科技前沿:蘋果三星再對簿公堂 裁決可能對三星不利(1)

The long-running patent war between smartphone giants Apple Inc. AAPL -0.20% and Samsung Electronics Co. +0.74% will be back in the spotlight on Friday with two legal developments that could help tip the balance.

週五，智能手機巨頭蘋果公司(Apple Inc.)與三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)之間漫長的專利戰將再次成爲外界關注的焦點，屆時做出的兩項裁決可能會扭轉形勢。

The companies will argue before a federal appeals court in Washington over whether a lower court erred last year when it allowed Samsung to continue selling more than two dozen products after a jury found they infringed several Apple patents.

兩公司將在華盛頓的一個聯邦上訴法院就一家下級法院去年做出的裁決是否爲誤判進行辯論。去年，一個陪審團判定三星侵犯了蘋果的多項專利，但法院仍允許三星繼續銷售20多款產品。

Also on Friday, the International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial federal agency that can block imports of foreign-made goods, is expected to issue a ruling on whether Samsung infringed several different Apple patents. Samsung is based in South Korea, and Apple's iPhone's are manufactured abroad.

同樣是在週五，預計美國國際貿易委員會(International Trade Commission)將就三星是否侵犯了蘋果多項專利做出裁決。該聯邦機構具有準司法機構性質，能夠下令禁止外國產品的進口。三星總部位於韓國，蘋果iPhone則是在美國境外生產的。

Spokeswomen for Samsung and Apple each declined to comment.

三星和蘋果的發言人均拒絕置評。

The nearly $400 billion smartphone industry has been roiled by more than three years of expensive litigation among smartphone makers in courts all over the world. Still, a decisive winner has yet to emerge.

三年多來，智能手機生產商在世界各地法院打鉅額官司，規模近4,000億美元的智能手機行業也因此被攪動。儘管如此，目前尚未出現一個確定的贏家。

The events taking center stage on Friday could help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of the two leading sellers of smartphones. They follow the Obama administration's veto last Saturday of an ITC order banning the import and sale of some Apple iPhones and iPads.

週五備受關注的事件可能幫助明確兩大主要智能手機銷售商的優勢和劣勢。此前，奧巴馬政府上週六否決了國際貿易委員會做出的禁止進口和銷售部分蘋果iPhone和iPad產品的裁決。

Victories for Apple on Friday could keep some current and future Samsung smartphones from the marketplace and cut into the company's commanding lead in world-wide smartphone sales. Victories for Samsung likely would allow the company to keep selling the full complement of its mobile devices.

若週五蘋果勝訴，那麼三星部分現有的和未來計劃推出的智能手機將不能在市場上銷售，該公司在全球智能手機市場上的主導地位將受損。若三星勝訴，那麼它有望能夠繼續銷售其全線移動設備。

The appeals court case, in particular, could help determine whether Apple will be able to win product bans in future cases, including one case pending in San Jose, Calif., which is set to go to trial early next year.

尤其值得一提的是，上訴法院的裁決可能幫助確定蘋果能否在未來的案件中成功爭取法院對三星發出產品禁售令，包括目前在加州聖何塞待審的案子。該案定於明年初庭審。

The case being heard Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court that handles appeals of patent cases, arose from a earlier complaint that Apple filed against Samsung in federal court in San Jose in 2011, which went to trial last year.

美國聯邦巡迴上訴法院(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)週五審理的案子因早些時候蘋果起訴三星案而起。2011年，蘋果在聖何塞的聯邦法院起訴三星，該案去年進行了審理。