Samsung has lost a bid to ban sales of older models of Apple’s iPhone and iPad in South Korea. A court dismissed a lawsuit Samsung had filed, that claimed the American company had infringed on three of Samsung’s patents.
The lawsuit was part of the tech giants’ global courtroom battle dating to 2011, when Apple first sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iconic iPhone and iPad.
A Seoul Central District Court judge said that Apple products, including the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and iPad 2 did not violate Samsung patents on short message display methods and messaging grouping features.
In addition to ruling against a sales ban on the products, the court also threw out Samsung’s claim for USD $95,100 in damages.
Samsung and Apple’s reactions to the ruling were predictably at opposite ends of the spectrum.
“We are glad the Korean court joined others around the world in standing up for real innovation and rejecting Samsung’s ridiculous claims,” said Apple Korea spokesman Steve Park.
“As Apple has continued to infringe our patented mobile technologies, we will continue to take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights,” Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung said it would review the ruling before deciding on filing an appeal.
