Apple Ordered To Pay Samsung Damages By Dutch Court

Apple has been ordered to pay damages to Samsung by a Dutch court for infringing the South Korean manufacturer’s patents in its mobile products.

The patents relate to the way that phones and tablets connect to the Internet, although the court did not specify just how much the company would have to pay. This will be calculated on the sales of the iPhone and iPad in the Netherlands.

However, the impact of the victory has been deemed ‘minimal’, as Samsung was only successful in one of four of its assertions.

Minor victory

Analyst Florian Mueller said that although there was some “symbolic significance” that Samsung had finally won a ruling in an offensive case, it was a very minor success. Mueller said Apple was ready and willing to pay royalties at a Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) rate, but did not want an injunction or be forced to pay an excessive rate.

“It’s not even clear that Samsung will make enough money as a result of this infringement finding to offset the 800,000 euros it now owes Apple in legal fees because it lost with respect to three of its four patents,” said Mueller. “Samsung already lost the key battle in the Netherlands over all four of those patents a few months ago when the court affirmed its previous position that Samsung was not entitled to injunctive relief.

“Samsung will be lucky to even recover its attorneys’ fees with this.”

The battle continues

The case is part of a wider legal battle between the two companies that has seen them clash in several countries around the world. Both chief executives agreed to meet for talks earlier this year to try and agree a settlement, but they failed to reach a consensus.

The two have clashed in a Dutch court before, with Apple securing a preliminary injunction against the sale of Samsung in smartphones last year, while in January an appeals court rejected Apple’s claims that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringed its patents, ruling that it was sufficiently different from the iPad.

Apple has also been ordered by an Australian court to pay a A$2.3 million (£1.5m) fine for misleading customers over claims that its newest iPad was compatible with 4G networks in the country, as well as cover A$305,000 (£194,000) in legal costs. Apple agreed to pay a fine earlier this month.

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