Do you think that in 2012 Samsung and Apple will reconcile and forget about the lawsuits that are now pending in courts around the world? If yes then I'll let you know that you are badly deceived because Samsung is determined to sue Apple in even more countries next year. The lawsuits will be based on the patents for 3G technologies, which some courts have declared to be part of the FRAND standard. The first part of 2012 seems to be the period when Samsung intends to start the most lawsuits against Apple, now it remains to be seen how many of them will be successful.
Australian Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett today ordered that a trial on Samsung's claims be held in March. Cupertino, California-based Apple had opposed an early trial, with its lawyer Stephen Burley saying the company needed more time to prepare the case and favored a hearing in August. Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker last quarter, dropped its bid for a temporary injunction barring Apple from selling the iPhones and iPad 2 and instead is seeking an early hearing. The Australian trial will be a prelude for Samsung in its US case before the International Trade Commission on similar claims, which Burley said will be heard in May and June.
Unfortunately for users, there is no benefit from these legal disputes, because in the end there will be a manufacturer of Android terminals that has the courage to block the sale of iDevices, although Motorola did not. I hope that one day an Android terminal manufacturer will ban the sale of iDevices in a certain country in order to make Apple understand that the problems of the operating system and iDevices are more important than the "fights" regarding patents.
