Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) got a breather on Wednesday when a United States court refused to reopen a patent case brought by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) against the iPhone maker. The decision in that case had been in favor of Apple previously, according to Reuters. Both companies have been fighting legal battles with each other in different cases for over three years now.
Ruling in favor of Apple
The International trade Commission (ITC) ruled back in June that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did not infringe on any of the Samsung patents in question in one of the cases. The U.S. court now stands by the decision, denying any revival of the case, although it did not give a reason.
In June, the ITC also found that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) infringed on a patent not included in the list ruled on Wednesday. The Apple devices using the infringed patent technology were ordered to be banned from import into the United States. However, later the sales ban was revoked by the Obama administration, as the technology was covered by standard essential technology that enables devices made by different companies to communicate with each other.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) declined to comment on the case. Apple did not respond to a request for comment, says Reuters.
Acquiring more patents
Samsung smartphones are powered by Google’s Android software, which the late Steve Jobs said was a stolen product. Google’s Android is the top operating system used in phones manufactured by Samsung and HTC.
Neither company has achieved any substantial success in fighting patent cases. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did get a significant win in California when a court ordered Samsung to pay $930 million after a 2012 trial. However, the iPhone maker could not get the jury to ban the Samsung phones in the United States. In a separate case earlier this month, Samsung was ordered to pay $119.6 million for infringing upon three Apple patents.
To take the battle further, both companies are making efforts to grab patents related to atom thick technology for the next generation of devices.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were up 0.2% at $593.87.
