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EU probes Samsung in war over patents
Samsung took a hit in its battle against rival Apple when the European Union announced it would investigate whether it was illegally trying to hinder competitors.
Samsung Electronics and Apple are engaged in a strategic war over patents in many countries as they try to draw market share from each other.
The EU's antitrust watchdog thinks the South Korean company may be overstepping the bounds and began a formal investigation into whether Samsung is using lawsuits over patents on 3G wireless technology to hinder competitors, including Apple.
The European Commission, which is acting as the EU's antitrust enforcer, said it suspected Samsung of not giving other companies fair access to patents it holds on standardised 3G technology for mobile devices - despite committing to do so in 1998.
A spokeswoman for the commission said the probe also affected tablets such as Apple's latest iPad, which uses standardised wireless 3G technology.
The commission said Samsung last year sought legal injunctions against other device makers in several EU states, alleging patent infringement.
Under EU patent rules, a company that holds patents for standardised products is required to license them indiscriminately at a fair price.
If Samsung is found guilty of unfairly restraining competition, it can be fined up to 10 per cent of annual revenue related to the investigation.
"Samsung now has to think carefully about how it wants to deal with [the probe]," said Florian Mueller, a patent analyst.
In the EU, Samsung has sued Apple in Germany, France, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands and Spain. It also has legal proceedings against its competitor in the US, South Korea, Japan and Australia, Mueller said.
However, Mueller said, Samsung may withdraw its lawsuits against Apple following news of the European investigation.
The battle between the two companies began in April, when Apple sued Samsung in the United States, alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of Samsung's Galaxy devices "slavishly copy" the iPhone and iPad.
Samsung, the global No 1 in TVs and No 2 in smartphones by sales, responded by filing lawsuits that accused Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology.
A spokesman said the European Commission began its probe after its investigation of the market, rather than reacting to complaints from Samsung's competitors. However, the commission last year sent antitrust questionnaires to both Apple and Samsung.
The spokesman added that similar probes could be started against other companies strategically using patent lawsuits to stop competitors from selling similar devices.
Nam Ki-yung, a spokesman at Samsung Electronics in South Korea, said his company was looking at details of the news on the probe but had no immediate comments.
The commission stressed that its investigation did not mean Samsung did breach the bloc's rules. Samsung now gets the chance to respond to the commission's concerns, as will other market participants.
JUDGE RULES SAMSUNG WRONGLY USED iPAD'S PRESTIGE
An appeals court in Germany yesterday ruled in favour of Apple in its patent war with Samsung, saying Samsung could not sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 (pictured) nor the Galaxy Tab 8.9 in the country because they too closely resembled the iPad 2, in violation of unfair competition laws.
"Samsung wrongly used the enormous reputation and prestige of the iPad," Duesseldorf state court Presiding Judge Wilhelm Berneke wrote in his ruling.
Samsung's successor tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 N, was not affected by the ruling, and the company said that while the decision was disappointing, it was largely irrelevant.
"Today's ruling is of little factual relevance due to the new model Galaxy Tab 10.1 N, and ... the decision therefore is of no indicative value with respect to other legal proceedings involving the Galaxy Tab 10.1 N," Samsung said.
A Dutch court ruled on January 24 that the Galaxy Tab tablet was not a copy of Apple's iPad, and that it could be sold in Holland. In December the High Court in Sydney also dismissed Apple's appeal.
