A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Apple has infringed on a patent held by South Korean rival Samsung (IW 1000/12) and ordered the U.S. computer giant to pay an unspecified amount of damages.
"The court orders that the defendant pay Samsung for the damages it suffered since August 4, 2010, as the result of an infringement on [patent] EP 269," The Hague district court said in its ruling.
Samsung took Apple (IW 500/9) to court on June 30, 2011, for alleged infringements on four of its 3G, or third-generation telephone technology patents as part of a worldwide legal fight between the companies over alleged patent breaches.
The four infringements before the Dutch court related to certain models of Apple's iPhone and iPads.
Although the court found Apple in breach of one infringement, it cleared the company of the other three complaints.
"Today's ruling confirms that Apple was free-riding on our technological innovation," said Vivian Peters, Samsung's spokeswoman in the Netherlands.
"For us it is a victory," she added.
Apple's senior communications head Alan Hely declined to comment, but repeated the company's official statement that Samsung's products closely resembled those made by Apple.
"We need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas," the statement said.
Thursday's court judgment was the latest round in the legal battle between the two electronics giants.
Last week, Apple backed off a last-minute request in a San Francisco court to block the U.S. release of Samsung's Galaxy S III model.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
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