Apple tells US retailers to stop selling banned Samsung products

[garyopa]

Sends letters to enforce Samsung product ban.



It looks like Appe has been sending letters to US carriers and retailers demanding the removal of banned Samsung products.

Seems that Apple has contacted carriers and resellers of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus, demanding that they stop selling 'banned' products.

Apparently, those actions were revealed in a court filing made by Samsung. The enforcement of the ban involved letters "to many carriers and retail companies that currently sell" the banned products.

Samsung has described the tactic a "menacing".

Those companies were told to "immediately" remove the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in letters that went on on June 28. Similar letters related to the Galaxy Nexus smartphone were sent on July 3.

"Apple's menacing letters greatly overreach, incorrectly claiming that third-party retailers are subject to the prohibitions of the preliminary injunction, which clearly they are not," Samsung argued in its court filing. The Korean electronics maker is of the opinion that retailers "are permitted to sell their existing inventory, even without a stay."

According to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, Apple's approach is "aggressive," but he also believes that Apple's understanding of the injunction against Samsung's products is "not baseless."

Here's an example of a transcribed letter which covers the Galaxy Tab 10.1:

VIA FACSIMILE, REGISTERED MAIL, FEDERAL EXPRESS AND REGISTERED AGENT

Re: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., United States District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C-11-01846 (LHK)

Dear [recipient]:

We represent Apple Inc. in the above-referenced action.

We enclose a copy of the June 26 preliminary injunction ordered entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in this case together with a copy of Apple's U.S. Design Patent No. D504,889 (the '889 patent'). With the posting of the requisite bond, the order is now in effect.

The order provides as follows:

[T]he Court issues the following order enjoining the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from sale in the United States: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Telecommunications America, Inc., its officers, directors, partners, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, subsidiaries, and those acting in concert with any of them, are enjoined from making, using, offering to sell, or selling within the United States, or importing into the United States, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer, and any product that is no more than colorably different from this specified product and embodies any design contained in U.S. Design Patent No. D504,889.

(emphasis added).

As the italicized language provides, the order applies not only to the named Samsung entities, but also to anyone "acting in concert" with them. Apple thus believes that the order extends to you because you may be selling, offering to sell, or importing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer.

Please comply with the order by ceasing immediately to engage in any of the specified acts (e.g., importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States) in connection with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer and any product that is no more than colorably different from it and embodies the '889 patent's design. At a minimum, Apple believes compliance with the Court's order requires immediately removing for sale the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from all physical and online venues under your direction or control.

Please contact the undersigned if you have questions.

Regards,

[signatory]

Enclosures

Is Apple going too far? What do you think of all this?

NEWS SOURCE #1: Apple contacts US carriers resellers to enforce Samsung product ban (via) AppleInsider
NEWS SOURCE #2: Apple tells retailers to stop selling certain Samsung devices (via) SlashDot

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[billysastard]

i miss lulzsec at times like this because apple really needs hitting and hitting hard

[IJTF_Cinder]

Apple has no authority to send such letters, only the courts would...well, enforce them that is.

[wewii]

Apple.... one of the biggest douchbag companies of all times.

They are the biggest trolls the electronic marketplace has ever seen.

If you still choose to buy Apple products after this then there is something seriously wrong with you.

[Battlefield]

Apple.... one of the biggest douchbag companies of all times.

They are the biggest trolls the electronic marketplace has ever seen.

If you still choose to buy Apple products after this then there is something seriously wrong with you.

I totally agree.

Too bad 2 of the most ruthless business men ever isnt there to help Samsung, and sue the ass of Apple.

Jack Tramiel (Atari/Commodore) (He died April 2012)
Hirochi Yamauchi (Nintendo) (Same age as Tramiel.. 85).

[Cantenna]

Happy to support Android but after owning and using an Android, in my opinion, the IOS iphone, ipod touch and iPads provide a much, much superior user experiance overall.

-The whole text input function on Android is garbage!
-Google Market game buys require an internet connection to start up a game?

Android is garbage compared to ios, but, an Android does have some benefits.

[Battlefield]

Happy to support Android but after owning and using an Android, in my opinion, the IOS iphone, ipod touch and iPads provide a much, much superior user experiance overall.

-The whole text input function on Android is garbage!
-Google Market game buys require an internet connection to start up a game?

Android is garbage compared to ios, but, an Android does have some benefits.

Android games do not require online. I you start a ad supported game, offline mode actually disables the ads. Offline = ad-free mode.

I have never ever bought anything from Apple, and i never will. I dont like what they call "user friendly" on anything they make, and besides that i dont support a company which is trolling. The hypocrat Jobs started the trolling and the company keeps trolling without him. I watched an interview with him, and he thought it was ok for Apple to take idea's from others, but NOT ok for others to take from them? If someone took from then, then they had to go to court...Thats fucked up. Its like small kids is running the company. Damn hypocrazy.

[blaydes99]

Apple is such a disgusting company. I can't wait for the day that I see it wiped from the face of the earth.

[msanchez]

Apple has no authority to send such letters, only the courts would...well, enforce them that is.

Yup they don't... but then they just might be like sony who seem to have dominion over the judicial system.

Happy to support Android but after owning and using an Android, in my opinion, the IOS iphone, ipod touch and iPads provide a much, much superior user experiance overall.

-The whole text input function on Android is garbage!
-Google Market game buys require an internet connection to start up a game?

Android is garbage compared to ios, but, an Android does have some benefits.

"BUYS"? No I'm sorry my friend you mean "FREEMIUM" If you can't play the latest free gamevil games because you are not connected to the internet, don't just lump in all android software in there because the fact is you don't need to have internet for games you buy aside from downloading extra resources... or well if you bought a MMO.

As far as android being garbage, truth is in the eye of the beholder is all I can say. Figures you'd favor IOs though (or rather apple)... given your other preferences it really doesn't surprise me.

[IJTF_Cinder]

"User friendly" and Apple don't go hand in hand, that would be "Tech Retarded" for people who really shouldn't be owning any sort of electronics whatsoever. You know, your Grandma who can't work the universal remote...

Hell their faulty auto-correct that MAKES UP words that don't even exist is proof enough of that....or sites dedicated to auto-correct stupidity wouldn't exist.

[DEDDOA]

Happy to support Android but after owning and using an Android, in my opinion, the IOS iphone, ipod touch and iPads provide a much, much superior user experiance overall.

-The whole text input function on Android is garbage!
-Google Market game buys require an internet connection to start up a game?

Android is garbage compared to ios, but, an Android does have some benefits.

I'd say it's down to personal preference, i find iOS frustratingly gimped and with way to many artificial restrictions on the base apps. Early Android was a bit clunky but it was head and shoulders abouve iOS1 which offered less features than phones released 5 years earlier, however both are about as user friendly these days but iOS still comes intentionally gimped in order to sell apps especially on many features which are standard on all other phones, not just smart phones.

Personally I am giving them botht he middle finger come November, and getting a Windows 8 phone, doesn't need to be flashy, just needs basic phone features. I don't really care about apps, but I know while it may be slow initially, with an app store becomming part of windows by default, I can't see it being long before it leaves the apple app store for dust given it will be part of the OS used by 80% of PC's, so you can guarantee apps will be released by homebrew developers by the bucket load.

[DEDDOA]

"User friendly" and Apple don't go hand in hand, that would be "Tech Retarded" for people who really shouldn't be owning any sort of electronics whatsoever. You know, your Grandma who can't work the universal remote...

Hell their faulty auto-correct that MAKES UP words that don't even exist is proof enough of that....or sites dedicated to auto-correct stupidity wouldn't exist.

I advise most people who want an iMac to build a hackintosh as they will get a far better working knowledge of the OS than the fisher price last years hardware support at best edition for this years hardwares price, not to mention it will cost them far less. It's not much more complicated than installing windows prior to the likes of easy all in one windows 7 so long as you get all that older hardware that the OS recognises. Probably the most complicated part is making a DSDT file if you can't download one and that is easy enough (download a patch for your, mobo, run DSDT Editor, dump your DSDT, patch it, compile it, save it, and it all take sbaout as long as it took to type that). Takes me about an hour tops to get my fully functional hackintosh up and running, the longest part being waiting for the updates to download and complete. It's still a pain to get anything mildly complicated done compared to windows and linux but it makes it so that experience can make it a bit more user friendly if you need to use it as anything more than a desktop iFad/Phoney.

[msanchez]

...with an app store becomming part of windows by default, I can't see it being long before it leaves the apple app store for dust given it will be part of the OS used by 80% of PC's, so you can guarantee apps will be released by homebrew developers by the bucket load.

I forgot that Windows 8 is supposed to be unified as in PC/Phones being the same (I think that was the deal, right?)... hmmm yeah seems very likely the windows store will eventually make the apple appstore rather insignificant.

[DEDDOA]

I forgot that Windows 8 is supposed to be unified as in PC/Phones being the same (I think that was the deal, right?)... hmmm yeah seems very likely the windows store will eventually make the apple appstore rather insignificant.

yeah it's meant to be a unified OS accross all platforms so given the ammount of support windows recieves officially and unofficially the odds are certainly in it's favour when ic comes to getting app support not to mention bucket loads homebrew support. Of course it's going to take a while to catch up with iOS/OSX and Android at first, but for those like myself who are far more intrested in the homebrew apps than the official ones, i suspect it's going to be happy times. I have not been a fan of smart phones in general, but I am hoping Windows 8 does for smart phones what the AMD C50 did for me on net books, as at the mo I would be more than happy to replace my Xperia Play with an old SE W890 (it may be missing a light but it does everything else I want and is tiny even next to the smallest smart phones).