In South Korea, court rules Samsung and Apple violate each other’s patents

A Seoul, South Korea court this morning issued a ruling in the Samsung vs. Apple patent infringement case on Sammy’s home turf. The court found that both companies were found to be in violation of patents held by the other, and has awarded damages of $35,400 to Samsung and $22,125 to Apple. Apple was found to be in violation of two of Samsung’s wireless technology standards-essential patents, and Samsung violated Apple’s “bounce-back” patent, which covers scrolling through electronic documents. In addition to the negligible fines, the judge ordered Samsung to immediately stop selling 10 devices in the country, including the Galaxy S II, while Apple must stop selling the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

Most importantly, the judge stated that Samsung’s devices have not violated Apple’s iPhone design patent, one of the key issues in the current “patent case of the century” taking place in the U.S.

“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. Given that it’s very limited to make big design changes in touch-screen based mobile products in general … and the defendant (Samsung) differentiated its products with three buttons in the front and adopted different designs in camera and (on the) side, the two products have a different look.” - Seoul Central District Court Judge

The jury is currently deliberating in the Samsung vs. Apple trial in San Jose, California. Will they reach the same conclusions as the South Korean court regarding Apple’s iPhone design patent? We should know more in the next week or so.

[via Engadget, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal]