Will the Apple-Samsung legal war turn into unfair competitive advantages? The European Union wants to find out.
The head of the EU’s antitrust division said Tuesday that his agency was investigating the two companies’ patent dispute. Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told news media that the EU has requested information from both Apple and Samsung, but has not yet received answers.
“We need to look at this because [intellectual property] rights can be used as a distortion of competition,” he said.
‘Tool to Abuse’
Almunia noted that, in technology, standardization and IP rights “can be used as a tool to abuse.” The EU has the authority to fine companies as much as 10 percent of their global revenue for violating its rules.
Apple has sued Samsung in a number of countries, with various successes thus far, contending that Samsung has violated patents and other intellectual property rights. Apple is also suing HTC and Motorola, and Samsung has countersued Apple.
Recently, the patent war compelled Samsung to tweak its Android-based Galaxy Tab tablet in one European market, in an attempt to route around a legal injunction obtained by Apple. Last week, Samsung released its Galaxy Tab 10.1N in Germany, in which the only discernible difference, in addition to the letter “N” being added to the model name, was that a metal frame, or bezel, wrapped around the edge of the device.
In August, Apple had won a preliminary injunction that blocked the original Galaxy Tab, the 10.1, because of an alleged design infringement. The injunction, which applies only in Germany for products made by the South Korean company, also claimed the Tab was an iPad imitation.
Another change made by Samsung, in order to get around a Dutch injunction obtained by Apple for a software infringement, is how software on its Galaxy smartphones allows users to flip through a…
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