peek behind the curtain.
Everything isn't always apples to apples, according to a report from GoChengdoo, first reported on 9to5mac.
On July 19, China-based food company Sichuan Fangguo Food Co., Ltd. claims they received a letter from a law firm representing Apple, Beijing Zhucheng Law, accusing them of ripping off Apple's logo.
Oh, by the way, LG is calling on line 2.
CEO of Fangguo, Zhao Yi, admits that "there’s a leaf so you can tell it’s an apple," but points out that their logo "also contains two Chinese characters... and the orientation is also different, and ours is a totally different shape."
Fangguo’s logo, apparently originally created in the 1980s, was always meant to show a connection with fruit, as the company's core business is food and the design firm that created the image comes from a region famous for its apples.
We'd like to believe that Apple was okay with that. The problem started when Fangguo recently filed to extend their trademark to cover some new product categories, including "notebook computers" and "electronic-game software." A notebook computer with Fangguo's logo glowing on the cover is much more problematic, considering the business Apple's in and that China is notorious for knock offs.
Yi states that Fangguo has no specific plans to enter the computer business, and only filed for the extra trademark categories in the event an opportunity presents itself later on. From food to computers? First we've heard of it.
Adrian covers daily news as well as the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. You can follow him on Twitter, if you want to.
