No clear winner in Samsung-Apple court battle in Japan
Japan's Intellectual Property High Court ruled that Samsung could claim ¥9.96m or US$98,000 from Apple for the use of Samsung's data transmission technology, found to have been used in Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
The ruling amended a lower court decision in February last year that Samsung had failed to negotiate properly with Apple over the use of the technology.
But the high court said that Samsung can claim damages from Apple within what amounts to patent licence fees for the two products, while rejecting the South Korean firm's demand for an injunction that would prevent the manufacture and sale of some of Apple's smartphones.
Both of the companies - which are involved in a long-running global patents war, with each accusing the other of stealing aspects of their smartphone designs - welcomed the ruling.
"We welcome today's ruling, which grants Samsung Electronics the right to seek damages for Apple's infringement of our standard-essential patent, which relates to the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2," Samsung Electronics said in a statement.
"The company will continue to take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights," the statement said.
Apple Japan said that the damages awarded to Samsung in this case were in line with what it believed was fair, while welcoming the court's decision to reject the injunction against it.
"We applaud the court for standing up to Samsung and defending the integrity of the international patent system," Apple said.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge