Apple has failed to extend its US legal victory over Samsung to Japan, after a judge in Tokyo rejected a similar patent-infringement claim to that won by Apple in California.
The judge ruled on Friday that the South Korean technology giant had
not violated Apple patents by copying a feature of the US group’s iPhone
and iPad mobile devices that allows them to synchronise music and video
files with computers.
Samsung
welcomed the Japanese ruling, saying it confirmed its position that its
products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property. Samsung shares closed up 1.5 per cent, erasing earlier losses, as investors took comfort from the latest court decision.
The suit was part of a web of patent claims launched by both companies in courts across the world. Last week, a California jury awarded Apple $1bn damages after it found that Samsung had unfairly copied a number of its design and user-interface innovations.
Apple had also sued Samsung in Samsung’s home country, with less success. A South Korean court dismissed Apple’s claim
that Samsung had copied the iPhone’s design, though it ruled that both
companies had infringed patents in other areas. Sales of more than a
dozen Apple and Samsung tablets and smartphone models have been banned.
The Japanese suit was more narrowly focused, targeting only the
synchronisation feature, but the potential impact was significant. The
iPhone has been the top-selling smartphone in Japan for most of the
period since its introduction but Samsung’s Galaxy devices have been
making inroads. The Galaxy SIII displaced the iPhone 4S at the top of
the sales rankings immediately after its launch in late June.
Apple had been asking for just Y100m ($1.3m) in damages, a reflection
in part of the small compensation awards typically granted by Japanese
courts.
It is not clear how important Japan is for Samsung as a single
market, as Samsung does not provide sales figures for the country. But
analysts estimate that Asia excluding China accounts for about one-fifth
of Samsung’s mobile phone shipments.
Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the latest court
ruling. “There are dozens of court cases around the world involving
their patent disputes,” said Park Young-joo, analyst at Woori Investment
& Securities. “The rulings made in the three countries so far are
unlikely to affect the other pending cases.” Mr Park predicted that it
would take three to four years for all the cases to be resolved.
He added that the court cases probably would not affect Samsung’s
future earnings a great deal because Apple’s lawsuits target old models
and the Korean group is already designing its new products and working
round the problematic features.
Samsung on Wednesday unveiled the world’s first smartphone running on the Windows 8
operating system at the IFA trade fair in Berlin. It also launched a
new version of its popular Galaxy Note smartphone, running Google’s Android platform.
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