In South Korea, Apple and Samsung’s epic patent disputes have reached a conclusion nobody can be happy about. A judge has found that while Apple infringed on two
English: Samsung Galaxy Tab showing its Wikipedia article. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
patents held by Samsung, Samsung also infringed on one patent held by Apple. As a result,a short list of products from both companies has been banned in the country.
According to the BBC, Apple products banned include the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4, as well as the iPads 1 and 2. The Samsung products include the Galaxy SI and SII as well as the Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Apple was ordered to pay 40m won, or $35,000 in damages, and Samsung 25m won, or about $22,000.
The patents in question were Apple’s “bounceback” function, which lets users know when they’ve reached the end of a screen that they’re scrolling through, and certain patents relating to Samsung’s telecom standards that involves data transmission between devices.
Most importantly in relation to some of the broadest questions being asked in these trials, however, the Judge ruled against Apple’s claim that Samsung copied its basic designs.
"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, according to Reuters.
Whether or not you can patent a certain kind of rectangle is one of the central questions in the patent wars, and this particular judge has come down saying: “no.” Neither rounded corners nor that particular shape were new innovations made by Apple, the judge said, and the Samsung products were differentiated enough to give them a different look.
Those damages seem small for companies as large as Apple and Samsung, and they are. The stakes are significantly higher in the California trial currently being deliberated by jury – in that case, Apple is seeking damages in excess of $2.5 bn.
