TOKYO — A Japanese court rejected on Friday patent claims made by Apple against Samsung, a victory for the Korean company after its crushing defeat in the United States last week and a reminder of the global scope of the patent war between the two technology giants.
With a judge in South Korea having handed down a split decision in a patent case earlier, Apple and Samsung remain neck-and-neck in legal disputes spanning almost a dozen countries.
For both companies, Japan makes up a far smaller proportion of sales than the all-important American market. But the Tokyo ruling suggests that despite Apple’s victory in the United States last week — which included a $1 billion judgment against Samsung — jostling between the two companies for the upper hand in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet segments is just beginning.
The Tokyo District Court ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and tablets did not violate an Apple patent on technology that synchronizes music and videos between gadgets and servers.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, had sued Samsung in Tokyo last year in a case that sought ¥100 million, or $1.3 million, in damages.
Apple has filed other patent suits in Japan against Samsung, including one alleging the South Korean company copied Apple’s signature “bounce back†effect when a user scrolls to the end of a list on the iPhone and iPad. Apple has also asked for an injunction that would prevent Samsung from shipping some Galaxy smartphones to Japan. Samsung, as in other countries, has countersued Apple in Japan, saying both the iPhone and iPad infringe on Samsung patents.
In a statement, Samsung Electronics, based in Suwon, South Korea, said the ruling had validated its claims that it had not copied Apple.
“Samsung has strongly asserted that its technology is altogether different and does not infringe on Apple patents. The ruling recognizes the legitimacy of Samsung’s assertions and is highly valid,†it said.
Apple representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Still wildly popular, Apple hardly needs a lift in Japan. Its iPhone was the top-selling smartphone in Japan in 2011, while Samsung’s Galaxy series trailed in the No. 5 spot — behind smartphones made by Sharp, Fujitsu and Sony Mobile, according to the MM Research Institute, based in Tokyo. Globally, Samsung is the largest smartphone maker.
But even in Japan, the operating system used by Samsung and other smartphone makers,Android from Google, has grown steadily, posing a collective challenge to Apple. Android captured 58 percent of the Japanese market, compared with the 38 percent market share claimed by Apple’s iOS during the first quarter of 2012, according to the global research firm Nielsen.
Many analysts see Apple’s suits against Samsung as a proxy battle against the Android platform, which Apple developers have derided as being an iOS copy.
The patent war between Apple and Google has brought a debate on the future of technological innovation — one that intensified after the nine-member jury in California ruled in Apple’s favor Aug. 24. The jury said Samsung smartphone and tablet products violated Apple’s patents protecting designs and functions, including the rectangular shape and rounded edges of the iPhone.
Some experts say such rulings will force smartphone makers to focus on innovating rather than copying, while others say designers could now be stifled by the need to second-guess constantly whether new designs or functions violate other companies’ patents.
Meanwhile, Japanese electronics makers have figured little in the smartphone patent wars, underscoring how negligible a threat they currently pose to either Apple or Samsung in the sector.
Samsung, the world’s largest seller of smartphones, and Apple, the world’s second-largest, together control a little more than 50 percent of the global smartphone market, Strategy Analytics said in July.
Japanese smartphone makers like Sharp and Fujitsu, on the other hand, have little presence beyond Japan’s shores.
By HIROKO TABUCHI
In Japan, a Setback for Apple in Patent Fight
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