Roundup: Samsung wins partial victory in patent war with Apple in Seoul
- Yoo Seungki
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, August 24, 2012
Roundup: Samsung wins partial victory in patent war with Apple in Seoul
by Yoo Seungki
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- In the so-called "patent war of the century", Samsung Electronics won a partial victory over Apple in Seoul as a South Korean court ruled both sides infringed on each other's patents.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday that the Cupertino-based iPhone maker infringed on Samsung's two standard patents for data transmission technology, while ruling that Samsung violated Apple's one patent related to a "bounce-back" function on the touch screen.
The court said in a statement that "iPhone 3GS, iPhone4 and iPad wifi+3G, including iPad1 and iPad2, distributed by Apple Korea infringed on some of Samsung's patents," issuing a sales ban and a scrap order on Apple's related smartphones and tablet computers. It ordered Apple to pay a total of 40 million won (35, 298 U.S. dollars), or a 20 million won per patent infringement, in restitution to Samsung.
The South Korean court, meanwhile, ordered Samsung to stop selling and scrap 12 products infringing on the Apple's bounce- back patent such as Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Tab, saying that Samsung must pay Apple 25 million won in restitution for the patent infringement.
Samsung said in an e-mailed statement that "we welcome today's ruling, which affirms our position that Apple has been using our mobile telecommunications standards patents without having obtained the necessary licenses. Equally important, today's ruling also affirmed our position that one single company cannot monopolize generic design features."
PARTIAL BUT FAVORABLE
Though the Seoul court ruled the infringement by both sides, Samsung was widely assessed to win the victory in the first round of patent fight against Apple in Seoul.
"The court's ruling came in Samsung's favor. The sales ban was not applied to Samsung's flagship products. The Galaxy S2 that was ordered to scrap is not being sold now," Shin Hyun-jun, an analyst at Dongbu Securities in Seoul, told Xinhua.
Shin, however, noted that it remained to be seen how the verdict will come out in the United States, saying that in its home turf, Apple has been asking for more than 2.5 billion dollars in damages for Samsung's alleged violation of design patents that was not accepted by the Seoul court.
The South Korean court ruled that Samsung violated Apple's user interface (UI)-related patent, which are now being unapplied to Samsung's new models, but it dismissed all design patent infringement claims made by Apple. Design-related patents are relatively easy to avoid in Seoul, said Shin.
Samsung's claims that Apple infringed on the wireless technology-related patents essential to produce mobile phones were accepted by the Seoul court, indicating that if Samsung files an additional lawsuit against Apple with its flagship products such as iPhone 4S and iPad3, Apple may fall into severe trouble in operating in Seoul.
NOT VIOLATING FRAND
As to whether Samsung violated the Fair, Reasonable and Non- Discriminatory (FRAND) terms, the Seoul court ruled that it was hard to find the South Korean company did not follow the terms, saying that Apple failed to ask for a licensing agreement or consult on the use of standard-essential patents with Samsung before using the related patents.
The court noted that Apple seemed to have the intent to avoid the claims of Samsung to stop infringing on its standard patents rather than make a sincere negotiation, saying that Apple seemed to overly undervalue the standard patents for telecommunications technology.
The FRAND is a legal term used to describe patent licensing terms. According to the FRAND, companies can manufacture products by using the standard-essential patents, and then negotiate with the patent holders about how much to pay for the usage of the patents.
BENEFITTING SAMSUNG
The more protracted the patent battle goes, the more Samsung may benefit from, some experts said. "In fact, it is Samsung which has benefitted from this competition, and Apple has suffered a loss. It's because there has never been a case in which Samsung' s corporate image was emphasized like now," said Moon Song-Chung, professor at College of Business of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Moon estimated that Samsung made achievements worth 100 or 200 times more of those of Apple in terms of marketing efforts, saying that Apple may experience further loss if the patent war continues.
The patent battle between the world's top two smartphone makers began in April 2011 when the iPhone maker sued Samsung in the United States, claiming that the South Korean company's Galaxy devices copied patented designs of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued Apple in Seoul, alleging that Apple violated its patents for wireless communications technology.
SETTLEMENT
Market attention is now being focused on the final verdict by the nine-member U.S. federal court jury scheduled for Saturday ( Seoul time). Apple has been seeking in its home turf more than 2.5 billion dollars in damages, claiming that Samsung infringed on its seven patents. Samsung has been asking for over 400 million dollars in royalties, alleging infringement of its five patents.
Some market watchers expected the two smartphone giants to settle their dispute in the foreseeable future as there were little possibilities for any ruling in only one side's favor to come out. "There is no high possibility for any one-sided ruling to come out in the U.S. If Samsung's technology patent is undervalued, other U.S.-based tech firms that hold many patents may face troubles," said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
Lee noted that if Apple's design patents are accepted in the U. S. court, Samsung would have various technology patents to counter the ruling, saying that Samsung and Apple would highly likely settle their disputes at the end of the legal battle. Enditem
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)