Apple-Samsung lawsuit to go on for another year: Fitch Ratings

Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics, are two of the better known names in the smart devices arena, and at one point the two had been friends. It has been since a while now that the two have been embroiled in a legal tangle over a host of unresolved patents. One of the interesting turns in the lawsuit, came in this past week when judge Colin Birss ordered Apple to publish a notice on its U.K. website and in British newspapers, informing consumers that the Galaxy Tab's design has not been copied from the iPad. The court essentially required Apple to highlight its July 9 decision in the notice. Now, as per Fitch Ratings, the decision as taken by the British judge is in contrast to what a court in the U.S. affirmed, wherein it put into effect partial injunctions against the sale of Samsung products in the U.S.

Fitch Ratings sees the battle going on for a year more

In what comes as a shocker-of sorts, it has been revealed that Fitch Ratings finds the legal battle between the two giants going on for another 12 months, with over 40 different lawsuits pending with courts across the world. It further pointed out that the latest instance of the London ruling showed how ruling in one country is not automatically reflective elsewhere. The report further quotes that, "From a regulatory point of view, Samsung is often "holding the flag" for all the Android OS based smartphone makers. Fitch therefore believes it would be unlikely for the major courts around the world to rule in a manner which bans the Android operating system-based equipment from competing against Apple's devices."

Over the past few months, the lawsuit between the companies saw quite some action, across courts globally. It was in June that, according to this report, Samsung Electronics won against Apple after a Dutch court found Apple liable of infringing on Samsung's technologies.

The report further highlights that the preliminary injunction that Apple won against Samsung from the US District Court of California blocking Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its Galaxy Nexus smartphone from selling in the U.S. could impact Samsung. "In light of the size of the US market, this could be negative for Samsung if the company's appeals are unsuccessful and the bans extend to other models. The impact is unlikely to be that significant on the Galaxy Tab in particular, as Samsung sold only 7 million Tabs in 2011 compared with 97 million smartphones. There should also be only a limited impact on the Galaxy Nexus, as this is not one of Samsung's top-selling smartphone models. Yet Fitch's operational cash flow forecasts could change substantially if the decision is extended to block the sale of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S2 and S3 smartphones," added the report further.