Apple’s claim construction victory over its long time rival Samsung was great news to the company given the timeline in which it was announced. Claim construction is considered to be an intermediate step of U.S patent litigation; however it is an important one. Samsung on the other hand convinced the Administrative Law Judge to drop the order on one patent. However, Apple still emerged the victor after prevailing in two patents and deciding to drop the remaining two. Initially there were five patents which Samsung has been accused of infringing.
Apple’s strategy on the case has been clear. Apple adopted a strategy which was in search of a claim construction order and decided to make an educated decision which would aid in streamlining the investigation once the order was passed. Common practice followed at the ITC requires the complainants to drop the patents as well as claims from a patent if the process of assertion continues. The underlying reason is the short and strict timelines that the ITC follows. ITC believes in preserving the interests of both parties and thus narrows the scope of the cases during the span of an investigation. This is exactly what happened in the case between Samsung and Apple.
Apple has dropped the patent numbered 7,86,533. The patent involves the use of a cantilevered push button having multiple fulcrums and contacts. This was the only patent where Samsung was able to win in the claim construction battle. Apple was chivalrous in dropping this patent, as this patent was a long shot in comparison to others, and the company is bound to find better success if it pursued the same in a federal court. Furthermore, Apple has dropped several claims on the patent numbered 7,789,697 which provides mechanisms of plug detection. Added to this Apple has also dropped claim 3 of a patent that was co-invented by Jobs himself. Commonly known as the touchscreen heuristics patent, the dropped claim relates to the determination of which interface object is selected when many objects partly cover each other. In both the patents Apple failed to find enough information which suggested an infringement on Samsung’s behalf. However there are still other claims in the patents that are still part of the case.
So in total the Cupertino based technology giant is asserting four of the five patents against Samsung. However, Apple has fulfilled its strategy of streamlining the case before the evidentiary part of the case is set into motion. The hearing is expected to begin on the 31st of May and will extend to the first week of June before the adjournment on the 6th.
