Apple Loses Patent Battle Against Samsung In Japan – But The War Isn’t Over
Just because Samsung wasn’t able to convince the tech-ignorant jury here in the states that they didn’t violate Apple software/hardware design patents, things are proving not so difficult overseas. In Japan, Samsung faces a similar suit after Apple claimed the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S II were violating a patent dealing with syncing of music and video to a PC. Yes, folks. Apple claims they invented sync. Apple was asking for $1.275 million in damages, and a ban of the offending devices. But you can’t pull a fast one on ‘ol Japan. Those guys were video chatting on their cellphones back when we were still using pagers.
The Tokyo District Court ruled today that Samsung didn’t, in fact, violate any of Apple patents, rightfully discerning that the specific technology used in this instance wasn’t entirely covered by Apple’s patent. Either it violates the patent on all counts, or it gets thrown out. Simple as that. If only the jury in San Jose was as privy. Of course, Apple can — and most likely will — file for an appeal, not to mention they still have another suit dealing once again, with their “bounce-back” patent. For the love of Go-Go Gadget, Apple. Just take your damn bouncy UI patent and shove it up your 30-pin connector already.
[Reuters | Bloomberg | Engadget]