Apple vs. Samsung: The hearing just wrapped up in the U.S. and we’re now waiting for the jury’s decision. The decision could lead to consequences, good or bad, in patent law and technology innovation. Either way, one company is going to come out the winner. Funny enough, both companies are losers in South Korea.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled Friday that Samsung and Apple violated each other’s patents. The ruling found Apple to have infringed upon two Samsung patents whereas Samsung infringed upon one Apple patent. The court awarded damages to both companies and banned the sales of the infringing devices.
So what devices are now banned in South Korea? The court ruled that Apple is no longer allowed to sell the iPhone 4 or the iPad 2. Samsung came out far worse in the ruling with bans applied to the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy 10.1. As you can see, none of the banned devices are the latest devices from either company.
Despite the ruling, the court said there’s no possibility that consumers would mistake a Samsung phone for an iPhone or vice versa. It’s an important part of the ruling as Apple has built it’s entire case on consumers mistakenly buying Samsung phones because they can’t tell the difference. I think anybody can tell you how idiotic of an argument that is and it’s good to see another court agrees.
Unfortunately, this ruling only applies to South Korea. The main stage for the Apple vs. Samsung dispute is taking place in the U.S. It’s hard to tell which company the jury will decide in favor of. I just can’t shake the feeling that they will decide in favor of Apple. It would be best if a ruling came out that was similar to what was made today in South Korea.
Either way, now it’s up to Samsung and Apple to appeal the decision in South Korea. I doubt the case will reach the South Korean Supreme Court, but it’s hard to say what will happen in such a large patent infringement case. We’ll keep you updated on the global patent wars between Apple and Samsung.
[h/t: Wall Street Journal]