While Apple had a stunning $1.05 billion trial victory against Samsung this summer, things generally haven't been going its way since the August verdict. On Monday, US District Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Apple's case wasn't strong enough to win an injunction.
With Koh due to publish a post-trial order about damages any day now, a key Apple patent is being threatened at the US Trademark and Patent Office. US Patent No. 7,844,915, the patent covering Apple's "pinch to zoom" smartphone navigation feature, may be invalidated. In a patent reexam, examiners discovered multiple pieces of prior art that they found should reject Apple's claims.
It's no surprise that Samsung immediately filed court papers this afternoon to notify Koh (and the public) of the early results.
This isn't a final decision by the USPTO. Apple will get to respond before any patents are truly killed off, and reexams are generally a long, dragged-out process. However, it is notable that all three of the utility patents Apple used to win its case are now having their validity seriously questioned. In addition to the questions raised today about the '915 patent, the patent office ruled in October that the '381 patent ("rubber banding" or "bounce back" feature) should never have issued. At a key post-trial hearing two weeks ago, Koh herself said that the '163 ("tap to zoom") patent was looking like it might be invalid.
It's really up to Koh how she takes these early patent office rulings into account, if at all. But at the December 6 hearing, she was already asking more questions about reasons to lower damages (what Samsung wants) than about elements that might increase damages (which Apple wants). Overall, this combination of factors doesn't bode well for Apple.
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