U.S judge favours Apple over Samsung in claim construction order

After a brief lull the long drawn Apple - Samsung lawsuit is back in the news. At a recent hearing of the case in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Judge Lucy Koh, reportedly sided with Apple in the claim construction orders that she released. A claim construction order, essentially is deciding in on the meaning of certain terms that feature during the course of such lawsuits. A claim construction order is important because knowing the meaning of a lot of these terms, helps in defining the scope of one’s patent rights, for one, and in some instances also has the ability to direct the course of the litigation. Foss Patents in a related post stated, "Apple generally wins much more favorable claim constructions in federal courts than at the ITC, in general and especially when the same patents are at issue -- in this case, it happened with a patent on "ellipse fitting for multi-touch interfaces."

Next one up for July!

Reportedly, Judge Lucy Koh, in the claim construction order that she released on Wednesday ended up opting for five of Apple's preferred interpreted terms, while picking two of Samsung's. The report further stated, “Koh blended language that had been suggested by both companies for another of the terms, interpretation of the word "applet."" According to reports, the next hearing in the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit is scheduled to take place in July; that being said, the Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear out Apple's arguments in this lawsuit, especially the one where the Cupertino-based company is seeking a sales ban on some Galaxy products before the trial in July. Reportedly, Judge Lucy Koh had rejected this request, earlier. So while we'd wait till July, or Friday to get the next bits on this lawsuit, all rumours about possible reconciliations can be safely put to rest.

Both Apple and Samsung have been engaged in a bitter lawsuit battle for close to a year now, over a series of patents, which each claims has been infringed on by the other. The companies have been giving each other a tough time, and the numerous lawsuits currently on in several countries, globally, testify to that. Samsung, only recently grabbed headlines when it failed to score an iPhone and iPad ban in the Netherlands. Close on its heels Apple was reported to have been looking at banning the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the U.S. Over the months, several products from both Apple as well as the Samsung camps saw themselves being tangled in the patent lawsuit.

To know all about the Apple - Samsung lawsuit, click here.

Reuters