Tokyo court rejects Apple patent claim against Samsung

TOKYO —

A Japanese court rejected Apple’s claim that Samsung stole its technology, dealing a blow to the iPhone maker after a U.S. jury ordered its South Korean rival to pay over $1 billion in damages. The ruling by the Tokyo District Court was the latest chapter in a bitter global patent war between the smartphone giants who have accused each other of stealing intellectual property for their own products.

The Japanese court found that Samsung did not infringe on Apple’s iPhone and iPad patents for some of its own Galaxy smartphones and tablet computer. The three-judge panel also awarded legal costs to Samsung.

Samsung, which has steadfastly denied its rival’s claims in a string of similar cases filed across the globe, hailed the Tokyo court’s ruling. The decision comes a week after the iPhone maker won more than $1 billion in a massive U.S. court victory over Samsung with jurors finding that the South Korean firm had “willfully” infringed on Apple’s patents.

The Japanese case, which focused on Apple’s claim that Samsung stole technology used to transfer music and video files, sought a comparatively small amount, 100 million yen ($1.27 million), in damages. But Apple had also requested an injunction to block Samsung sales in Japan, where both firms’ offerings are increasingly popular in a market previously monopolized by domestic giants such as Sony and Sharp.

The high-profile verdict in the United States last week affects patents on a range of Samsung products including some of its popular smartphones and its Galaxy 10 tablet. Jurors rejected the South Korean electronics firm’s patent theft counterclaims against Apple. Last week, a court in Seoul ruled the pair had swiped each other’s technology and awarded damages to both sides.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled Apple breached two of Samsung’s technology patents, and ordered it to pay 40 million won ($35,000) in damages. It also ordered Samsung to pay 25 million won for violating one of Apple’s patents. Each company had sought damages of 100 million won from the other.

The patent cases come as Apple loses ground to rivals including Samsung that use the Android operating system developed by Google. Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally between April and June, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones, according to research firm IDC, which said Samsung held 32.6% of the market compared to 16.9% for Apple.