Japan Hands Samsung Win in Apple Patent Wars

Sync tech no infringement; Apple ordered to pay court costs
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2012 6:08 AM CDT
Japan Hands Samsung Win in Apple Patent Wars
An electronic store staff shows a Galaxy S II LITE in Tokyo earlier today. A Tokyo court on Friday dismissed Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung had infringed on its patent.   (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Samsung may have lost a major battle with Apple last week, but the patent wars go on—and the latest victory is Samsung's. Samsung scored a win versus Apple in a Japanese court today, this time in a case over the tech that synchronizes music and video data with servers, reports Bloomberg. The Tokyo judge ruled Samsung's Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, and Galaxy S II did not infringe on Apple's synchronization patent, and ordered Apple to pay Samsung's court costs. Apple had been seeking $1.3 million in damages.

"It’s hard to believe the products belong to the range of technologies of the claimant," said the judge. The court also denied Apple an injunction to prevent Samsung from selling eight Galaxy products in Japan. One Seoul-based analyst sees the decision as very encouraging news for the South Korea-based company: "Samsung had this win in a country that’s strong at intellectual property. The mood is turning positive for Samsung." (More Samsung stories.)

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