If you thought Apple was going to just sit back and let Samsung have a good old time with the new Galaxy S3 phone release, you may want to think again: The little fruit company from Cupertino is trying to stop the new Android phone from coming into the U.S.A.
As you may have guessed, the weapon of choice is patent lawsuits; Apple has filed a preliminary injunction against the S3 in the same way it filed one against the Galaxy Nexus earlier this year, and wants Samsung’s new, shy phone banned in the States. Apple is taking issue with a broad range of patents, most recently Samsung’s “S-Voice”, which is a riff on Siri, the digital voice assistant. Here’s a bit from Phonesreview:
With this and the S-Voice feature Apple may have a chance of getting judges to rule in their favour, which would result in a temporary ban on the Galaxy S3. We told you recently how an Apple injunction resulted in the delay of shipments of the HTC One X and the EVO 4G LTE, which was later removed by the US International Trade Commission.
It’s a little surprising to say it, but it looks like Apple could potentially have something to work with on this one. With the previous filings against HTC putting precedent behind them (courts are all about precedent) and some viable issues with S-Voice, Apple might actually slow the release of the S3.
Even if Apple has the law behind them… even if they’re actually right about the patent infringements, it comes off as a dirty move and there may be some PR blowback from it. If I were Apple, I wouldn’t expect any Christmas cards from Samsung this year.
Source: Phonesreview
