Japanese court rejects two Samsung patent claims against Apple

Samsung has failed with a request for a sales injunction on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S in Japan, after the Tokyo District Court rejected claims the devices infringed on two patents.

The Korea tech giant had claimed that the two devices used technology which violates its patents for downloading apps to add functionality and ‘flight mode’, which closes down wireless channels while allowing a handset to remain switched on, but the cases have been dismissed.

News of the rulings, the first of which was made on September 14 (app download) and the second (for the flight mode claim) October, came over the weekend via Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, and represent yet another development in the global patent struggle between two of the mobile industry’s biggest names.

Separately in Japan, Apple is appealing an August decision from a Tokyo court which rejected its claim that Samsung violated an Apple patent related to the synchronising music and video data in devices to servers.

Samsung is pursuing an appeal of its own, albeit of far greater magnitude, following Apple’s momentous victory in the US in August. The jury’s decision handed the Korean firm a fine in excess of $1 billion, although Samsung has fired back, claiming it is the one prioritizing innovation over legal action.

The repercussions of that decision are still to be felt since a court hearing to decide on related sales injunctions will be held in December.

Elsewhere in Asia, a Korean court reached a split decision on a patent trial relating to older devices from both companies, but the decision was very much minor in relation to other cases.

Despite the seemingly incessant legal tit-for-tats, Samsung actually supplies parts for Apple products, although it seems that the strained relationship might take its toll on that too. Sources in Korea have said that the two firms’ supplier relationship has moved from ‘love hate’ to ‘hate hate’, with Apple reportedly ready to look elsewhere for its Samsung supplies.

A fresh report today adds fuel to that fire, indicating that Samsung’s Display business is set to terminate its LCD panel deal with Apple, as a result of its rival’s shrewd supply chain negotiations.

Image via Flickr / Booleansplit