Tablet War: first UK skirmish, no fatalities

Today's "Battle of the Tablets" ruling of Mr Justice Mann in the Chancery Division (England and Wales) in Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd v Apple Inc [2012] EWHC 889 (Ch) is a bit of a disappointment for anyone who was hoping to learn something about registered Community designs.  That's because the British bit of this global battle has so far been played out on procedural and peripheral issues; the real meat of the dispute remains in the freezer.

So far, the case has dealt with a jurisdictional issue (does the court have jurisdiction to entertain an application for a declaration of non-infringement of a registered Community design which is made by a company which is domiciled outside the jurisdiction?); two procedural issues (should an application for a declaration of non-infringement before a national court be stayed pending the outcome of invalidity proceedings before OHIM? Should an order be made for expedition of the trial?); and one tangential tort issue (has there been a making of a groundless threat to bring infringement proceedings?)

The upshot of all this is that the court has jurisdiction to hear an application for a declaration of non-infringement by Samsung's UK company but not its Korean one; that Apple did not make groundless threats to sue for infringement; that the hearing, which will not be stayed, will be expedited and will take place in June of this year; and that we will just have to be patient for a little longer ...

There's a helpful account of this first British skirmish by Darren Smyth, guesting on the IPKat here.