Apple looking to ban Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US


13 Feb 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Apple is attempting to get a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US, alleging it infringed four of its patents.

FOSS Patents reports that Apple has requested a preliminary injunction against the device at a US District Court for the northern district of California. Apple claimed it infringed a ‘data tapping’ patent, a patent related to its voice assistant Siri and unified search, a slide-to-unlock patent and a word-completion patent.

The court is expected to make a ruling within a few months.

While Samsung and Apple have been involved with several smartphone patents across the globe, this case could be seen as an attack on Android 4.0.

Each year, Google collaborates with a mobile manufacturer to create a smartphone piloting the latest version of Android. These devices have a stock version of the operating system installed without any skins or modifications overlaying it.

In 2011, Google worked with Samsung to make the Galaxy Nexus. In this case, many of the patents refer to software, meaning Google may have to remove potentially infringing functionalities from the OS if the injunction is granted.

Apple currently has another lawsuit against Samsung in the same federal district, requesting a preliminary injunction based on its intellectual property.

At the start of the month, a German court rejected the ban of the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy 10.1N, though that case revolved around a touchscreen patent.