The first post-trial decision in the second Apple v. Samsung case in the Northern District of California has just come down. Judge Lucy Koh just denied Samsung's early-July motion to hold two of Apple's patents-in-suit invalid in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in Alice v. CLS Bank. The decision is based entirely on a procedural question. Judge Koh held that (as Apple had argued) Samsung had not preserved its original invalidity defense under § 101 and it was now, in Judge Koh's opinion, too late to raise the issue of abstract subject matter.
I don't have an opinion on this one; I just wanted to share the news and, if you're interested in further detail, the decision:
14-08-21 Order Denying Samsung's Alice-based Motion by Florian Mueller
Two weeks ago it became known that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected various claims, including the one asserted in this litigation, of Apple's autocomplete patent (on a non-final basis). Judge Koh has yet to rule on the parties' post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law, and validity of the autocomplete patent is going to be one of the more relevant issues.
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