This article was published on October 14, 2011

Samsung suffers blow in The Netherlands as Apple sales ban is denied


Samsung suffers blow in The Netherlands as Apple sales ban is denied

Samsung will not be holding the Dutch legal system in high regard today after a court in The Hague dismissed the Korean smartphone vendor’s claims of patent infringement by Apple, further adding to issues it faces with sales injunctions already placed upon its devices in Europe.

In September, Samsung followed up claims that it would react to Apple’s patent claims aggressively by filing four cases in The Netherlands, accusing the Cupertino-based company of infringing patents with its products that utilise 3G technology.

The electronics giant appealed for a Dutch trade and import ban on sales of all Apple’s smartphones and tablets, not only with Apple directly but also with five other companies affiliated with its sales and distribution.

With the new case dismissed, Apple has effectively prevailed over Samsung twice in The Netherlands, not only striking a blow by successfully obtaining a ban on sales of its tablet in the country, causing it to modify three of its Galaxy smartphones to resume sales of the handsets in the country, but also escaping a ban of its own with today’s ruling.

Both companies were also present in a court in Seoul this morning, where Apple argued Samsung’s mobile 3G patent ‘lacks novelty” and was not invented by the company, calling for dismissal of a case that centers around the infringement of the same patents discussed in The Hague.

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Apple and Samsung are currently embroiled in around thirty legal fights worldwide, with the Korean manufacturer seeing its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet banned in Australia and in Europe.

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