The grant means that Apple can push forward with its lawsuits without fear

Feb 11, 2013 10:12 GMT  ·  By

The ongoing patent war between Apple and Samsung has just got a bit more Steam, even though most of the world hopes the two will do what Samsung and LG did and settle matters outside of court.

It turns out that, even despite Apple’s Tim Cook never wanting to sue Samsung, the patent war will go forward.

Samsung has been lobbying with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to analyze the allegedly infringed Apple patents and see if they should have ever been validated.

The process of revision has concluded and, once again, Apple has come out on top.

The USPTO has ruled that the design patents for slide-to-unlock feature and the design of the first generation iPhone are valid ones.

The claim that Apple's patents are invalid has been one of the major parts in Samsung's defense strategy in the case filed with the San Jose, California district court.

The corporation even got a tentative agreement from Judge Lucy Koh, who said, last month, that while Samsung did infringe the patents, it could not be said to have done it willingly if it believed they were not valid.

Granted, the judge said that while denying the request for a total reset of the case, but it was a silver lining if nothing else.

For those that like to read technical specifications and legal jargon, the patent defining the slide-to-unlock feature is No. D675,639 ("the ornamental design for a display screen or portion thereof with a graphical user interface, as shown and described").

The other patent, No.D675,612, defines "the ornamental design for an electronic device, as shown and described."

It would have taken months, years even, for this feud to resolve itself, before this decision by the USPTO was made. Now it might take even longer, assuming a miraculous settlement continues to be avoided.