Judge dismisses Samsung's infringement claims against Apple

Apple has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung in the UK. Justice Floyd of the Chancery Division of the High Court of England and Wales dismissed three of Samsung’s standard-essential patent (SEP) claims against Apple. The three patents pertained to processing and transmitting data on 3G mobile networks, Florian Mueller wrote on his  Foss Patents blog.

Samsung is reportedly disappointed with the court’s decision, and a spokeswoman stated that the company will decide on filing an appeal after thoroughly reviewing the judgment.

Only last week, the South Korean giant lost its 22nd SEP assertion against Apple in Japan. Mueller notes that in addition to losing over two dozen SEP assertions, Samsung has been unable to put into effect any non-SEP claims anywhere in the world. Needless to add, the ruling has dealt a blow to Samsung in its ongoing patent tussle with Apple. 

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Samsung claims are invalid, says UK judge

Things don’t seem to be going very well for Samsung in the legal department. Nokia has also jumped into the ring to support Apple’s bid to secure permanent injunctions against several Samsung smartphones. The Finnish manufacturer is so far the only third-party entity to come forward and back Apple’s longstanding appeal.

The brief was filed earlier this week at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington under lock and key, but there’s a summary attached that makes for interesting reading. In the filing, Nokia attorney Keith Broyles argued that Koh made a mistake by ruling that the iPhone maker must establish a “causal nexus” between their patents and the demand for its phones in order to secure the permanent injunction. A rule such as this “could cause wide-ranging damage to the United States patent protection landscape,” Nokia said.

A major twist to the two giants’ prolonged patent battle came earlier this month after a federal judge reduced the damages Samsung was supposed to pay Apple. US District Court Judge Lucy Koh reduced the damages by $450.5 million, saying jurors had not properly followed her instructions while calculating some of the damages. 

Judge Koh also stated that there had been errors in determining when Apple first notified Samsung about the alleged violations of the patents for its trend-setting iPhone and iPad. The ruling reduced Samsung Electronics’ bill to just under $599 million.