If you’re trying to keep score at home with all of the smartphone patent battles flying back and forth, it’s time to add another one to the heap: Apple is looking to get the Samsung Galaxy Nexus banned here in the U.S., but it may have more to do with the software than the actual hardware.
The Verge is reporting that Apple has filed a preliminary injunction here in the United States in an effort to block sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the third and latest Google-branded handset which is currently only available from Verizon Wireless -- although grey market GSM unlocked handsets are also plentiful if you know where to look.
While Apple going after Samsung is nothing new, it’s not the Galaxy Nexus hardware that’s at issue with this latest motion. Instead, it appears to be Android 4.0 (also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich”) that’s the real target, judging from the four software patents listed in the preliminary injunction.
One of them -- #5,946,647 -- already comes with an Apple victory from last December, when the U.S. International Trade Commission banned the sale of several Android-based HTC devices here (mostly older models such as the Sprint Evo 4G and Verizon Droid Incredible). However, the remaining three patents were all issued in late 2011.
#8,086,604 dates back to 2000 and “covers searching multiple sources of information (on device and elsewhere) through a single search interface, such as Siri,” which appears to target Android’s own voice-activated search. #8,046,721 covers the familiar “slide to unlock” feature introduced with the iPhone in 2007, although the patent filing dates back to 2005. Finally, #8,074,172 was filed in 2007 and “covers providing word suggestions while the user types on a touchscreen keyboard.”
Collectively, the four patents appear to be a pretty massive assault against the latest and greatest version of Android, which has only begun to roll out to other devices including tablets -- so this is definitely not the last we’ll be hearing about this case.
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