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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been photographed with a smartphone beside him during a meeting.
The mystery of what make of smartphone the ruler of one of the world’s most secretive countries favors has sparked international controversy not only among geeks but the average person in the Western street.
Is it an Apple iPhone? An HTC from Taiwan? A Sony from Japan? Surely not a Samsung from South Korea, the enemy across the border?
“I regret to say that I don’t think Kim would be seen dead with a Samsung,” said a technician in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
The dark phone seen beside Kim Jong-un’s elbow as he presided over a meeting with top national security advisers last week is at such an angle that its make cannot be defined.
But experts are agreed that it is definitely a smartphone, revealing that if it does actually belong to Kim Jong-un he is keeping up with modern technology.
“It’s believed that the smartphone seen in the picture belongs to Kim, given that the device was placed right next to the documents he was looking at,” said a Seoul government official.
South’s Korea’s media has given the picture – issued by North Korea’s state media – prominent coverage, along with a discussion about the possible manufacturer.
Samsung was 99% sure it wasn’t one of theirs.
“It looks more like an HTC model,” said a spokesman for the company whose Galaxy SIII phone is now outselling the iPhone.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been photographed with a smartphone beside him during a meeting
South Korea’s intelligence agents have carefully inspected the photo and they have also concluded that the Taiwanese firm was the likely manufacturer.
So what does HTC have to say about the phone?
“We aren’t going to get into a discussion about the device but we do appreciate the support of all users,” the Taiwanese company said in a statement.
It is highly unlikely Kim Jong-un’s smartphone of choice is an iPhone – apart from the fact that the device at his side appears chunkier than an iPhone it is doubtful he would be endorsing a product of the hated United States.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspasper suggested that politics was behind the brand choice.
“It must have been politically uncomfortable for Kim Jong-un to use products made by the U.S. … and he can’t publicly endorse the fact that the South [Korea] is more technologically advanced,” it said, in a reference to Samsung phones.
Apart from highly-placed officials, about one million people in North Korea own mobile phones, which were introduced into the country in 2008 through a joint venture with the Egyptian telecom Orascom.
However, they can only phone each other and not make international calls. In addition phones available to the public cannot access the internet.
But it is believed Kim Jong-un and his close associates are able to get online to the outside world.
“Kim and his family members as well as the North’s political elite appear to use smartphones or other mobile phones capable of accessing the internet,” said a Seoul government official.
Foreign visitors entering North Korea are now allowed to bring their mobile phones into the country, but they have to purchase a local SIM card that allows them to make international calls but prevents them connecting to local people.
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Apple’s plea to ban sales of Samsung’s smartphones that violate its patents has been rejected by a US judge.
Apple had requested the ban after a jury ruled earlier this year that some Samsung products had infringed Apple’s patents.
Samsung was also ordered to pay $1.05 billion in damages, a ruling the South Korean firm has since challenged.
However, the judge said there was not enough evidence that the infringed patents had hurt Apple’s US sales.
“The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple’s patents,” District Judge Lucy Koh said.
“Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions.”
Since winning $1.05 billion damages in August this year, Apple has suffered setbacks in its various legal clashes with rivals.
Last month, Apple was asked to disclose the details of its patent-sharing deal with HTC to Samsung.
It has also lost an appeal against a UK ruling that Samsung had not infringed its design rights.
Apple’s plea to ban sales of Samsung’s smartphones that violate its patents has been rejected by a US judge
The US technology firm was also asked by a UK High Court to publish a statement on its website admitting that Samsung had not infringed its designs.
Meanwhile, sales bans sought by Apple against Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus phone and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in the US were also lifted in October.
In November, a judge in the US dismissed a case brought by Apple alleging that Google’s Motorola unit was seeking excessive royalty payments for patents.
“The momentum that Apple had gained in the wake of the big billion dollar judgement seems to be losing its steam,” said Manoj Menon, managing director at consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
“It appears that Apple will find it increasingly difficult to convince courts around the world that it has been hurt by alleged patent infringements.”
The smartphone market has seen tremendous growth over the past few years and Apple and Samsung have emerged as two of the biggest players in the sector.
The success of Apple’s iPhone has been a key driver of its growth, while Samsung has reported record quarterly profits helped by the popularity of its Galaxy range of smartphones.
However, as their market share has increased, so has the intensity of their legal battles with each other.
The two firms have filed legal cases against each other in more than 10 countries, each accusing the other of violating its patents.
However, analysts said that it was time the two companies sat down together and agreed on an amicable solution to their tussles – a move that has also been suggested previously by a judge in the US.
Manoj Menon of Frost & Sullivan said that as manufacturers look to develop even more advanced phones, they will eventually need to use technologies, the patents for which may not belong to them.
“What we are seeing is a convergence of different technologies into one device,” he said.
He explained that for innovation to continue in the sector it was key that various companies agreed to licensing terms for their patents.
Last month, Apple agreed such a deal with Taiwanese phone-maker HTC as it signed a 10-year licence agreement that ended their legal battle over patents.
Korean giant Samsung has filed papers at a US court claiming that Apple’s latest iPad mini, released this month, infringes eight technology patents.
Samsung has asked a judge to add the 7.9-inch Apple tablet to a list of products, including the iPod Touch 5, and the iPad 4, which it claims violate patents on radio signaling technologies.
A patent war has engulfed technology giants with firms trying to make sure the others’ latest products are involved in the legal dispute in a bid get sales banned.
Apple and Samsung have filed cases against each other in more than 10 countries, each accusing the other of violating its patents.
Last week Apple successfully applied to add Google’s latest mobile operating system, Android 4.2, Jelly Bean, to the case.
In a minor victory for Samsung, on Wednesday, the judge ordered Apple to disclose the financial details of its patent licensing deal with HTC.
Samsung has filed papers at a US court claiming that Apple’s latest iPad mini, released this month, infringes eight technology patents
Apple and HTC signed a 10-year license agreement earlier this month, but did not make the details public.
But the court ordered Apple to produce a full copy of the settlement agreement “without delay”, subject to an “attorneys’ eyes only” designation, meaning it will not be made public.
Legal experts say the question of which patents are covered by the HTC settlement, and licensing details, could be instrumental in Samsung’s efforts to thwart Apple’s subsequent quest for a permanent sales ban on its products.
Samsung has argued it is “almost certain” that the HTC deal covers some of the same patents involved in its own litigation with Apple.
It seeks to show Apple is willing to license its technology if the price is right.
It has been speculated that HTC has agreed to pay Apple a royalty of up to $8 on each smartphone it sells, but the figure has been flatly denied by the firm’s chief executive.
The settlement of Apple and HTC ended their worldwide litigation and brought to a close one of the first major flare-ups in the global smartphone patent wars.
Apple first sued HTC in 2010, setting in motion a legal conflagration that has since circled the globe and engulfed the biggest names in mobile technology.
Samsung has sold more than 3 million units of its big screen Galaxy Note II smartphones in 37 days after its launch, it was announced today.
Samsung, which was the world’s largest maker of smartphones in the July-September quarter, said it took 37 days for the oversize smartphone to reach the sales figure.
Galaxy Note II was released first in South Korea in September and in the U.S. and other countries in the following month.
Samsung’s Note category took off in the market, overcoming skepticism about its big size making it look awkward when held close to the face.
The Note was one of the few 5-inch smartphone in the market when the first model was unveiled last year, making some people believe it would become a “tweener” that is neither a tablet nor a smartphone.
But phone manufacturers began to expand screen sizes this year.
Even Apple released a bigger iPhone this year, bumping the screen to 4 inches.
The Note series is one of the two key mobile devices from Samsung on the high-end smartphone segment, along with flagship Galaxy S III smartphone, helping Samsung rake in profit for the business division that is responsible for more than 70% of the company’s quarterly sales.
The latest iteration of the Note features a screen measuring 5.5 inches diagonally and a digital pen for note-taking.
Samsung is pinning its hope on the Note II and the S III to maintain its market lead during the crucial fourth-quarter holiday season, when a number of new gadgets are vying for attention from consumers in the crowded market.
Research firm IDC said Samsung topped the global smartphone market in the July-September third quarter with 56.3 million sales, more than double Apple’s 26.9 million iPhone sales.
The two companies controlled combined 46% of the global smartphone market, according to IDC.
Samsung has sold more than 3 million units of its big screen Galaxy Note II smartphones in 37 days after its launch
INSIDE THE SAMSUNG NOTE 2
- Processor: 1.6 GHz quad-core processor
- OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
- Display: 140.9 mm (5.55″) HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720)
- Dimension: 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm, 182.5g
- Battery: 3,100mAh
- Memory: 16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM) and microSD slot (up to 64GB)
S Pen Optimized Features:
- S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing integration
- Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper Artist
- Popup Note
- Popup Video Play
- Bluetooth
- USB 2.0 Host
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz)
- NFC
- GPS
- Main camera: 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
- Best Photo, Best Group Pose, Low light shot
- Full HD (1080p) Playback & Recording
How the iPhone sold
Apple’s iPhone 5 sold 5 million units in its first three days, eclipsing the Galaxy sales.
Apple also said over 100 million devices were updated to its new iOS software when it was released.
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Apple has lost its appeal against a UK ruling that Samsung had not infringed its tablet design rights.
A judge at the High Court in London had originally ruled in July that the look of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab computers was not too similar to designs registered in connection with the iPad.
He said at the time that Samsung’s devices were not as “cool” because they lacked Apple’s “extreme simplicity”.
Apple still needs to run ads saying Samsung had not infringed its rights.
The US firm had previously been ordered to place a notice to that effect – with a link to the original judgement – on its website and place other adverts in the Daily Mail, Financial Times, T3 Magazine and other publications to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung was a copycat.
The appeal judges decided not to overturn the decision on the basis that a related Apple design-rights battle in the German courts risked causing confusion in consumers’ minds.
“The acknowledgment must come from the horse’s mouth,” they said.
“Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely.”
However, they added that the move need not “clutter” Apple’s homepage as it would only have to add a link entitled “Samsung/Apple judgement” for a one-month period.
A spokeswoman for Samsung said it welcomed the latest ruling.
“We continue to believe that Apple was not the first to design a tablet with a rectangular shape and rounded corners and that the origins of Apple’s registered design features can be found in numerous examples of prior art.
“Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.”
Apple declined to comment. It can still appeal to the UK Supreme Court, otherwise the ruling applies across the European Union.
Three judges were involved in the Court of Appeal review of the case.
Apple had reasserted its claim saying that the front face and overall shape of the tablets was the most important factor – rather than the overall design – because users would spend most of their time looking at a tablet’s screen and holding it.
One of the judges – who noted he owned an iPad himself – explained why Apple had lost the appeal in his ruling.
“Because this case (and parallel cases in other countries) has generated much publicity, it will avoid confusion to say what this case is about and not about,” wrote Sir Robin Jacob.
“It is not about whether Samsung copied Apple’s iPad. Infringement of a registered design does not involve any question of whether there was copying: the issue is simply whether the accused design is too close to the registered design according to the tests laid down in the law.”
“So this case is all about, and only about, Apple’s registered design and the Samsung products.”
Sir Robin Jacob noted that Samsung’s decision to place its logo on the front of its devices distinguished them from Apple’s registered design which said there should be “no ornamentation”.
He also highlighted the fact that the sides of the iPad’s design – which featured a “sharp edge” – were significantly different from those of the Galaxy Tabs.
In addition, Sir Robin Jacob wrote that Samsung’s designs were “altogether busier” with a more varied use of color on the devices’ rear and their inclusion of a thicker section to house a camera.
Apple has now lost a series of lawsuits against Samsung based on the design of their tablets.
These include cases in the Netherlands, Australia and US – despite sometimes winning temporary sales bans.
However, the California-based company has been more successful with other claims.
Most notably a US jury proposed Samsung should pay Apple a $1.05 billion fine for infringing several software patents, and the look and feel of the iPhone. Samsung is appealing the verdict.
Samsung has added iPhone 5 to a US patent lawsuit claiming the latest Apple’s handset infringes eight of its technologies.
The disputed innovations include a way to synchronize photos, music and video files across several devices, and a method to capture and send video over the internet.
Samsung had already filed claims against earlier iPhones and iPads.
It coincides with calls from a judge for “major reforms” to US patent law.
Judge Richard Posner, who previously oversaw a legal dispute involving Apple and Google’s Motorola unit, said that protection available to software patents was “excessive”.
Samsung’s legal move is the latest in a long running battle with Apple.
Apple has claimed that the Galaxy device maker copied the look and iOS system software found on its tablets and handsets.
Although several of Apple’s claims have been rejected, it recently scored a major victory when a California-based jury ruled Samsung should pay it over $1 billion in damages.
Samsung has had its own courtroom successes, including a ruling in August that Apple had infringed two of its wireless communication patents in South Korea. It resulted in an order for the iPhone maker to pay 40 million won ($35,000) in damages.
The US lawsuit involving the iPhone 5 dates back to April when a complaint about other devices was filed in the Northern District of California. The case is due to go to trial in March 2014.
It involves two so-called Frand patents – technologies Samsung has an obligation to licence on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms because they are recognized as being essential to data transmission standards. In other words, if Apple agrees to pay what is deemed to be a fair rate then Samsung will be obliged to let it use the technologies.
The other six disputed innovations are feature patents, and in theory Samsung could force Apple’s products off the shelves if it does not remove the functions from the devices.
Patent consultant Florian Mueller listed details of the disputed patents on his blog earlier this year, noting that Samsung owned about 30,000 US patents in total. Several of these include 4G LTE technologies which the Seoul-based company has hinted could be the basis of further lawsuits.
HTC, Motorola, Microsoft, RIM and other tech firms are also involved in ongoing US lawsuits.
Legal experts have expressed concern at some of the tactics being used, including Judge Richard Posner who threw out a case involving Motorola and Apple in June, rebuking both firms.
He has now followed this up with a blog post in which he calls for an overhaul of the law regarding software patents.
“Nowadays most software innovation is incremental, created by teams of software engineers at modest cost, and also ephemeral – most software innovations are quickly superseded,” he wrote.
“Software innovation tends to be piecemeal – not entire devices, but components, so that a software device (a cellphone, a tablet, a laptop, etc) may have tens of thousands of separate components (bits of software code or bits of hardware), each one arguably patentable.
“The result is huge patent thickets, creating rich opportunities for trying to hamstring competitors by suing for infringement – and also for infringing, and then challenging the validity of the patent when the patentee sues you.”
The judge said that 20-year-long patent protection made sense for pharmaceutical drugs which require development costs running to hundreds of millions of dollars, need extensive testing and subsequently remain on the market for decades.
He said such factors did not apply to software, adding that a firm that invented a new technology would benefit from being the first to use it and would also gain a reputation for innovation.
“My general sense… bolstered by an extensive academic literature, is that patent protection is on the whole excessive and that major reforms are necessary,” he wrote.
The tech news site Ars Technica, which was first to report the blog, noted that Judge Posner did not have the power to shape US patent policy, but added that his views were likely to be discussed by policymakers.
Samsung’s Android and Windows-powered touchscreen devices have been unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin.
The new models include several firsts for the company: a Windows RT tablet; a Windows Phone 8 smartphone; and an Android-powered camera.
It also revealed an update to its Galaxy Note model – a so-called “phablet” that is larger than most phones, but smaller than most tablets.
The products are its first since losing a patent lawsuit to Apple in the US.
The South Korean firm faces paying its rival over $1 billion in damages related to several of its Android models, but has signalled it will challenge the ruling.
Samsung’s Android and Windows-powered touchscreen devices have been unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin
Samsung’s new line-up includes a 10.1 in (25.7 cm) touchscreen tablet which uses an ARM-based chip and the RT version of Windows 8.
It also revealed Intel-based models that are more powerful and run the full version of the system. The devices, which are branded as Slate or Ativ Smart PCs depending on where they are sold, function as hybrids – working either as standalone tablets or as laptops when added to keyboard docks.
They update its 2011 Slate models and follow a similar format to Asus’s Transformer hybrids.
In addition Samsung showed off the Ativ S – its first smartphone to run Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 Phone system. It features a 4.8 in (12.2 cm) display, making it one of the bigger models on the market.
There was only one Android-tablet announcement – the Galaxy Note 2. The device features a 5.5 in (14 cm) screen and is narrower and taller than its predecessor.
It also features a new Air View function. When a stylus is held about 1cm above its display, previews are triggered of on-screen objects such as the contents of a photo album or an email.
The news follows on from a recent announcement of another, larger Android tablet – the Galaxy Note 10.1.
One analyst said it was no surprise to see the firm covering so many bases.
“Samsung’s strategy is to make whatever the market needs,” said Ken Dulaney, vice president at the tech consultancy Gartner.
“They make a lot of products in a lot of categories rather than carrying out tons of market research.
“Their greatest strengths are engineering and manufacturing, and they use those strengths to sort out what the market wants. In contrast, American companies typically spend more time on pre-development research, and then rely more on marketing.”
Samsung’s other announcement was the Galaxy Camera.
The device is the second mainstream compact camera powered by Android to be announced in a week, following on from a release by Nikon.
It marks a new category of devices to use Google’s system, offering the opportunity to install photo editing apps and other third-party software on the machines.
Samsung’s model includes the option of using 3G or 4G data connectivity in addition to wi-fi, making it easier to upload pictures to social networks.
Google has announced that it does not want the ruling in the Apple-Samsung patent lawsuit to “limit” consumers’ access to Android devices.
A US jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple over $1 billion on Friday after ruling it had infringed several of the iPhone maker’s software and design innovations.
Samsung said it intended to appeal.
There has been speculation that the news could encourage handset makers to install the rival Windows Phone system.
Google released its statement late on Sunday in the US.
“The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims,” it said.
“Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office.
“The mobile industry is moving fast and all players – including newcomers – are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.”
Google has announced that it does not want the ruling in the Apple-Samsung patent lawsuit to "limit" consumers' access to Android devices
Apple has indicated it will seek sales bans on the 17 phones at the heart of the lawsuit at a hearing on 20 September.
The list does not include Samsung’s current flagship handset, the Galaxy S3, but does include earlier versions of the model.
However, Apple could also use the verdict to try to halt sales of other models that infringe its pinch-to-zoom patent.
During the court case Apple revealed it had licensed some of its technologies to Microsoft. Its lawyers also showed pictures of Nokia’s Lumia – which runs Windows Phone 7 – as an example of a handset that looked distinctive from its own.
In contrast, Apple continues to be involved in lawsuits against two other Android-handset makers: Motorola – which is owned by Google – and HTC.
Following the Samsung verdict, Bill Cox, marketing director for Microsoft’s Windows Phone Division tweeted: “Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now.”
Dell, HTC, Samsung, LG and ZTE have already created Windows Phone 7 devices, but only Nokia has concentrated its efforts on the system.
One analyst said that the US ruling presented Microsoft with an opportunity to convince others to put their weight behind the next version of its mobile system.
“I think this will force a reset on Android products as they are re-engineered to get around Apple’s patents,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the tech consultancy Enderle Group.
“[It should also] provide a stronger opportunity for both of Microsoft’s new platforms – Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 – because they come with indemnification against Apple, suddenly making them far safer.”
However, manufacturers will have to weigh up Android’s popularity before making a move.
According to recent data from analysts at IDC, Android had a 68.1% of the global smartphone market between April and June. Apple’s iOS had 16.9% and Windows Phone/Windows Mobile had 5.4%. The data was based on shipments rather than sales.
If Apple’s patents hold up under appeal Google could recode Android to ensure there was no potential infringement, or handset makers could seek to pay their rival a licence fee.
And there is another alternative: Apple could ultimately seek a patent cross-licensing deal with Google despite its late chief executive Steve Jobs’ vow to “destroy Android”.
Part-way through the Samsung case Google filed its first lawsuit versus Apple since taking over Motorola. It alleged seven patent infringements, one of which involves the technology used in the iPhone’s Siri voice-activated search tool.
Were Google to succeed it could call for a import ban on Apple’s iOS products, potentially forcing its rival into a deal.
The case is driving share prices in a number of technology stocks.
Samsung’s shares fell 7.5% in Seoul on Monday – their biggest drop since October 2008, wiping about $12 billion off the companies value.
Nokia’s shares rose about 10% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
In New York, Apple’s stock was about 2% higher in pre-market trade, Microsoft’s about 1% up and Google’s about 1% down.
Samsung announces it will appeal against the US court ruling that the firm stole designs from Apple to make smartphones and computer tablets.
The jury in San Jose, California ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages.
In response, Samsung accused Apple of using US patent laws to try to dominate the smartphone market.
Analysts say the ruling is one of the most significant in a global battle over intellectual property.
In recent weeks, a court in South Korea ruled that both technology firms had copied each other, while a British court threw out claims by Apple that Samsung had infringed its copyright.
But the year-long US case has involved some of the biggest damages claims.
Samsung announces it will appeal against the US court ruling that the firm stole designs from Apple to make smartphones and computer tablets
Samsung described Friday’s decision as “a loss for the American consumer”.
“It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices,” the firm said.
The statement added that it was “unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners”.
Apple, however, said it applauded the court “for finding Samsung’s behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right”.
It said it intended to seek injunctions to block US sales of Samsung products at a follow-up hearing on 20 September.
The two firms account for more than half of global smartphone and tablet computer sales.
The nine-person jury at the federal court in San Jose, California had to consider 700 questions about each side’s claim that its rival had infringed its intellectual property.
It deliberated for less than three days before coming to a unanimous decision, rejecting all of Samsung’s claims and upholding five of Apple’s allegations, including:
• Some of Samsung’s handsets, including its Galaxy S 4G model, infringed Apple’s design patents for the look of its iPhone including the system it uses to display text and icons
• All the disputed Samsung devices had copied Apple’s “bounce-back response”, which makes lists jump back as if yanked by a rubber band
• Several Samsung devices incorporated Apple’s facility allowing users to zoom into text with a tap of a finger
Apple had wanted $2.5 billion in damages. Samsung had sought $519 million.
It may also seek to use this ruling to block other devices powered by Google’s Android software that it believes replicate elements of its user-interface, including current models by Samsung as well as other firms.
A US court has ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit.
It said several of Samsung’s devices had infringed iPhone-maker Apple’s software and design patents.
The jury rejected Samsung’s claims that several of its patents had been breached and awarded it no damages.
Apple may seek an import ban of some of its rival’s products, blocking them from the US market. Samsung has said it will appeal against the ruling.
“We will move immediately to file post-verdict motions to overturn this decision in this court and if we are not successful, we will appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals,” a statement from Samsung said.
A US court has ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit
Apple and Samsung account for more than half of global smartphone and tablet computer sales.
The nine-person jury at the federal court in San Jose, California had to consider 700 questions about each side’s claim that its rival had infringed its intellectual property.
It deliberated for less than three days before coming to its unanimous decisions.
It rejected the South Korean firm’s claim that Apple’s intellectual properties were invalid. It added that Samsung was “wilful in its infringement” in many of the cases.
Not all of Apple’s claims were upheld – it had claimed a total of $2.5bn (£1.6bn) in damages. Samsung had sought $519m.
Apple said it applauded the court “for finding Samsung’s behaviour wilful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right.”
Samsung described the verdict as “a loss for the American consumer”.
“It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices,” it added.
The jury ruled that some of Samsung’s handsets, including its Galaxy S 4G model, had infringed Apple’s design patents for the look of its iPhone including the system it uses to display text and icons.
However, it dismissed the allegation that the South Korean firm’s tablets had infringed the rectangular design used for Apple’s iPad.
It also found that all the disputed Samsung devices had copied the bounce-back response in the iOS system’s user interface, without paying a licence. This makes lists jump back as if yanked by a rubber band when pulled beyond their limit.
Another infringement involved use of Apple’s tap-to-zoom feature.
Samsung failed to convince the jury Apple owed it money for using technologies it claims to own including listening to music on a device in the background while carrying out another task; and integrating a phone, digital camera and email facility into a single device.
Michael Gartenburg, research director at Gartner, said the verdict could have major ramifications for the wider smart device sector.
“Apple patents being upheld will force the rest of the industry to both innovation and differentiation,” he said.
“That will be a good thing for consumers in the long run. Anyone who was even thinking about borrowing a technology or design from Apple will think twice about it now.
“Apple’s point was that it was possible to create an experience that doesn’t look like its designs and only Nokia and RIM Blackberry are really doing that right now.”
There has been a spate of lawsuits involving mobile-device makers, but this case had been viewed as one of the most significant to date.
This is because of the size of the damages involved, the likelihood it will influence the way future patent licenses are handled, and the insights it has given into both Apple and Samsung’s working practices.
Pictures of prototype iPhones and iPads that had never been seen before were released, and one of Samsung’s designers explained how she had created some of its app icon designs.
The offending Samsung models at the centre of the case have since been superseded by updates, reflecting the fast turnaround in product releases.
But Apple said it still intended to seek sales injunctions at a follow-up hearing on 20 September.
It may also seek to use this ruling to block other devices powered by Google’s Android software that it believes replicate elements of its user-interface, including current models by Samsung as well as other firms.
While Apple has scored a victory over Samsung, it remains one of the South Korean company’s biggest customers buying computer chips and, reportedly, screens from it to build the iOS mobile devices.
A South Korean court has ruled that tech giants Apple and Samsung both infringed each other’s patents on mobile devices.
The court imposed a limited ban on national sales of products by both companies covered by the ruling.
It ruled that Apple had infringed two patents held by Samsung, while Samsung had violated one of Apple’s patents.
The decision comes as a jury in California is deliberating on a patent trial between the two firms in the US.
A South Korean court has ruled that tech giants Apple and Samsung both infringed each other's patents on mobile devices
The sales ban will apply to Apple’s iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and its tablets the iPad and iPad 2.
Samsung products affected by the ban include its smartphone models Galaxy SI and SII and its Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PCs.
The court ordered Apple to pay 40 million won ($35,000) in damages to its South Korean rival, while Samsung was told to pay Apple 25 million won.
The awards are dwarfed by the damages being sought by Apple in its case in California. It is seeking more than $2.5 billion from Samsung, for allegedly violating its patented designs and features in the iPad and iPhone.
A Samsung spokesperson said the court had found the South Korean firm guilty of violating Apple’s patent relating to the “bounce back” function.
The function lets users know that they have reached the end of a screen that they may be scrolling through on their devices.
Meanwhile, Apple has been found guilty of violating patents relating to telecom standards held by Samsung, including technology that makes the transfer and transmission of data between devices more efficient.
However, the court ruled against Apple’s claims that Samsung had copied the designs of its products.
“There are lots of external design similarities between the iPhone and Galaxy S, such as rounded corners and large screens… but these similarities had been documented in previous products,” a judge at the Seoul Central District Court was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
“Given that it’s very limited to make big design changes in touchscreen based mobile products in general… and the defendant [Samsung] differentiated its products with three buttons in the front and adopted different designs in camera and [on the] side, the two products have a different look,” the judge said.
The judge in a patent trial involving Apple and Samsung has said iPhone maker’s lawyer William Lee must be on drugs if he thought she would accept his list of potential witnesses.
William Lee had named 22 people he wanted to rebut testimony given by Samsung’s choice of experts.
“Unless you’re smoking crack you know these witnesses aren’t going to be called” said Judge Lucy Koh.
William Lee replied: “Your honor, I’m not smoking crack. I can promise you that.”
The clash, reported by the Verge news site, took place close to the end of the trial after William Lee presented a 75-page document detailing the witnesses.
The judge in a patent trial involving Apple and Samsung has said iPhone maker's lawyer William Lee must be on drugs if he thought she would accept his list of potential witnesses
The judge had previously made it clear she wanted closing arguments to be presented next week. She has given each side a maximum of 25 hours to make its case.
Of that time Apple has less than four hours of witness testimony remaining on its clock, and William Lee said he honestly believed he could cover all the people he had named within that period.
The move could potentially have made it harder for Samsung’s legal team to prepare.
Samsung called on damages expert Michael Wagner shortly before the exchange, who said Apple had overestimated Samsung’s profit margins.
His evidence was intended to undermine the US firm’s claim that it was owed $2.5 billion in damages.
Under cross examination Michael Wagner acknowledged that his analysis had been based on data provided by Samsung as part of its response to Apple’s patent infringement accusations.
In addition to denying the allegations the South Korean firm is also pursuing its rival for royalty payments.
Judge Lucy Koh’s outburst is not the first time she has expressed anger at the two sides’ behavior in the case.
Earlier the judge chided Samsung’s lawyer John Quinn for approving a press release which publicized evidence she had ruled inadmissible in court.
She had also demanded each legal team write out their legal arguments after they wrangled over whether a witness should be allowed to present certain evidence, saying: “I don’t trust what any lawyer tells me in this courtroom. I want to see actual papers.”
Despite the potential large payouts involved in the case the firms’ share prices do not appear to have suffered.
Apple’s stock has closed at a record high of $636.34 after rising 6.9% since the start of the trial.
Samsung’s shares have gained 5.5% over the same period.
Samsung has admitted it made a mistake in releasing a software update that removed the search function from international versions of its Galaxy S3 smartphone.
The “stability update” disabled the Galaxy S3’s ability to search the web, contacts, apps and other on-device material through a single interface.
The move had been thought to be linked to Apple’s claim that the innovation infringed one of its US patents.
Samsung said a fix was imminent.
“The most recent software upgrade for the Galaxy S3 in the UK included the inadvertent removal of the universal search function,” it said in a statement.
“Samsung will provide the correct software upgrade within the next few days.”
The "stability update" disabled the Galaxy S3's ability to search the web, contacts, apps and other on-device material through a single interface
Users who downloaded the update had not been warned that it would remove the advanced search function when the software was installed on GT-i9300 (S3) models available in the UK and other places outside the US.
It appears the firm meant only to prevent some US models from being able to use a Google-powered search tool to show information sourced from within the phone’s memory in its results.
Apple has claimed the technology infringed its patent to a unified search interface which it uses in its Siri app to collate results from a range of sources.
The iPhone maker has launched a lawsuit over the matter in the US and had briefly secured a sales ban of another Samsung handset – the Galaxy Nexus – on the basis that the inclusion of the feature threatened “irreparable harm”.
A Washington-based court will review the case on 20 August.
Apple has been ordered by a UK judge to publish announcements that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
It said the judge said one notice should remain on Apple’s website for at least six months, while other adverts should be placed in various newspapers and magazines.
It follows Apple’s failed attempt to block sales of the South Korean firm’s Galaxy Tab tablets.
Apple has been ordered by a UK judge to publish announcements that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad
Apple and Samsung have not commented.
The order did not feature in Judge Colin Birss’s judgement published on 9 July, but Bloomberg said the matter was discussed in the court following the verdict.
It said the notices must make reference to the court case and should be designed to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung’s tablets had aped the look of Apple’s products.
“They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” said the judge at the time.
“They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different.”
However, the judge refused Samsung’s request that Apple be forbidden from restating its claim that its design rights had been infringed.
Judge Birss said that the US firm was “entitled” to hold the opinion that his judgement was wrong.
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