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Apple's Legal Goliath Struck Down by Spanish Tablet Maker

- By - Source : ZD Net

A tiny Spanish tablet developer has accomplished what Samsung could not.

Perhaps it's opposite day in the international court system, but it turns out that Apple isn't invulnerable in courts of law after all. After a nearly unbroken string of humiliating legal victories over Samsung, it seems Apple has finally met its courthouse match: a tiny Spanish tablet maker called Nuevas Tecnologias.  A Spanish Judge in the city of Quart de Poblet has now overturned a previous decision granting an injunction against Nuevas Tecnologias have have dismissed commercial and criminal charges brought against them by apple.

At issue is Nuevas Tecnologias' NK-T slate, accused by Apple of (of course) infringing on the iPad design. Apple first filed their claim in 2010, and were quickly granted a preliminary injunction that restricted sales of NK-T to only 200 units. At the time Apple received their preliminary ruling, Spanish customs agents seized China-bound shipments of Nuevas Tecnologias tablets. This led to N.T. being briefly listed on an EU list of known technology pirates, at which point Apple outrageously filed additional criminal charges. Now that the case has been thrown out, Nuevas Tecnologias is suing to recoup court costs and better still, pursuing anti-trust charges for what they allege - quite rightly from appearances - is a pattern of anticompetitive behavior by Apple.

Nuevas Tecnologias have posted a statement (in Castilian Spanish) posted to the company blog saying in part that "We are a small company like many others. In these times of crisis we [are] trying to get ahead, and it seems grossly unfair that a company the caliber of Apple has to use its dominant influence."

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soo-nah-mee 11/03/2011 10:09 PM
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This makes me happy. Love the moneybags pic too.

species8472 11/03/2011 10:10 PM
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Apple beaten? And by a little guy at that! Never thought I'd see the day.

aznguy0028 11/03/2011 10:12 PM
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So awesome, more judges out there need to rule like that spanish judge!

FlayerSlayer 11/03/2011 10:21 PM
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This just made my day!

jellico 11/03/2011 10:21 PM
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I remember Apple's famous "Big Brother" commercial from way back when. They wanted to make a statement against IBM being the big, bully corporation trying to restrict peoples choices (and thoughts). How ironic that Apple has become they very thing that Steve Jobs claimed he so despised.

tacoslave 11/03/2011 10:22 PM
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its a great day when apple gets its shit flung back to them

memadmax 11/03/2011 10:22 PM
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If you think unemployment in the US is bad, Spain is 10 times worse.... And I would think that Apple would be "cool" and layoff the patent infringements for just "breathing" in these countries.....

zorky9 11/03/2011 10:23 PM
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getreal 11/03/2011 10:24 PM
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getreal 11/03/2011 10:25 PM
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freggo 11/03/2011 10:30 PM
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It will be a very cold day in Hell when there is any kind of Apple product in my company !

freggo 11/03/2011 10:32 PM
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getreal :
Oh, so it should be allowed to steal, because it is a small company...like that makes it any better.Theft is theft, period.



Yep, so where did Apple get the idea of the 'Mouse' from ?
Let's face it, Apple and Microsoft are two of the largest technology thieves out there. They just get away with shit due to their crushing size.

surda 11/03/2011 10:32 PM
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i love you!!

Anonymous 11/03/2011 10:38 PM
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getreal

Following the conclusion of Apple they can't make air book pros either. After all its quite clearly a physical design almost identical to *insert whatever company that produces laptops here*. Apparently Apple believes it has a patent on a fucking rectangle and you are stupid enough to buy it.

jsheridan 11/03/2011 10:45 PM
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does that car have four wheels? where did they get that idea? time for Apple to make it's money with quality products instead of suing people

getreal 11/03/2011 10:53 PM
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Camikazi 11/03/2011 10:56 PM
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getreal :
Oh, so it should be allowed to steal, because it is a small company...like that makes it any better.Theft is theft, period.


It doesn't look like the iPad, that is what the judge said, so this company is not stealing a thing, Apple is just being a bully like always.

Novulux 11/03/2011 10:58 PM
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So they have had that ruling overturned, but the "war" is still not over. I hope they are successful in suing Apple.

stm1185 11/03/2011 10:59 PM
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RabidFace 11/03/2011 11:21 PM
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I just have no more words for Apple anymore.

I would go on a rant about how they are trying to shove everyone out of the technological world with their over-priced/under-powered products and flat out lying to people (brainwashing) why you need the latest device from them, but I will not.

One thing I will say, THEY ARE TRYING TO PATENT A FREAKN' RECTANGLE!!!

It's a great day for the small guy though. Karma is a bitch and I hope that Apple gets what is rightly coming to them with all the s**t they have pulled lately.

internetlad 11/03/2011 11:25 PM
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apparently spanish judges are the only ones that can't be bribed.

alidan 11/03/2011 11:51 PM
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i love spanish courts.

they are the best ones with not siding with big businesses, look up the ds and supercard. it has legitimate uses, but has been banned most places, but spain sold nintendo to screw off a while back.

nintendo was almost as bad back in the day as apple is now, by getting it to be a crime in japan to rent games in any form to people, even if they are perks you get when renting a hotel room.

dalethepcman 11/04/2011 12:15 PM
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getreal :
Pretty sure it is on a 4 week backorder for the iphone 4s. Meanwhile, vendors have to GIVE Samsung phones away, because nobody wants them!



Yes i'm sure the 27 million smartphones (plus who knows how many stupid phones) that Samsung distributed in the last 3 months were all given away for free. They are the #1 phone maker in the world because they don't know how to do anything except copy Apple.

The real reason Apple wants injunctions against Samsung is because Samsung has a superior product that cost's less. It was only a matter of time before they fell, and I don't think strapping an Apple TV to a regular TV, and calling it iTV will do much to save them.

weaselsmasher 11/04/2011 12:38 PM
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rantoc 11/04/2011 12:50 PM
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rabidface :
Karma is a bitch and I hope that Apple gets what is rightly coming to them with all the s**t they have pulled lately.



The former CEO surely got a taste of karma, having the workers who produced the company's wealth die due to the working conditions in the factories while stockpiling billion after billion in the bank while claiming a few dollars raise per product was out of the question!

house70 11/04/2011 1:29 AM
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" an injunction against Nuevas Tecnologias have have dismissed commercial and criminal charges brought against them by apple"
Looks like the OP was discombobulated by the news... Sorry, buddy, but Apple took it on the chin this time...

Anonymous 11/04/2011 1:34 AM
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bribed? the truth is much darker. Apple has remotely turned on the camera on their devices, catch several judges in their indiscrete moment, upload them to HQ, and use them as leverage to sway the judges' opinions.

eddieroolz 11/04/2011 1:40 AM
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Ouch. Good for N.T.

getreal 11/04/2011 1:44 AM
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drwho1 11/04/2011 1:45 AM
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I don't like tablets.... but I would even buy one this Spanish tablets...
just to stick it to Apple. :)

neoverdugo 11/04/2011 2:25 AM
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Serves you right R(otten)-apple!!! At the end of the day you're nothing more than a thief and a bully. But when you get the spank in the ass you act like the victim.