Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/08/24/dutch_court_issues_injunction_against_samsung_android_phones/

Apple wins (another) Samsung Android injunction in EU

Dutch court blocks phone trio

By Cade Metz

Posted in Personal Tech, 24th August 2011 19:11 GMT

A Dutch court has warmed the hearts of Apple's patent Nazis, issuing a preliminary injunction against the sale of three Samsung Android phones: the Galaxy S, the Galaxy S II, and the Ace.

As noticed by the ubiquitous Florian Mueller, the injunction is due to take affect in the middle of October, but it only applies to certain EU countries where Apple has successfully registered a software patent related to the way photos are handled on a mobile device .

The injunction is separate from the one laid down by an EU court against Samsung's Galaxy Android tablet, and it prohibits only the sale of Samsung's Android phones by three of the company's Dutch subsidiaries.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Samsung said that it did not expect the injunction to affect sales of the devices outside of the Netherlands. But officially, the injunction bars the three subsidiaries from selling the devices in the UK, France, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Lichtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Samsung also said it intends to modify the phones so that sales are not disrupted in the Netherlands.

The Apple patent at the heart of the matter – available here – describes a way of viewing and organizing photos on a device with a touchscreen display.

"In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive display," the patent reads. "Instructions for performing photo management may be included in a computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors."

Though the court backed Apple's claims on this patent, it rejected several other Jobsian claims. Nonetheless, it's a victory for Apple. And the cult will seek many more. ®