Judge Shoots Down Samsung’s 12 Summary Judgement Requests

Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung’s request over the weekend for summary judgement in all twelve of its patent infringement claims against Apple. The two companies have been fighting in court for months over mobile device patent infringement allegations, and recently Apple managed to win two U.S. preliminary injunctions blocking the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Samsung loses request for summary judgement in patent infringement caseSamsung loses request for summary judgement in patent infringement case

“Samsung attacked the validity of each and every one of the intellectual property rights asserted by Apple at this stage as well as Apple’s FRAND-related antitrust claims, and failed all the way,” said Florian Muller of Foss Patents. “It is very unusual for such a multi-pronged motion by a major industry player to fail entirely.”

Judge Koh’s ruling helps underscore what appears to be a growing belief that Samsung is stepping on Apple’s patents as do the preliminary injunctions she granted.

Mr. Muller added, “I think the litigation has reached a point at which Judge Koh realizes perfectly well that Samsung and its ‘partner in crime’ Google are infringers (whose counterclaims are dubious at least), and that the full force of the law must be brought to bear.”

Apple won its first preliminary injunction against Samsung last week against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and promptly paid the US$2.6 million bond to enforce it. Only days later, Judge Koh granted Apple a second preliminary injunction, this time blocking sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Even though Samsung has been hit hard by the court rulings it doesn’t mean the electronics maker is down for the count, although its arguments may be hard to back up at trial. Samsung has been presenting patents considered standards essential in its case — a strategy that isn’t sitting well with the Judges that have been overseeing the various parts of the case.

Samsung is appealing the injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Neither company has commented on Judge Koh’s ruling on Samsung’s summary judgement request.