Today, Samsung has gained a small but important victory in its dispute with Apple about a patent for technology to unlock the device using a virtual runner Slide2Unlock . District Court for the German city of Mannheim postponed a decision in the patent litigation between the two companies until 2013. This means that until that time no danger commercially available devices range Samsung Galaxy in the European market.
The district court based its decision need to await the findings of the Federal Patent Court in Munich, which in the first quarter of 2013 to make its decision on a similar case, this time initiated by Samsung .
According to one expert in patent law, a second trial in Mannheim is very unlikely. He suggests that the controversy in which the technique appears Slide2Unlock, will be finally resolved in favor of the competitors Apple.
Samsung is also optimistic that there should be an official statement from the company:
“We welcome the decision of the court and that the Galaxy is an innovative line available to our customers in Germany”
Most likely, this decision will affect the outcome of litigation between Motorola and Apple , which featured all the same Slide2Unlock . Let’s hope that the verdict of the Federal Patent Court in Munich will mark the end of the war around the patent Slide2Unlock at least in Europe.
