South Korean phone maker Samsung won a home court ruling Friday in its global patent battle against Apple and its popular iPhone and iPad devices.
Judges in Seoul said Samsung Electronics Co. didn't copy the look and feel of the iPhone and ruled that Apple infringed on Samsung's wireless technology.
However, the judges also said Samsung violated Apple's technology behind a feature that causes a screen to bounce back when a user scrolls to an end image. Both sides were ordered to pay limited damages.
The Seoul Central District Court ruling called for a partial ban on products from both companies, though the verdict did not affect the latest-generation phones — Apple's iPhone 4S or Samsung's Galaxy S III — or the newest iPad. Both sides were also ordered to pay limited damages.
The ban applies only to sales in South Korea, and the ruling is part of a larger, epic struggle over patents and innovation unfolding in nine countries. The biggest stakes are in the U.S., where Apple is seeking $2.5 billion from Samsung over allegations it has created illegal knockoffs of iPhones and iPads.
The South Korean ruling is not expected to affect the U.S. case. On Friday, a federal jury in San Jose, California, began its third day of deliberations. A federal judge has ordered jurors there to refrain accessing any news regarding the two companies.
Nonetheless, the Seoul ruling was a rare victory for Samsung in its arguments that Apple has infringed on its wireless technology patents. Those arguments previously have been shot down by courts in Europe, where judges have ruled that they are part of industry standards that must be licensed under fair terms to competitors.
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