Apple-Samsung Lawsuit: Tokyo Court Rules Samsung Did Not Infringe On Apple's Patents

Samsung Triumphs Over Apple In Japan Patent Case
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The Apple iPhone 4s, left, is displayed next to the Samsung Galaxy S III at a store in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012. Apple Inc. on Monday submitted a list of eight Samsung Electronics Co. products it wants pulled from shelves and banned from the U.S. market. Apple submitted the list after a jury found Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad in creating and marketing the products. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

TOKYO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A Tokyo court ruled on Friday that Samsung Electronics' mobile devices did not violate an Apple Inc patent involved in synching mobile devices and computers, awarding the South Korean maker a victory a week after it lost a bruising landmark patent case in the United States.

In rejecting Apple's suit, Tokyo District Court Judge Tamotsu Shoji said Samsung's products did not infringe on the U.S. firm's technological scope.

A U.S. federal jury found last week that Apple did not infringe on any of Samsung's patents, while the South Korean firm had copied key features of iPhone.

The same jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages and it is now seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung phones in the U.S. market.

"We welcome the court's decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property," Samsung said in a statement following the verdict from the Tokyo court.

A representative for Apple in Japan declined to comment.

In Seoul, Samsung shares were up 0.7 percent in a flat market.

A spokesman for NTT Docomo Inc declined to comment, while a KDDI Corp spokeswoman said she did not see any major impact from the decision. Both Japanese mobile carriers sell the popular Samsung Galaxy series.

Shares in NTT Docomo last traded down 1.8 percent at a 2-week low, while KDDI was down 1.2 percent. Shares in local rival Softbank Corp, the first Japanese carrier to sell the iPhone and which doesn't sell the Samsung Galaxy line, were down 1.1 percent.

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