Samsung to Pay Apple over Patent Infringement

According to a Dutch court ruling, Apple will pay damages to its competitor Samsung Electronics Ltd for violating its patents in Netherlands.

After the cut-throat competition that Samsung and Apple have given to each other in terms of their Smartphones and tablet computers, they have now been in legal battles in over a dozen countries since the past couple of years.

Apple indicted Samsung for “slavishly” copying its products that run on Google’s Android software. On the other hand, as a counter argument, the Korean company accused Apple for breaching its patents.

A court in The Hague decided that the U.S. Company had infringed a Samsung patent relating to the way phones and tablet computers connect to the internet. The court did not determine any amount of damages, but it will be calculated by the number of patent breaching products contained in iPhones and iPads sold by Apple in Netherlands. This amount will also include the revenue and profits that Apple has made by selling these products.

iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone4, iPad 1 and 2 are the products that lie in the circle of violation.

Samsung released a press release after the court’s decision stating that:

“Samsung welcomes the decision of the court in The Hague, which again confirms that Apple makes free use of our technological innovations. In accordance with this statement, we will recover adequate damages that Apple and its products have caused.”

However, Apple is yet to respond to this decision. The court also dismissed three other appeals from Samsung on the patent issue.

The U.S. Company has a very complex relationship with the Korean company, as Samsung makes computer chips, Galaxy Smartphones and televisions.

All the Smartphones and tablets built by Samsung operate on Android and compete with Apple’s products, while Samsung has also been supplying key components to Apple.