South Korean court finds both Apple and Samsung guilty of patent infringement

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
In what could be a harbinger of the U.S. Apple v. Samsung trial, a South Korean court on Friday found both companies were guilty of infringing on each others' patents, banning sales of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 as well as a number of Samsung smartphones and tablets.

While the win for both parties comes with slight financial damages equivalent to a slap on the wrist, the court decision could be a sign of things to come in a high-stakes U.S. federal case as the two suits involve the same issues, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Especially telling was the three-judge panel's ruling that there was "no possibility" that a consumer would confuse the two companies' smartphones, and that Samsung's UI iconography doesn't infringe on Apple's patents. The two claims are at the heart of the Cupertino tech giant's U.S. case. The final tally had Apple infringing on two Samsung patents, with Samsung infringing on one Apple property.

Samsung was found in violation of Apple's "rubber-banding" patent, a point of contention in the counterpart U.S. suit that saw hours of expert witness testimony as counsel tried to sway jury opinion. The judgment stopped South Korean sales of Samsung's Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Nexus smartphones and Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets.

Apple was ordered to stop sales of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 for infringing on two Samsung wireless technology patents.

Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPad 2
The iPhone 4 and iPad 2 were still up for sale on Apple's Korean website as of Friday. | Source: Apple


The Korean electronics giant sued Apple in its home country in response to the iPhone maker's April 2011 suit that claimed Samsung copied the look and feel of the iPhone and iPad. A long list of complaints and countersuits followed and grew to become the worldwide court struggle the two companies face today.

While it may appear the Seoul court had trouble coming to Friday's decision, the Journal notes cases going through South Korea's trial system must endure a slow and laborious road to judgment. Cases are brought to a panel of judges and hearings are infrequent. Protocol is similar to other court systems around the world as judges hear arguments and ask questions of attorneys, but South Korean disputes involve comparatively less evidence. Apple and Samsung reportedly met in court an average of once a month with the sessions lasting only one or two hours.

As far as damages, Apple was ordered to pay out 20 million won, or $17,650 for each patent violation for a total of $35,300, while Samsung is to pay 25 million won, or $22,000 for its infringement. The numbers are far from the 100 million won, or about $90,000, each company sought at the start of the trial.

The Seoul court's ruling may be different than jury findings in the U.S. case, but the stakes in the California suit are substantially higher as that outcome could see damages and revenue repercussions from possible injunctions add up to billions of dollars in losses. The U.S. trial is currently in jury deliberations after closing arguments wrapped up on Tuesday.
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 77
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    So if none of the products are the latest products from each company, it's just business as usual plus probably some demand to license the patents in question in Korea.
  • Reply 2 of 77
    Regardless of this opaque ruling...l

    According to this article, Samsung produces 20% of Korean GDP.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/whoa-samsung-is-responsible-for-20-of-south-koreas-economy/260552/

    Samsung has been accused of bribing Judges and Politicians.

    Samsung former bigwig got 3 years suspended sentence and $100 million + fine, and now he's in charge of their Olympic committee overseeing the upcoming games that they are hosting (2018? Winter?)
  • Reply 3 of 77


    No surprises here.

  • Reply 4 of 77
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    jcallows wrote: »
    No surprises here.

    I think there is. From what I've been told Samsung is king in SoKo (did I just coin that?) and patent infringement doesn't seem as strict as in the US and yet they found them guilty of infringing on the big bad American company. It could be construed that they threw Samsung a bone. To me, that sounds like it really bodes well for the US trial.
  • Reply 5 of 77


    Rubber banding is a good patent to have hold of. Using any android phone without it seems cheaper and nastier than the rest of them

  • Reply 6 of 77
    iPhone 4 and iPad 2 banned eh, just as well they have the iPad3 and upcoming iP5

    What a load of bollocks. Let the consumer decide. Lawyers are happy though.
  • Reply 7 of 77
    zozmanzozman Posts: 393member


     sounds like an old fasioned 'Shake Down'

  • Reply 8 of 77
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    What a load of bollocks. Let the consumer decide. Lawyers are happy though.

    It's a good thing they are on each company's payroll (assumed) as getting 25% of the win would be a complete waste. I guess the banning works for these cases but I would have expected a higher value. Does it even take Apple a whole minute to earn the ?$15k penalty in profit?
  • Reply 9 of 77

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Especially telling was the three-judge panel's ruling that there was "no possibility" that a consumer would confuse the two companies' smartphones...


     


    I'm calling horsepucky on this "opinion" because I've seen people walk into an AT&T store (albeit not tech-savvy people) on the hunt for an iPhone and walking straight up to a Galaxy 2 demo unit and saying "Terrific, you have iPhones." It happens, and these three judges just said "Oh, no it doesn't. Such a scenario is impossible."


     


    How I read the headline in my head: "Court in Samsung's backyard says that Samsung isn't guilty of copying the iPhone." Big surprise.

  • Reply 10 of 77
    the cost of a new car and ban on last gen products? These penalties almost seem to not even be worth the time of going to court. I guess this just falls under the "defend it or lose it" category.

    I don't think we can read into this in any way, with regard to the CA trial. differnet country, diff laws. jury vs judges.

    At least this judgement will quiet some of the racist remarks going around this forum. well... probably not but we could hope.
  • Reply 11 of 77


    OK, so… now what?

  • Reply 12 of 77
    doh123doh123 Posts: 323member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    I think there is. From what I've been told Samsung is king in SoKo (did I just coin that?) and patent infringement doesn't seem as strict as in the US and yet they found them guilty of infringing on the big bad American company. It could be construed that they threw Samsung here. To me, that sounds like it really bodes well for the US trial.


     


    This is a case going on worldwide in many courts.  Its possible that they could not risk telling Apple to get lost... and looking like they were bought off or paid.  It was safer to at least find 1 thing they could do like this to make it look like they were not biased or paid off at all, but make sure in the end Apple had to pay out more than they had to get paid.  Its possible that if this wasn't in the news, the outcome would be very different, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if this were the case.

  • Reply 13 of 77
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    spacepower wrote: »
    Regardless of this opaque ruling...l
    According to this article, Samsung produces 20% of Korean GDP.
    http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/07/whoa-samsung-is-responsible-for-20-of-south-koreas-economy/260552/
    Samsung has been accused of bribing Judges and Politicians.
    Samsung former bigwig got 3 years suspended sentence and $100 million + fine, and now he's in charge of their Olympic committee overseeing the upcoming games that they are hosting (2018? Winter?)
    Oh Jeez, thank you for all that informed insight about South Korea, their rigged judiciary system and corrupted people (sic). Some individuals are really pushing that crap down a whole new level...

    "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain
  • Reply 14 of 77


    Asia is the Wild West when it comes to IP - that pretty much sums up their take on other peoples innovation!


    They aren't capable of their own - so they just steal it.


     


    The judges in South Korea - paid lackies with absolutely no credibility or fundamental concept of justice.


    Justice in SOuth Korea = whose paying my golf membership!


     


    What a joke! 

  • Reply 15 of 77
    dickprinterdickprinter Posts: 1,060member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    ".....Samsung is king in SoKo (did I just coin that?) and...."


     


    Quick...trademark it¡  


     


    ;-)

  • Reply 16 of 77
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    sensi wrote: »

    "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain

    I've liked that quote ever since I read it. However I feel this one speaks more towards the intentions of some of the post I've read here against SoKo.


    “Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.” 
    ? Arthur Schopenhauer
  • Reply 17 of 77
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member
    SoKo has a KaCo... Surprise!
  • Reply 18 of 77
    lerxtlerxt Posts: 186member
    There is nothing in that trial that would lead anyone to construe that its result would be similiar, or have any bearing on the US trial.
  • Reply 19 of 77
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member


    There is a point to settle outside the court...

  • Reply 20 of 77
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    This article misses the big picture of what is going on. Read Foss Patents latest post for a better understanding

    The situation is not good and could result in Apple withdrawing from the Korean market
Sign In or Register to comment.