South Korean Court: Apple v Samsung; Both Parties Infringed; Samsung Didn't Copy

[dgstorm]

With all of the media focus on the U.S. trial of Apple vs. Samsung, it's easy to lose track of the other cases going on around the world between the two juggernauts. The South Korean case just wrapped up and the court ruled that Samsung did not "slavishly copy" Apple's designs. Both sides were found to be infringing upon each other's patents though. Here's a breakdown of the results:

Samsung’s products infringed Apple’s ‘bounce-back’ patent -

• Samsung's Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have been banned from South Korea.
• Samsung will have to pay 25 Million won in damages (which amounts to about $22,000 Dollars.)

Apple's products infringed two of Samsung's patents related to wireless transmission of data -

• Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 have been banned from South Korea
• Apple will have to pay 40 Million won in damages (which amounts to about $35,000 dollars.)

As far as Apple's "trade dress" arguments are concerned, (that's the accusation of copying), here was the South Korean judge's statement,

There are lots of external design similarities between the iPhone and Galaxy S, such as rounded corners and large screens … but these similarities had been documented in previous products,” a judge at the Seoul Central District Court said on Friday.

The court also stated that there was "no possibility" of confusion between Apple and Samsung products for consumers.

Obviously, both parties are likely to appeal these decisions, but at least we are seeing some progress. The case was mostly a "wash" for both parties. Now, if we could just get the U.S. judge and jury to pay attention to the South Korean case, maybe some fair and equitable result can be attained in the U.S. as well.

Source: AndroidPolice

 

[Lanos4Sale]

is that why many folk with a Samsung phone think they have an iPhone and searching for iPhone on eBay will get you listings for Samsung Galaxy?? But who was really expecting a non-biased outcome from a court in South Korea where copying is an accepted part of the culture?

The irony in all of this is whilst Google / Samsung have been busy fighting Apple in the courts, Microsoft—who're not normally known for their originality— have actually developed an interesting and innovative tablet and OS. Interesting days for the whole tablet world.

 

[kingbrowne]

The jury verdict in the USA just came in with a big win for Apple.

 

[Lanos4Sale]

I guess we won't read about that here.

 

[Martindp2]

The South Korean verdict appeared, to me, as sensible and well balanced. The US verdict has a distinct whiff of protectionism about it. Apple irritated me with its stance and my intended purchase of a second iPad was switched to an Android tablet as as result.