As a jury weighs the fate of Apple v. Samsung here in the U.S., a South Korean court has already come to a decision in a separate case, ruling that the companies have both infringed on each other's patents, with several older products now banned for sale there.
Bloomberg is reporting that a Seoul, South Korea court decision has found that both Apple and Samsung have infringed on each other's patents, with a sales ban now in effect on a number of older products.
“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,” Samsung said in a statement. “Today’s ruling also affirmed our position that one single company cannot monopolize generic design features.”
It's a bit of a hollow victory for Samsung, however -- the court ruled that the Korean manufacturer infringed on one Apple patent related to the "bounce back" touchscreen feature, while Cupertino violated two of Samsung's mobile data transfer patents.
As a result, a sales ban is now in place for Apple's older iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, first-gen iPad and iPad 2; Samsung must also stop selling 12 of its products, including the original Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab models.
The fines attached to the ruling will barely make a dent for either company, though: Cupertino has to pay Samsung 40 million won ($35,000 USD), while Samsung owes Apple 25 million won.
The Seoul ruling is not expected to have an impact on the current U.S. patent battle now in the hands of a jury, nor other pending cases between the two companies around the world.
“You need to see the result of the U.S. case before you decide who’s the winner or the loser,” KB Investment & Securities Co. analyst Byun Han Joon, commented.
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