Apple unsuccessful with Samsung patent lawsuit in Japan

Apple may have just landed a $1 billion plus blow on Samsung but the Cupertino-based company has been less successful in Japan, where a judge ruled against a patent lawsuit it took out against its Korean rival.

Bloomberg reports that Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and one of its tablet do not breach an Apple patent related to the synchronising music and video data in devices to servers.

Apple’s momentous victory over Samsung last week in California has not been matched in Asia and, hours before the US jury delivered its verdict, a Korean reached a split decision on a patent trial relating to older devices from both companies.

Both Apple and Samsung were adjudged to have infringed each others patents, but the fines dished out were far less significant, reaching just tens of thousands of dollars.

Following the decision, Apple must cease selling the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, its first-generation iPad and the iPad 2 in Korea. Samsung saw 12 devices banned but, like Apple, the phones in question are out-dated and no longer sold in the country.

The ramifications of the US ruling are far more significant and Apple is looking to band the sale of eight Samsung devices there. Things will become clearer at the injunction hearing, which was planned for September but has now been moved to December 6, but Samsung is forging ahead with plans to dissolve an existing injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet – which was ruled innocent in the verdict.

In a memo to employees, Apple CEO Tim Cook called its lawsuit against Samsung a matter of “values” and noted that evidence showed its rival’s copying had actually gone farther than originally suspected. In its defense, Samsung published an internal memo saying that it, unlike Apple, is prioritizing innovation over litigation.

Google, meanwhile, distanced itself from the case, saying that “most” of the patents in question did not related to Android’s core.

Image via Flickr / bestboyzde