The Dutch Court of The Hague has banned Samsung Galaxy products found infringing on an Apple patent related to navigating through photo galleries. Continued infringement could cost Samsung $129,000 a day.
Courts in the Netherlands already ruled in favor of Apple in preliminary proceedings regarding the same patent last year, leading Samsung to implement a workaround with its own proprietary photo gallery software and replace Apple’s “bounce back” feature “with a ‘blue flash’ that illuminates the edge of the image.”
The courts are apparently not happy with Samsung’s refusal to “sign a declaration of abstinence committing to not infringing the patent,” even with Samsung’s claim that all its products in the Netherlands now implement the above workaround.
The ruling results in an official sales ban on Galaxy devices running Android 2.2.1. The court also ordered Samsung to disclose how much profit was made from the infringing devices since June 2011. This is to determine compensation for the infringement.
If Samsung continues to infringe on the patent, it will be ordered to pay Apple 100,000 euros (US $129,000) for each day it continues to sell the infringing devices.
A Samsung spokeswoman said the company was disappointed with the court’s ruling. Apple did not respond when asked for comment.
