A court in California has ruled against Samsung Electronics’ attempt to stay the proceedings in a patent dispute with Apple, agreeing with Apple that the procedure for reexamination of its patent could take years, and there was no certainty the result would benefit Samsung.
Samsung had asked for a stay in a damages retrial even as the jury had started deliberations. It informed the court that the examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had issued an “Advisory Action” finding all claims of the U.S. Patent no. 7,844,915 (the ‘915 patent) invalid. It described the Advisory Action as the examiner’s final word on the invalidity of the patent.
Known as the “pinch-to-zoom” patent, the Apple patent is a key patent in the dispute between Apple and Samsung. It covers the ability to distinguish between the scrolling movement of one finger and two-finger gestures like pinch-to-zoom on a touch-screen to activate certain functions.
The jury would be deliberating on awarding damages on an invalid ‘915 patent for 12 of the 13 products at issue, Samsung said in its filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose division.
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