Japanese judge sides with Apple on infringement

Apple yesterday won a patent lawsuit in Japan, as a Tokyo judge ruled that Samsung Electronics smartphones and a tablet computer infringed on its visual effects for touch panels.

Samsung and Apple, the world’s two biggest smartphone makers, have each scored victories in patent disputes fought on four continents since the maker of the iPhone accused Asia’s biggest electronics maker of “slavishly copying” its devices. The companies are competing for dominance of a global mobile-device market estimated by researcher Yankee Group at $346 billion in 2012.

Samsung infringed on Apple’s patent in the way an iPad or iPhone screen seems to bounce when a user scrolls to the end of a file, the Cupertino, California-based company said in the lawsuit.

In August, Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji ruled against Apple in a lawsuit that claimed Samsung smartphones and tablet computers infringe on an invention for synchronizing music and video data with servers. The Tokyo District Court in February rejected Samsung’s request to suspend sales of iPhones and iPads.

Bloomberg