Apple Violating Samsung Patent – Dutch Court

In a ruling that could have far-reaching effects in the ongoing legal war between Apple and Samsung, the South Korean tech titan has been awarded damages by a court in the Netherlands.

A court in The Hague has ordered Apple to pay damages to Samsung as it ruled in favor of the Apple rival with regards to a patent Samsung owns. This patent is for technology used to connect to the internet, Reuters says. Meanwhile, other reports have revealed that Samsung initially sued Apple for alleged violation of three patents it holds but the court ruled that Apple only violated one.

Apple fired the first shot in this enduring legal war between Apple and Samsung, with the former accusing the latter in a case filed in April last year of “slavishly” copying its consumer electronics products.

According to Reuters, Apple’s iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, original iPad, and the iPad 2 are in violation of the Samsung patent. Apple will have to pay damages to Samsung based on the how many of the above-mentioned devices the Cupertino, California-based Apple sold in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, the court said that damages should be based on sales figures since a long way back. The court ruled that Apple could have known it was in violation of the Samsung-owned patent since August 4, 2010 therefore setting that date as the start date for calculating the damages based on sales figures in the territory.

In a statement to BBC, Samsung said that it “welcomes the court’s ruling, which reaffirmed Apple’s free-riding of our technological innovation.”

“In accordance with the ruling, we will seek adequate compensation for the damages Apple and its products have caused,” the company added.

We say that this decision is potentially far-reaching as other courts in other countries are surely keeping tabs on the status of cases between the two companies in other territories. A ruling in favor of one party in this conflict will likely get the attention of judges.

Image from leondel on Flickr (CC)

[cb]Samsung Electronics[/cb]

[cb]Apple[/cb]