It seems that today Apple lost in an infringement case brought against them by patent-licensing firm MobileMedia Idea LLC.

MobileMedia actually sued Apple back in 2010, contending that it infringed on 18 patents for electronics, particularly dealing with things like screen rotation and call rejection. Eventually the list was brought down to just three remaining patents and today the courts deemed that Apple had in fact violated the remaining patents in the lawsuit.

What makes MobileMedia particularly interesting is that it is actually just a company owned by Sony and Nokia. The company is structured in a way that basically keeps Apple from counter-suing Nokia or Sony in the same lawsuit.

Judge Sue Robinson has yet to schedule a trial on the actual damages here, though MobileMedia Chief Executive Officer Larry Horn says they could be “substantial”.

What do you make of all of this? With every company suing each other, should patent law be handled differently than it is right now? Conversely, do you feel that Apple had it coming thanks to big lawsuits against companies like Samsung?

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Can’t we all just get along? The legal battle between Seoul and Cupertino is continuing to heat up, this time taking the combat down under. Because of the current patent dispute launched by Apple, Samsung has agreed to halt sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia until further notice. After going through a hearing in an Australian federal court, Samsung agreed to stop advertising the Android tablet and it will not sell the device until it gets a go-ahead from the courts that the disputes have been resolved. So, Samsung is the loser here, right?

Not necessarily. Since Samsung isn’t selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia anymore, Apple has also agreed that it will “pay damages” if it loses the infringement lawsuit. It is then up to the Samsung lawyers to justify a number that would represent lost sales and other damages. Remember that, for now, this is only Australia. There’s no saying that Apple and Samsung won’t end up with similar (or totally different) arrangements in other markets.

Does this mean that Aussies can’t have a Samsung tablet? No, that’s not true either. The ban is on the US version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung will develop an Australian version that’s different enough, whatever that means, providing samples to Apple before it starts shipping them out to Aussie vendors.

The post Australian lawsuit leads to Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 being pulled from store shelves appeared first on Mobile Magazine.