Samsung GALAXY Nexus not Apple-proof as Cupertino firm sues Samsung over 4 "high-power" patents

Back in October, none other than the CEO of Samsung, J.K. Shin, said that the then unreleased Samsung GALAXY Nexus was made in a way to avoid patent infringement suits. Then in January, Apple sued Samsung in Germany alleging that the first Android 4.0 handset violated its "slide-to-unlock" feature. That filing opened up the floodgates as FOSS Patents is reporting that Apple has filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking a preliminary injunction against the Samsung GALAXY Nexus. Apple claims that four "high -power" patents have been infringed upon by Samsung in the production of the phone, which was targeted by Apple "because it’s so new, and important".

The first patent in the suit is U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647 , which the ITC has already put an import ban on HTC for using. This patent is for "system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data,”  and with the prior ruling against Taiwan based HTC, FOSS Patents says this particular patent should be a "slam dunk" for Apple. HTC removed the offending feature and did not appeal, telling you how strong a case Apple has on this patent. The next patent involved is U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 which relates to "universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system," or in other words, this patent protects some of the process involved in unified search and the technology used for Siri.

The third patent allegedly used illegally by Samsung is U.S. Patent No. 8,046,721 which, as we already noted, was the subject of a prior suit by Apple to protect its "slide-to-unlock" technology. The actual phrasing on the filling says this patent is related to "unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image". According to FOSS, even the head of the Taiwanese government was worried about this patent. Lastly, U.S. Patent No. 8,074,172 protects the "method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendations," which deals with auto-correct and other word completion features that make it easier and faster to type on a touchscreen.

While FOSS Patents notes that Google has left certain features out of its stock Android devices to prevent just this sort of thing, Google might have to make some hard decisions when a ruling comes down in a few months. If the court finds that there is an infringement of Apple-owned patents, Google could simply changing the program code of the phone. But in doing that, the Mountain View based firm would be admitting its culpability in an infringement case relating to a lead device.

Three of the patents appear to be very recently granted as they start with an "8" and the 8 millionth U.S. patent was awarded just this past September. The Samsung GALAXY Nexus first launched in Europe two months later.

source: FOSSPatents