Samsung, Apple will eventually come to terms

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, December 4, 2023 | 19:03

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Samsung, Apple will eventually come to terms

`삼성, 애플과 결국 화해할 것’

Posted : 2011-10-17 16:44

Updated : 2011-10-17 16:44

A renowned information industry expert says that Samsung and Apple will eventually cooperate through a comprehensive cross-licensing of patents.

Florian Muller

By Kim Yoo-chul

A renowned information industry expert says that Samsung and Apple will eventually cooperate through a comprehensive cross-licensing of patents.

``Both companies have many patents and other intellectual property rights. They can’t be in a continuous state of war for many years. There must be a peace treaty at some point,’’ said Florian Muller, a German-based legal expert who runs the popular FOSS Patents blog about software-patent disputes.

Muller expects there will be a deal between Samsung and Apple but, he added it’s difficult to predict when that will take place.

``Samsung is getting a lot of publicity in this dispute. It’s also an opportunity for Samsung to demonstrate that it can defend its rights aggressively. That may deter others from going after Samsung,’’ the German expert said in an email interview with The Korea Times, Monday.

Muller said Apple doesn’t assert any ``fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory’’ or FRAND patents against Samsung as he believes those that Apple is disputing are ones that Apple is free to use in any manner, including in exclusionary ways.

``That’s why the two companies' assertions aren’t comparable. However, people who are highly sympathetic to Samsung make the argument that Samsung shouldn’t have to give its own patents (FRAND or not) to Apple if Apple doesn’t do so either,’’ he said.

``It’s easier to develop an industry standard together with other players than to create powerful patents independently. If you develop an industry standard together with others, you’re basically part of a cartel rather than just an independent innovator.”

Samsung sources said that the Korean technology giant will try hard to win a better offer from Apple in using Samsung-patented mobile wireless-related technologies.

``If Samsung wins against Apple in a higher Dutch court, then we will receive reasonable royalties from Apple. We will do our best for this outcome,’’ a senior Samsung executive said.

In last week’s ruling from the Netherlands, the court said that since third-generation (3G) telecom technology was widely regarded as an industry standard, Samsung is obliged to ask for Apple licenses under FRAND terms.

The ruling also said that if Samsung Electronics makes Apple a fair and reasonable offer of a license fee and the firms still can’t reach agreement then the Korean firm could file a new patent dispute an injunction request.

``That means that because a court in the Netherlands unofficially accepts Samsung’s claim over the infringement of its patents by Apple, the situation could reverse in our favor in a higher court,’’ according to the Samsung executive.

Apple previously leaked ``classified information’’ indicating that Samsung was asking for 2.4 percent in royalties from each Apple device sold, which the Cupertino-based firm immediately refused as unfair, too much and discriminatory.

In the United States, a court in California said it still has to determine whether or not Apple’s design patents should be considered valid.

Judge Lucy Koh said that Samsung’s devices appear to infringe on Apple’s design patents, though she declined to issue an injunction on the Korean firm’s products.

Samsung officials said the understanding of FRAND terms is different from country to country without elaborating further.

``Apple is worried about Android in general and Samsung in particular. Android is a commoditization threat to Apple’s business; it makes widely available what Apple would like to keep exclusively for itself. Samsung builds high-quality hardware that can beat Apple’s products with the right software,’’ Muller said.

Meanwhile, Samsung Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung is sure of beating Apple.

``Apple is initially making penalty kicks based on its own logic and selection in terms of countries. But Samsung is positive it will block one or two of those penalty kicks out of the five,’’ Choi told reporters late last week.

``It’s a totally different matter. Samsung is handling the Apple case separately. That means the patent row has no link to our component business with Apple.’’

He said the company was threatened over its bottom line by Apple, which it sees as ``unacceptable’’ and ``intolerable.’’

The comment would be arguably the strongest against Apple since it sued Samsung in a U.S. court for the violation of its design-related patents in April.

Earlier this year, Apple accused Samsung of copying its iPhone and iPad designs to manufacture the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab. The fight has extended to nine countries.

Apple was granted a ban of the Galaxy Tab in Germany. A court in Australia also accepted Apple’s request to ban Samsung from selling the Galaxy Tab there.

`삼성, 애플과 결국 화해할 것’
삼성전자가 일본 동경 법원과 호주 뉴사우스웨일즈 법원에 애플의 아이폰4S 판매금지가처분 소송을 제기하면서 애플과의 소송에서 물러서지 않겠다는 의지를 보이고 있으나 결국 양사는 서로의 특허를 인정하는 `크로스라이선싱 (cross-licensing)’에 합의할 것이라는 주장이 나왔다. 독일의 특허 전문가인 플로리안 뮬러는 17일 코리아타임스와 단독 인터뷰를 갖고 ``삼성과 애플은 각각 다양한 분야에서 수많은 특허를 보유하고 있어 현재의 특허싸움이 향후 수년동안 지속될 수 없다’’며 ``결국 화해할 것 (There must be a peace treaty at some point)’’이라고 말했다. 삼성전자가 애플에 대해 유화책과 강경책을 동시에 구사하고 있지만 이는 화해를 위한 수순이라는 시장 일각의 해석과 맥을 같이 하는 것. 업계 관계자들은 삼성전자의 공격이 거세어질수록 화해 시기도 비례해 빨라질 것이라고 내다보고 있다. 뮬러는 ``삼성전자와 애플이 상호간의 특허를 인정하는 크로스라이선싱에 합의할 것으로 보지만 합의까지에는 상당한 시간이 소요될 것으로 본다’’고 말했다. 소송이 장기화될 수 있다는 셈. 그는 이어 ``애플과 특허 분쟁이 지속되면서 삼성전자의 인지도가 높아졌다’’며 ``삼성이 소송에 적극적으로 대응하면서 자사가 보유하고 있는 특허권 보호에 앞으로도 강력하게 나설 수 있음을 입증했다’’고 평했다. 전문가들은 삼성전자가 소송을 통해 애플을 강하게 압박하는 동시에 유화책을 구사하면 두 회사가 순식간에 화해할 수도 있다고 말했다. 실제로 권오현 삼성전자 DS 부문 사장은 이날 기자들과 만나 ``특허 분쟁에 따른 불이익은 전혀 없다’’며 애플과의 파트너쉽을 강조하기도 했다. 뮬러는 그러나 `프랜드(FRAND)’와 관련한 질문에는 애플의 손을 들어줬다. 프랜드는 특허가 없는 업체가 표준특허로 우선 제품을 만든 다음 나중에 특허 사용료를 낼 수 있는 권리다. 일반적으로 이 제도는 특허권자가 무리한 요구로 경쟁사의 시장 진입을 차단하는 것을 사전에 방지하기 위한 일종의 `약자 보호제도’다. 그는 ``애플은 삼성의 `프랜드’ 조항에 대해 공격한적이 없다고 판단되지만 삼성전자는 반대’’라며 ``삼성전자는 애플이 삼성의 통신표준특허를 침해했다고 주장하지만 삼성의 특허는 국제 표준인 만큼 애플이 어떤 형태로든 사용할 수 있는 것’’이라고 주장했다. 때문에 특허 분쟁에 대응하는 두 회사의 논리가 평행선을 달릴 수 밖에 없다는 지적인 셈. 뮬러는 ``독자적으로 특허 문제에 접근하기 보다는 힘을 합쳐 업계 표준을 만들어 나가는 과정이 조금 더 용이한 것은 사실’’이라며 ``공동으로 업계 표준을 만들게 되면 카르텔을 형성할 수 있어 특허 문제에 좀 더 효과적으로 대처할 수 있게 된다’’고 지적했다. 그는 또 ``애플은 안드로이드 연합군의 위상 강화 특히 삼성전자의 빠른 성장에 우려하고 있다’’며 ``삼성전자는 하드웨어 제조 능력이 매우 뛰어난 데 최근들어 소프트웨어 역량 강화에도 힘을 쏟고 있어 시장에서 애플 제품보다 앞설 수 있다’’고 말했다.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr