Dutch court rejects Samsung's patent claims against Apple

Apple and Samsung have had patent infringement claims they leveled against one another dismissed by a Dutch court. The companies were also ordered to pay for one another's legal costs in another blow to the Korean manufacturer.

Samsung has issued four patent infringement claims against Apple over the use of 3G technology and called for sales of the firm's iPad and iPhone devices to be banned, but the judge in a court in The Hague dismissed these claims.

V3 contacted both Apple and Samsung for comment on the decision but had received no reply at the time of publication.

Patent expert Florian Mueller explained in a blog posting that the decision ruled out any chance of Samsung blocking sales of Apple's hugely popular devices, including the iPhone 4S which was launched today.

"The [decision] made it clear that Samsung won't be able to win an injunction against Apple's products based on standards-essential, FRAND [fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms]-committed patents," he said.

"As a result, Samsung's motions for preliminary injunctions against the iPhone 4S in France and Italy are also very likely to be denied, though the courts in those countries have the right to take different decisions than their Dutch counterpart."

Apple's claims were also turned down but Mueller explained to V3 these were "purely defensive" and "unrelated to Apple's own assertions".

This means Samsung could still be forced to withdraw its Galaxy Tab from sale and redesign the device.

Mueller added that Apple is still some way from such a legal victory, but said the Dutch ruling further weakens Samsung's chances at dissuading Apple from following through its legal challenge to the bitter end.

"Samsung appears to lack patents of the kind that would create a serious counter threat," he said.

"Under these circumstances, the only question is when, not if, Apple is going to get its way. If Samsung cannot obtain injunctions, there isn't a threat of mutually assured destruction, and Samsung is strategically lost."

The decision is yet another victory for Apple after it obtained a preliminary injunction against Samsung in Australia over sales of the Galaxy Tab. It could achieve a similar victory in the US after a judge ruled on Thursday that the device infringed patents.