Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has lost a patent lawsuit, similar to the one that it won a week ago in the U.S. Apple sued Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) in Japan for patent infringement, and no doubt expected to win that case, much like it won against them in California. However, a Tokyo judge has dismissed the case, saying the smartphones and the tablet computer, offered by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94), do not infringe upon Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s patents.
Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji, ordered Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to pay the costs of the lawsuit today. This verdict comes just a week after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) scored a major win in the U.S., with a California judge ordering Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) to pay over $1 billion in damages. This case is just the latest in a world wide string of lawsuits between the 2 tech giants.
Shoji said “It’s hard to believe the products belong to the range of technologies of the claimant”, basically dismissing the idea of the suit as foolish.
Apple and Samsung have a long running feud for the top spot in the smartphone market, and while Apple’s iPhone had held that position for Apple for several years, Samsung has passed them by in the last quarter to become the king of the smartphone hill. As we reported here on ValueWalk, analysts believe that the much awaited iPhone 5, which is due to be released less than a month from now, could be the cause of this change in leadership. Most people agree that once the iPhone 5 hits stores, Apple will easily pass Samsung to reclaim its crown as the number one seller of smartphones.
After the ruling, the shares of both companies have been affected, as Samsung closed 1.5% higher in Seoul, and Apple fell by as much as 2.1% on the German market. At the time of this writing (8:55 AM EST) the companies are trading as follows: Apple $667.75 and Samsung $534.29. When the market opens in roughly four minutes, I expect to see some quick changes in price as news of this ruling reaches investors here on Wall Street.
