Madrid: A small Spanish tablet maker has won a patent infringement battle with Apple Inc in a rare victory against the US company in its global defense of markets for its iPads, a court document showed on Wednesday. The Spanish ruling came as Apple awaits a court decision on a similar case against Samsung Electronics.
Spain's Nuevas Tecnologias y Energias Catala (NT-K) has successfully appealed a 2010 injunction from a local court to ban the import of its tablet computer - manufactured in China - to Spain. "We think that, given this was during the launch of the iPad, (Apple) was trying to keep as many tablets from entering the market as possible," Pedro David Pelaez, a founding partner of NT-K said.
"We're nothing; let's be realistic. I don't think they were looking just for us, but the sum of all of us together was something," he said, referring to other makers of similar products.
Apple is locked in a bruising legal fight with Samsung in 10 countries to protect its position in the lucrative smartphone and tablet market. Last week, Samsung won Australian court approval for fast-tracking its appeal against a ban on the sale of its new Galaxy tablet computer in the country.
As for NT-K, the company from the Valencia region of Spain is demanding compensation from Apple for losses during the ban of its product and is suing the US giant for alleged anti-competitive behavior. NT-K, which is also developing a software for computerised ordering at restaurants, had before the legal problems forecast the sale of 15,000 tablets in 2011 for a total of between 4.5 million and 5.0 million euros, Pelaez said.
Comments
0 comment