Apple has chalked up another victory in its ongoing patent battle with its rival Samsung, as Reuters reports today that a Tokyo court ruled the Korean company had infringed on Apple’s so-called “rubber band” patent on older models of its smartphones.
This comes soon after Apple apparently received good news from the US Patent and Trademark Office last week regarding its much-publicized rubber-band patent (US patent #7,469,381): the organization shared that it would issue a reexamination certificate to confirm four of Apple’s claims.
The tide seems to be turning for this particular Apple patent after it was tentatively rejected last year, and after reports surfaced in April saying Samsung filed a statement noting that the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled claim 19 of Apple’s “rubber-banding” patent invalid in a final Office action.
The rubber-banding patent refers to the bouncing animation that takes place when a user scrolls past the end of a page while on a mobile device. Apple claims that Samsung had copied the feature in its earlier smartphones.
Claim 19 played a major role in Apple’s massive trial against rival Samsung, in which Apple scored a $1.05 billion victory against the Korean firm.
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The Reuters report says more details on the ruling will be released later, and we will update accordingly.
Headline image via Thinkstock
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