The NT-K tablet runs a Spanish language version of Android written by Nuevas Tecnologias' programmers.
The latest patent battle is one of many Apple is fighting around the world. While Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung have been beating on each other over looks and patent issues -- lawsuits in which one company claims the other is copying its design in one way or another -- a small Spanish tablet maker, Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala, aka "NT-K," has won a court case with Apple in Spain.
Why is this important to Apple lovers? There is no doubt that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a serious beef with Android as an OS, believing it was a shameless ripoff of Apple's work, but this case seems to point toward Apple taking out its problems on the little guy. First of all, I don't have a problem with large companies taking on small companies in competitive ways. Of course, in the cases of Samsung and Apple, you're looking at two more evenly matched tech giants. If I remember right -- and I can't find where it was now -- part of Apple's issue with the Galaxy Tab was its four curved corners that mimicked the iPad's gorgeous round edges. It had rounded corners.
"Rectangles with rounded corners are everywhere!" It all started in November 2010 when Apple managed to wrangle customs to keep NT-K from importing its own tablet, then threatened the company with criminal charges too. Florian Mueller, an intellectual property and patent analyst who blogs about patent issues with a focus on wireless and mobile devices, pointed out this seemingly huge misstep by Apple. "Considering that this was not a case of product piracy but just a dispute over whether or not Apple has exclusive design rights covering NT-K's Android-based products, I think it's absolutely outrageous that Apple tried to attack its rival under criminal law.
NT-K is suing Apple for damages, lost profits and moral damages. Apple has a big legal machine, so who knows how it will actually shake out. Criminal charges for piracy?
In a ruling that contrasts with Apple's legal domination against Samsung, NT-K successfully defended its products from accusations that the company was 'copying' Apple's iPad, Foss Patents explains. The claim was filed by Apple in November last year, and saw the Spanish company's shipments from China seized, and its name temporarily placed on an EU-wide list of product pirates. Aside from the commercial dispute, Apple even brought criminal charges against NT-K, a move that Foss Patent's Florian Mueller called, "absolutely outrageous."
Now those claims have been dismissed, and it seems that the little company has lodged an antitrust complaint against Apple, and is suing for compensation for monetary damages, lost profits and "moral damages." NT-K's statement machine-translated from Spanish by 9to5Mac. A small Spanish company has won a legal case against Apple Inc. and will now be able to sell a tablet computer that the U.S. technology giant had claimed infringes on the iPad patent.
The case, which represents a rare defeat in Apple's globe-spanning campaign to protect its leadership in the lucrative tablet market from alleged iPad copycats, was launched a year ago when Apple obtained an injunction from a local court to ban imports of the NT-K tablet computer into Spain. Like a large number of iPad rivals, the NT-K tablet runs on a Spanish-language version of Google Inc.'s Android software, written by Nuevas Tecnologias' programmers. Due to the conflict with Apple, the company sold fewer than 200 units of the tablet this year, way down from its target of 15,000, said Leonardo Scanone, Nuevas Tecnologias' head of sales.
Nuevas Tecnologias said it plans to file a lawsuit asking for compensation from Apple for the losses incurred. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, lawyers hired by Samsung Electronics Co. called on Australian courts to overturn an injunction banning the sale of its Android-based Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in that country, the highest-profile case faced by iPad competitors. Apple has already scored a major victory in Germany where a court has banned sales of Samsung's tablet in Europe's biggest economy. Samsung has brought a separate action against Apple in Australia alleging the iPhone 4S violates its own patents governing mobile technology.
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