Apple Vs Samsung Australia Battle Begins

The Australian chapter of the ever-epic court battles saga unfolding over the past year between Apple and Samsung has officially begun. This case will take place over the course of what's being reported as a likely three months or more set of back-and-forth court dates for the tech titans. Australia's set of forces between Apple and Samsung are unique in the fact that not only has Apple sued Samsung, Samsung has sued Apple – and they've both got a stack of patents a mile high to back their good names up.

In this island continent court adventure we've got one count of Apple suing Samsung for their "slide-to-unlock" patent on Samsung products in general back in 2011 – also before the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was announced and released. Apple then sought and won a preliminary injunction against the Tab 10.1 before it took the tablet to the stand here in 2012. Apple won, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 was facing a kick off the shelves until the case began, but the ruling was overturned by the Federal Court.

Samsung then countersued Apple with a set of 3G patents, these patents being standards-essential patents for technology needed for a device to be known as 3G. Samsung is required to license the technologies at hand under FRAND terms – reasonable and non-discriminatory – and the company says that Apple never obtained any of the licenses necessary to use them in the iPhone or iPad.

Apple suggests that the licensing terms that Samsung required for Apple were not equal to those offered to all over third-party manufacturers.

This case is being presided over by Justice Annabelle Bennett and will take place on the following dates:

July 22 – 29

August 6 – 10

September 10 – 14

September 17 – 21

September 25 – 28

October 2 – 5

October 8 – 12

Have a peek at a short timeline of related events below, and prepare for another battle royale in the world of patent warfare.

[via ZDNet]