After Europe, Samsung faces ban in Japan. Whether the ban will come about or not is still in question because Apple has just sought a ban on the latest releases, Samsung Galaxy S, the next in series SII and the Galaxy tablet Tab 7. Last week, the court in Berlin upheld Apple’s claim and banned the sale of these devices in Germany. As a result, Samsung had to pull out its gadgets from the International Electronics Convention in Berlin. The convention was to be an excellent platform to showcase the devices. This ban has come as a blow to Samsung Electronics although the company has made a statement saying that the ban will not be a very big blow and the company shall respect the decision of the court. The fight between Apple and Samsung is regarding breach of patent rights. The war has been going on since April.
The lawsuit was filed in Tokyo District Court and the appeal was to ban all Galaxy series smart phones and tablets. On Wednesday, the first hearing of the case took place. In the smart phone and tablet market, Apple and Samsung Galaxy are the biggest rivals. While Apple uses its own operating system iOS, Galaxy uses Google’s Android operating system. Android has seen a higher rate of success in the recent times when compared to Apple iOS. Latest survey has also revealed that Android has a 42% hold on the market while Apple iOS has a 26% share. Also, Galaxy tablets and smart phones registered more sales than iPad as per latest survey reports, which considered data from January to March this year.
In the patent war between Apple and Samsung, Apple has slapped lawsuits on Samsung in Korea, Australia, United States and Europe. Samsung has been accused of slavishly imitating Apple iPad. Galaxy Tab 10 and the recent Tab 7.1 are the two devices that have caused furor in the Apple camp because they resemble iPad very closely. In the case filed in Japan, Apple has sued Samsung for 100 million yen, which is USD1.3 million, in addition to ban of sales. The news was reported by Kyodo news agency. The case was filed on 23rd August.
Court officials have not reported any statement because it is against their rules to speak about cases which are not yet concluded. In Japan Galaxy tablet is hosted by NTT Docomo. Its president of Docomo said that as of now, there are no hurdles in the sale of these gadgets.