Apple V. Samsung Lawsuit: South Korea Court Rules No Winners, No Losers in Patent Infringement Case

Although, not nearly as significant as the decision that the San Jose court must make, a court in South Korea ruled that Apple Inc. violated two of Samsung Electronics Co. patents, while Samsung violated one of Apple's. In other words, the score between the two rivals is even.

South Korea is of the many countries the two tech giants are in litigation with each other. In a Friday decision the court in Seoul ruled that Apple infringed on two of Samsung's patents which would cost Apple, the highest valued company on the stock market, a meager $1,7650 or 20 million Won. Samsung too was found guilty of violating one of Apple's patent, which cost the South Korean company 25 million won, which is about $2,200. The two companies will face a sales ban on some of their products of two or three years ago (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 1 and iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy S2). The ban will not apply to any of the new devices.

The case, although not so closely watched or weighted, as the case that's in the hands of nine jurors in San Jose, is being hailed as a victory by Samsung according to USA Today.

Jeong Woo-sung, patent attorney tells the newspaper, "This is basically Samsung's victory on its home territory...Out of nine countries, Samsung got the ruling that it wanted for the first time in South Korea."

Samsung spokesman, Nam Ki-yung said, "Today's ruling also affirmed our position that one single company cannot monopolize generic design features," as reported by usatoday.com.

Since 2011, the two tech moguls have engaged in quite a tussle over design infringement, Apple has repeatedly accused Samsung (not without merit) of imitating its designs for its various products. While, one cannot deny Samsung's products bears a definite resemblance to the corresponding Apple products, Apple might have taken the issue a little too far by suing the company for $2.5 Billion. In turn, Samsung is counter suing Apple for approximately $400 million for damages to reputation and $22 million in royalties.

Back in America, the two companies just wrapped a three week trial in which Apple Inc. is suing Samsung for over $2.5 billion over patent infringement issues. Now a jury of nine will decide whether Samsung, "ripped off" Apple as stated by the company's designer Christopher Stringer or whether it just drew inspiration from its competitors, as Samsung puts it.

As Howard Mintz of mercurynews.com says, "Apple's simpler arguments, coupled with the mystique of its products, may give it an advantage, but much depends upon the amount of credibility the jury assigns to Samsung's counter-arguments."

In 2011, Apple filed suit against the South Korean Tech mogul Samsung over patent issues and intellectual property rights regarding Apple's highly popular smartphone iPhone and computer tablet iPad. Apple claims that Samsung's smartphones and tablets are knock-offs of its designs.

A few months ago, due to Apple's claims that Samsung's Galaxy Tablet infringed on patents of its very popular iPad, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered the Galaxy 10.1 computer tablet to be temporarily removed from the US markets.

Samsung's lawyer Charles Verhoeven dismissed accusations telling jurors, "Everyone is out there with that basic form factor...There is nothing wrong with looking at what your competitors do and being inspired by them," as reported by Time Magazine.

Prior to start of the trial, the South Korean company told the Inquirer that it was confident of winning the lawsuit. Samsung told the newspaper "trusts that the jurors will agree with its case," and further added "Patent law was never intended to give a company a monopoly over an entire market...Samsung wants to compete with Apple, not to stifle competition; to offer more choices to consumers, not to limit their ability to buy the product they want at a price they can afford," as reported on theinquire.net.

Samsung released a statement as follows: "Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited," as reported on Reuters.

In turn, Apple released a statement in direct rebuttal to the South Korean company on Reuters, "It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging."

The case was filed as: The case is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., 11- cv-01846, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

Mintz describes the case perfectly when he calls it "the most difficult types of cases in the federal court system, addressing an extensive muddle of patent, antitrust and "trade dress" legal claims raised by both companies," as reported on www.mercurynews.com

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