Over the past several months, we've seen Apple and Samsung trade legal blows and attempt to have one another's products banned in various countries throughout the globe. There hasn't been much in the way of news on the Apple/Samsung battle here in the U.S. as of late, but now another company has stepped up to enter the fray: Verizon. The nation's largest carrier recently asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to deny Apple's request for an injunction against Samsung's DROID Charge, Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Infuse 4G.
In an amicus curiae brief filed with with the U.S. District Court, Verizon claims that Apple's injunction is against the best interests of the public because it would "would hinder Verizon Wireless in developing and deploying its next generation high-speed LTE [fourth-generation] network" and slow "the job growth dependant [sic] on that network." Verizon also believes the injunction "will undercut key public policy goals" like expansion of access broadband networks.
It's definitely interesting to see Verizon inject itself into the Apple/Samsung tiff, although the move isn't a huge shock since Samsung makes two of the handful of devices currently capable of accessing Big Red's LTE network. Not only would a ban on the Charge and Tab 10.1 eliminate a chunk of Verizon's LTE lineup, but it would do so at an important time: when Verizon is in the process of building out its 4G network across the country and right before the always-critical holiday season. Whether or not the judge will agree with Verizon's arguments remains to be seen, but as Matt Macari of Litigating Apple points out, the carrier's argument that Apple's injunction will be bad for the public isn't a terribly strong one since, well, pretty much all injunctions harm the public in some way. Regardless, I'm sure Samsung is happy to have Verizon on its side.
