Apple Wins Big Against Samsung In Court in South Corea

Samsung lost its bid on Thursday to ban sales of Apple's older iPhone and iPad models in South Korea. A court dismissed a lawsuit, filed in March 2012, claiming the U.S. firm had infringed on three  of Samsung's mobile patents.

The lawsuit was another part of Samsung's global courtroom war with Apple dating back to 2011 when the iPhone company first sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its products.

"We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung's ridiculous claims," Apple Korea spokesman Steve Park said.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said that Apple products did not violate Samsung patents on the display of short messages and group messaging features. The court ruled against a sale ban on the products and subsequently threw out Samsung's claim for $95,100 (£58,000, AU$105,000) in damages.

Necessary measures

Samsung said it would carefully review the ruling before deciding on whether to launch an appeal. "We are disappointed with the court's decision …. Apple has continued to infringe our patented mobile technologies [so] we will continue to take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights," Samsung said in a statement.

Similar rulings in the past have gone in Samsung's favour. In August last year the same South Korean court ordered Apple to pay $38,000 (£23,100, $AU42,000) in damages for infringing on wireless technology patents.

Thursday's court ruling comes after a German court in Mannheim dismissed Apple's claim that Samsung infringed on a utility patent. Apple and Samsung have gone to trial twice in the past two years in California, where juries awarded Apple $930 million (£567 million, AU$1 billion) in damages.

Here’s the complete ruling courtesy of FOSS Patents:

14-01-21 Apple v. Samsung Summary Judgment Order