Apple, Samsung Battle in U.S. Court Begins July 2012
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh set the trial date for Apple's patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung for July 30, 2012, according to tech website V3.
The lawsuit originally filed by Apple in April 2011 claimed Samsung products infringed on Apple’s patents, including the "look and feel" of its flagship product, the iPhone, to which Samsung replied that smartphone designs had by then become overly generic.
Since then, the legal battle has been raging on between the two, with Apple taking the legal disputes to Europe where it was granted a preliminary injunction banning sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab across Europe in early August. But roughly a week later, the ban was lifted across all countries except Germany (final ruling scheduled for Sept. 9) by the same court.
Disputes between the two don't seem like they will end soon.
In a second similar case, Apple was granted another injunction in the Netherlands on Aug. 24, stopping Samsung from selling the Galaxy S, S II and Ace smartphones in several European countries.
On the same day in an announcement to the Korea Times, Hong Won-Pyo, VP of Samsung Mobile, said “Samsung will become the world’s biggest handset maker within a year as we have good product mix-up according to markets.”
Was that an announcement declaring it would destroy Apple or will Apple beat out its rival?
The trial that begins on July 30, 2012, will play a huge role in answering that million dollar question.
Apple will finally take Samsung to court on U.S. soil. Even though the trial was not scheduled for February 2011, the date Apple was aiming for, tech watchers can get ready to see both companies fight it out in what will be an epic corporate battle.