South Korean Court Says Apple and Samsung Infringed on Each Other’s Patents

The Wall Street Journal reports a South Korean court has made a decision on the whole Apple versus Samsung patent lawsuit that has gone global. The court made a split decision, saying each company infringed on each other’s patents:

A three-judge panel in Seoul Central District Court said Apple infringed two Samsung technology patents, while Samsung violated one of Apple’s patents. The court awarded small damages to both companies and said they must halt sales of the infringing products in South Korea.

None of the banned products are the latest models of Samsung or Apple devices.

The court also ruled that there was “no possibility” that consumers would confuse Samsung and Apple smartphones, and that Samsung’s smartphone icons don’t infringe Apple’s patents.

The fines handed out by the judges to Apple were $17,650 for each violated patent, whereas Samsung was ordered to pay $22,000 per patent. Apple and Samsung each originally sought the amount of $90,000 from the other over damages.

Samsung was found guilt of infringing on Apple’s ‘rubber band’ patent, a feature that bounces the page back into place when you scroll to the end of a web page. The judges banned sales of the iPhone 4, iPad 2, Galaxy S, Galaxy SII, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy 10.1 tablet.

This ruling isn’t very substantial, is it? Both companies were ordered to pay minuscule amounts and their older product lines were banned. Could this verdict be an indication of what will happen in the U.S. Apple versus Samsung trial? That final decision is currently under deliberation by the 9 person jury.

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